Page 38 of Saving Nevin
I kept wandering, only to come face-to-face with a wall of multicolored dildos and vibrators, butt plugs and cock rings. My jaw went slack as I stared at the toys. Who sold sex toys in a mall? Kids could come in here! I could only imagine little Jimmy tugging on his mother’s skirt, asking whatthatwas.
My face bright red, I spun on my heel and hurried in the opposite direction—just in time to see Xan’s face fall as the sexy Alpha brushed him off. Poor Xan. He really couldn’t catch a break, could he?
I walked towards him, trying to come up with some excuse for why we needed to leave, when a cute little blond twink in a tweed jacket and beret came trotting in with a bento box in his hands. He shot Xan a frosty glare as he offered the lunch to Rafe, who beamed brighter than the sun. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that this was the Alpha’s boyfriend.
Before Xan could say anything incriminating, I whisked him out of there in a hurry. We were four stores down before he stopped and looked behind us, then hung his head. “I don’t understand,” he murmured, sounding defeated. “Why aren’t there any Alphas likehimout there who are single and interested in me? Am I just too picky? Am I not cute enough?”
My heart squeezed in sympathy. I wrapped my arm around his shoulders and hugged him to my side. “It’s none of those things,” I assured him. “Your mate simply hasn’t come along yet, that’s all.”
Xan shot me the stink-eye. “You’re beginning to sound a lot like my brother,” he grumbled, but leaned into my embrace nonetheless.
I just smiled and patted my round baby bump. “What can I say? I learned from the best. Are we done shopping? Did you wanna stop at the food court and grab lunch, or just leave? Cuz we can just leave, if it’s easier.”
Xan sighed heavily. “Yeah. Let’s get out of here. Suddenly, I have no appetite.”
I patted his back and together, we headed for the exit. As we walked out into the parking lot, tiny snowflakes were just beginning to sprinkle from the gray skies above.
“Look Xan. It’s snowing!” I stuck out my tongue, but the flakes were too small to even catch.
He rolled his eyes and pulled his lanyard keychain out of his messenger bag, swinging it in one hand. “You’re such a kid. C’mon. It’s cold as balls out here.”
He wasn’t wrong. It might’ve only been mid-November, but winter’s grip on Greymercy was already an icy fist. The temperatures had been dropping every day this week, and the weatherman said we were going to have snow by Thanksgiving. Crazy.
We began heading through the lot, towards where Xan parked his vehicle, but something didn’t feel right. I felt an eerie prickling at the back of my neck. I stopped and looked around, reaching back to rub where the little hairs on my nape were standing up on end. I didn’t see anything…
Then, out of nowhere, a shadow caught my eye as someone came barreling towards us. No. Running straight for Xan.
“XAN!” I shrieked as he was all but slammed into the side of his Chevy by a much-larger man. Xan let out a cry of surprise and began to struggle and for a moment, I just stood there, dumbstruck, watching my friend try and fend the stranger off.
Then, right as my mind caught up with my body and I reached for my cell phone to call for help, I was grabbed from behind. A hand clamped over my mouth, fingers digging into my cheeks, nails biting at my skin. Bile rose in my throat as I smelled the sour tinge of gasoline.
Him.Rex. No…
“Don’t scream, and no one’s gonna get hurt,” his voice uttered in my ear, low and gravelly, and my heart nearly squeezed out from beneath my ribcage. Tears sprang to my eyes, try as I might to blink them away.No. No. No.
I pulled away, putting only two steps between us before Rex’s hand snared my wrist, yanking me right back. His golden eyes raked down the front of me, widening in disbelief as he took in the sight of my six-month-pregnant figure.
“Didn’t quite believe it when she told me, but you really are pregnant,” he murmured. “It’s a goddamned miracle.”
His laugh was sharp and bitter. I shrank back, shriveling on the inside. “P-Please… Don’t do this, Rex, please—” My head snapped back as he struck me across the face with the back of his hand.
I hiccuped a sob.
“Shut up,” Rex snarled at me. “I thought you knew your place.”
Immediately, I fell silent. Omegas should be seen and not heard. I began to tremble, fear setting in.
“Who knocked you up?”
Behind me, Xan shouted out in pain. I twisted around to try and see, but Rex grabbed me by the hair and jerked my head back around. His expression was deadly as he stared me in the eye. “Look at me when I’m talking to you, bitch.”
I whimpered. Xan… Xan was in danger. “M-My mate,” I whispered, choking out the words. Oh god. Kace. I’d never see Kace again. Rex would take me away and Kace would never get to meet his son.
Rex laughed. “Your mate? Hah! Laughable. I don’t see a mating mark on your neck, Nevin,” he mocked me. “I don’t smell an Alpha on your skin.”
“I-I showered before the mall?—”
“Shut up! Whoever knocked you up probably doesn’t give a single shit about you.” He sneered down at me, forcing my face up to his. “I don’t know how you managed to get pregnant, but it doesn’t matter. What matters is that I found you, and that you’re coming back home to fulfill your duties as my chosen.”
