Page 34 of Rejected and Pregnant by the Lycan King

Now, I had to travel back to my pack and ask Amara what she knew. Having to go back to the pack would set me further behind, but I didn’t know where to start. Kylie didn’t travel the kingdom, and I knew she didn’t have allies anywhere either. She didn’t have time to build up resources to run from me.

So where the hell would she have gone?

“Why are you wasting your time on her, anyhow? Kylie isn’t worth it. If you brought her back, she would just run away again.”

This time, I didn’t care. He wasn’t any use to me, and it didn’t look like he would be in my kingdom, either. My fingers wrapped around his throat and lifted him to his feet, leaving his feet dangling. My grip tightened, and his skin turned red as he struggled against me. I waited. The man needed to understand that he shouldn’t dare speak to me or my mate like this.

“I don’t care that she was your daughter or that you had her for the first twenty-one years of her life. She is your queen, and you will not speak of her in any way other than with respect.” I looked out at the pack members. “Let this be a lesson to you on manners. Don’t even think about speaking like this to your king or about your queen. It will end your life more swiftly than I am about to do to him.” Alexander struggled again, beating his hands against my arms to free himself. It didn’t work. My grip on him was too strong, and no one matched my power—especially not in this small pack. “Bring me your beta. He will ascend to alpha today.”

Someone scurried off while my hands gripped his head and I gave a quick jerk. The bones cracked, and his head bent at an odd angle, his body slumping in my grip before I let it drop to the ground. It should have been a bloodier kill, but I didn’t have time for that. I needed answers, and the only person who could provide me with those answers belonged to my pack.

I needed to go home.

***

The talk with Amara didn’t go as planned. Eli stood beside her, hugging her close as if I would hurt his mate. The beast must have been showing in my eyes from the way he looked at me.

“I’m sorry, Max. I don’t know how she could have gone, and it’s not like her to run, either. I’m not sure why she would have done that. If she were a runner, she would have run away long ago.” Amara’s lip trembled, and with teary eyes, she shakily said, “I assure you that I would tell you if I knew anything. Kylie is too sweet and innocent to be out there fending for herself.”

My body shook with rage. It wasn’t directed at Amara; it was more at myself. If I hadn’t rejected her, Kylie wouldn’t have run off in the first place.

“Please, Max… find her. I don’t know how to help.” She wiped tears away from her eyes. “I will let you know if she reaches out to me. I promise.”

I feared that she thought my anger was aimed at her, and I could see how they both didn’t want to look at me. I sensed the swell of power I had caused in the room. I paced back and forth. The lack of information was driving me insane. Amara yelped, and I turned to see Eli pulling her out of my office. He didn’t need to fear for her safety, but that didn’t matter. Protecting mates was in our nature, and I could not fault him for what is instinctual.

We need to find our mate. She is without protection. We are the only ones who can protect her!

While I paced in the office, my lycan paced inside me. He kept chanting the word “mate” over and over, driving me mad. It had only been a few hours, and he hadn’t settled down. If this went on for days or weeks, I’d be driven to madness just from his chanting alone.

Do you not see me trying to find her?

Not doing enough. Find her.

I looked through the cabinets to find the map of the kingdom. It had a layout of where all the packs lived and their territories. It would help me track where I had looked and where else I could search. The scent of coconut filled the room, and I growled. I didn’t need her around. It would only anger me and my lycanto have another try to touch me with the bond being severed. I hoped Nova would understand this and not attempt it.

“It’s better this way, my king. You may not see it yet, but it is.”

The tone she spoke in was what I’d expected. A gleeful smile stretched across her face as Kylie fled. Nova most likely thought this would open the door for me to take a new mate. I didn’t want a new mate. I wantedmymate.

“Do me a favor and stop speaking,” I growled.

She scoffed. “It’s not like she would have been a good queen to you. She doesn’t know the ways of being a good luna, let alone a queen. She had to be taught how to be a luna.”

Nova didn’t know the life my mate lived before coming here. Many of the females are taught the ways of being a luna while growing up. This female was more trained to fight because she held dominance and power. She understood nothing about my mate because she never lived the same life. The pack treated her well, with respect, and taught her to fight. Kylie was only taught how to clean and was treated poorly.

“How would you know what kind of queen she would be?” I snarled, turning toward her. “Have you walked in her shoes and know of her life? No. You were not raised the same way she was. If you want to continue to speak poorly of your queen, I will do the same thing to you as I did to the last person who spoke of her like this.”

Nova swallowed and took a step back from me. I tapped into my lycan’s power, knowing it would cause him to be more on the surface than I wanted. Nova seemed to believe she could speaklike this without consequence. It was time I showed this pack that they couldn’t challenge me like this. She took another step back, my lycan’s eyes looking at her instead of mine.

“Maybe you should learn the ways of the omegas to understand your place.”

She growled at me, something I should backhand her for, though I didn’t believe in hitting a female. “I am to be part of the royal army! I do notclean.I fight!”

“You spoke ill of your queen. That is punishable by my discretion. Now, go to the kitchens and speak with Amara. She is currently in charge while Queen Kylie is away. You will tell her you are now on rotation until I see a change in attitude.”

Nova screamed with a fury that tore through the air before she stormed out. Her stomping feet echoed her rage and frustration. I took solace in the knowledge that she would loathe every second of this. It was a valuable lesson she needed to learn. She clung to the belief that she was meant to be queen, which gave her a queen bitch attitude that didn’t allow her to play well with others. Nova constantly made venomous remarks to everyone who would listen, keeping her from integrating with the pack. Nobody respected her. This experience would force her to understand the reality of her place and hopefully humble her. It was the wake-up call she needed.

Every mention of Kylie deepened the hollow and expanding void inside me. My soul ached as the bond desperately tried to stretch toward its missing half. I was desperate and wanted nothing more than to be whole again.

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