Pregnant And Rejected

Chapter 22

Chapter 22 The Alpha is Dead

Selene’s POV

“Selene, are you ready?” Odette is knocking on the dressing room door, her kind voice unusually somber.

“Yes.” I call, smoothing my skirts. “You can come in.”

The door pushes open, and my mother-in-law’s lovely face peeks inside. She sidles through the narrow opening, approaching me with a wistful expression. “Oh my darling.” Odette murmurs bleakly, her eyes shining as she studies my reflection. “I really thought you two would make it.”

“I thought we might too” I admit, keeping my gaze high to ward off tears. “For a while.”

Her hand closes around mine, squeezing gently. “What happened, Selene?” She asks gently.

All at once it hits me that I’m not merely losing my husband, but the only parental figures I’ve known since my mother died. I swipe at an escaped tear, “It’s what Bastien wants.”

Odette frowns, the edges of her warm brown eyes crinkling beneath the weight of her drawn brows. She opens her mouth to speak but before any words can escape, all the blood drains from her face in a frenzied rush, leaving her white as a sheet. Her eyes go wide and her body crumples, bowing and bending against her will. Her mouth gapes open in a breathless gasp, emitting a strangled cry.

“Odette!” | exclaim, catching her by the arms so she does not fall. “What’s wrong?”

Her mouth is opening and closing soundlessly, her body trembling beneath my hands. “It’s Gabriel.”

Before I can stop her, Odette rips herself from my hold, flying out of the room and down the hall. I race after her, blood rushing in my ears. I’ve never seen someone look so anguished, so afraid.

We pick up a few sentries as we run, everyone jolting into action the moment they see the look on Odette’s face. She bursts into Gabriel’s office, freezing in the doorway.

I know the moment I hear her choked whimper. I do not need to see her stumble back against the door frame, sinking to the ground with shaking limbs. I do not need to hear the screams that follow, or the weeping. I do not need to see her crawling across the floor on her hands and knees, seeking something just out of sight of the hallway.

By the time I reach Odette she is lying in Gabriel’s blood, her body thrown atop his, wracked with violent, heaving sobs. The Alpha stares sightlessly up at the ceiling, his skin a garish shade of gray.

I clasp my hand tightly over my mouth, trying to hold back my own grief. I can’t fall apart, not when others are hurting so badly. Odette needs me to keep it together, Bastien will need… Bastien.

I know the guards have already gone for him, but in a fit of irrational panic I try to come up with any possible plan to stop them. He shouldn’t have to see this, he shouldn’t have to lose his father so young. I wrap myself around Odette, holding her while she cries and praying that it’s all a bad dream.

Hot, thick blood seeps into my wedding dress, smearing over my skin and pooling beneath our huddled bodies. The stench of death is thick in the air, and I can almost imagine I smell the salt of Odette’s tears.

The sound of heavy running footsteps meet my ears, and I know my prayers have not been answered. Bastien towers in the doorway, looking suddenly very young despite his intimidating appearance.

His silver gaze travels over his father’s body, to his mother and me. My lip trembles, I could cry from the look on Bastien’s face alone. He looks so lost, a child adrift in a sea of uncertainty. I can see the

little boy he once was, the one who looked to his father to hang the moon.

He moves forward in a trance, his eyes never leaving his father’s body. Sinking to his knees by my side, Bastien roars with fury and despair. I watch helplessly as he sinks forward, lowering his head to Gabriel’s too-still form, his hands clenched in white knuckled fists.

I’ve never seen Bastien cry. He’s come close once or twice, but he’s never wept as he does now. The sight of my indomitable husband broken and helpless tips me over the edge. Tears stream from my eyes, and then Bastien is reaching toward me blindly.

His arm catches my waist and he hauls me into his lap, squeezing me like a security blanket while he pulls his mother into his other side. We lie in a tangled heap like this, sobbing and bloodstained, until the pack enforcers arrive.

Everything happens in a blur. Aiden is there, grasping Bastien’s shoulder and gently telling him we need to move so the investigators can sweep the scene.

Choking back his grief, Bastien nods, setting me on my feet. I stand protectively at his side while he attempts to rouse Odette, trying to pull her from Garbiel’s body as tenderly as possible. She won’t budge. She bares her fangs and snarls at her son, clutching her mate’s body so tightly her hands shake almost as violently as her quaking shoulders.

Islap my hand over my mouth when Bastien growls at Odette with pure Alpha authority, causing her body to jolt with shock. I’ve seen Bastien assert his dominance over countless pack members over the years in precisely this way – I’ve experienced it myself on a handful of occasions – but to see it happening to Odette breaks my heart.

People are swarming around us on all sides: council members, enforcers, even Dr. Kane is here. Bastien and I help Odette to her feet, and Aiden asks Dr. Kane to administer a sedative. While the

doctor speaks with her, I pull Bastien aside. His silver eyes move up and down my body, taking in the sight of my ruined wedding dress with a dreadful grimace.

I take his face in my hands, pulling his attention to my face. “I’m going to get her cleaned up and into bed.” I explain softly, “Will you be okay?” Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

Bastien’s powerful hands clamp down on my hips, his grip so strong I fear I might bruise. His head shakes slightly from right to left, and I think he’s going to refuse. Instead he pulls me into the circle of his arms, “Take care of her for me.” He pleads in my ear.

Inod, pressing my lips to his cheek. “I promise.”

After washing Gabriel’s blood from Odette and tucking her in with the help of the doctor’s sleeping pills, I return to the Alpha’s office. Gabriel’s body has been removed and though the once-cozy space is now full of crime scene tape and evidence markers, it is all but deserted.

Only Bastien remains, crumpled at his father’s desk, his head cradled in his hands. The man I knew a few hours ago is gone, replaced by a leader with the weight of the world on his shoulders. He looks up when I enter, a questioning expression on his handsome features.

“She’s asleep.” I confirm quietly.

He nods grimly, dragging his hand through his unruly hair.

“Did the investigators find anything?” I ask hesitantly.

“Not yet.” Bastien’s voice is like gravel. “They couldn’t even decipher a scent for the killer said too many people had been in and out of the room to pinpoint anything.”

I’m already kicking myself for asking the question. Finding the people responsible for the crime is a matter for the future, lingering on it now is merely a pretense to inject some sense of normalcy into circumstances which are anything but.

I close the distance between us, and Bastien turns his chair to face me when I’m finally standing in front of him. He pulls me between his legs, gazing up at me with wide, hopeless eyes. “Tell me this isn’t real?” He begs, fisting his hands at my waist.

My throat itches painfully, swelling and throbbing with emotion. “I’m so sorry.” I profess tearfully. “I’m so, so sorry.”

Bastien closes in on himself, slumping forward until his forehead is flush against my ribs. He wraps his muscular arms around my middle, burying his face in the silk of my bodice and breaking down completely.

I soothe him as best I can, making soft shushing sounds and caressing his hair, shoulders and back. After a while I sink to my knees, framing his tear-stained face in my hands and gazing up at him with all the love l possess, “You need to get cleaned up too.” I murmur, “Come on, let me take care of you for once.”

With an obedient nod, Bastien lets me lead him up to our apartment. I pull him into the bathroom, stripping off both our clothes and disappearing into the steam of a hot shower. I scrub the blood from our skin, wishing the searing water could ease Bastien’s sorrow as seamlessly as it washes away dirt and grime.

When we finally emergel guide my husband to bed, pulling back the covers and tucking him in. As I pull away Bastien’s hand latches onto my wrist, holding me captive, “Will you stay with me tonight?” He pleads, appearing more vulnerable than I have ever seen him. “Please?”

I thought my heart was broken before, but now it cracks straight down the middle. “Of course.” I vow, sliding into the bed beside him.

Bastien clings to me so tightly I can hardly breathe, and for a moment I even consider begging him to loosen his hold. However | abandon the thought as soon as it enters my mind. As horrible as this night is, as badly as I wish I could turn back the clock and prevent all this pain, a small part of me relishes the fact that this incredible, powerful man finds comfort in me.

I curl my body around his, enveloping him in my love and affection for what will probably be the last time. Tomorrow he will.