Pregnant and Rejected by My Alpha Mate

I immediately take a step towards Selene, but Blaise lazily waves his hand and a line of sentries

crosses the floor be tween us, forming a human barricade between myself and my mate. Now Selene,

Helene and James are completely encir cled by guards, but my beautiful little wolf looks as deter mined

as ever. If I so chose, I could barrel through the shifters dividing us with little issue, but I‘m sure that‘s

exactly what Blaise wants. He wants to distract me, he wants to use Selene against me.

Unable to help myself, my eyes drop to my mate‘s belly. She‘s put on at least five pounds since I saw

her last, and her dress is now ballooned outward by a healthy baby bump. Twins, I think again, in awe

of how much my wife has been through these last few weeks, and amazed by the miracle she‘ s

embodying.

When our eyes meet, I can see her determination so clear ly it‘s staggering. Nothing I say now is going

to convince her to leave, even if it means she‘s in for the spanking of a lifetime when this is all over –

which I can say with good authority, she

1. is.

“What? No Reunion?” Blaise jeers, “or are you too disgust ed knowing she‘s been sucking my cock

every night to go near her?”

Selene rolls her eyes. I know because I‘m still watching her, trusting Matthew and Grayson to warn me

if Blaise or his men make a move. “You idiot.” She snipes, raising her voice so the Alpha will hear her

at the other end of the hall. “I haven‘t laid a hand on you.”

“Selene, don‘t.” I warn, I don‘t want her giving up her şe crets in case this all goes wrong.

“You don‘t get to rewrite history just because your mate is here now, my pet.” Blaise croons, still talking

to her in that same besotted voice he used the first time he saw her, despite how crude he is about her

when speaking to me.

“It‘s okay, Bastien.” Selene assures me, my name like mu sic on her lips, “We‘re going to get through

this.”

“I‘d like to see you try.” Blaise counters coolly.

Too late I realize that Selene was willing to spill the beans about her hypnosis, because she and

Helene are about to show their true colors anyway. Both women raise their hands to conjure their

magic, and I finally understand their plan. They might be able to keep the guards at bay long enough to

let Matthew, Grayson and I defeat Blaise, assuming his own spellcaster doesn‘t come along to thwart

them again.

“Tsk, tsk tsk.” Blaise scolds, glancing at one of the sen tries on his left, “Go get higgins.”

I can‘t say for sure, but if I had to guess Blaise has just sent for his own witch, which means we have

act now. “Se lene?” I call over my shoulder.

“I‘m not leaving, Bastien.” She tells me stubbornly.

“I know, baby.” I assure her, “just do your worst.”

“Gladly.” I can hear the smile in her voice, and moments later I see a thick black fog encroaching

around us, blinding all the guards against the walls and leaving only the dozen men directly in front of

Blaise in full view. I‘m not sure what magic Helene might be wielding since Selene‘s has surround ed

us in darkness, but when Matthew, Grayson and I step for ward, the guards still visible don‘t move an

inch.

“What are you doing?” Blaise demands of his men. “Kill them!”

The three of us rush forward, lunging for the stationary guards and ripping their bodies off the floor one

by one. We throw them aside as if they weigh nothing, and then the three of us are bearing down on

Blaise, who finally rises to his feet. “Fine,” He grumbles, finally seeming to see the sense of one on one

combat now that he‘s outnumbered, “We‘ll do this the old–fashioned way. So who‘s first?”

“Why should we give you that honor when you offered us no such thing?” Grayson growls fiercely.

Looking at something over our shoulders, Blaise‘s face splits into a terrible grin. “Because the odds just

turned against you.”

—––––

Selene

For a long time I never got the chance to see Helene‘s magic. She was so focused on training me that

every time I asked about her own powers, she simply scolded me for tak ing my mind off our mission. It

wasn‘t until we came to tar tarus that she finally showed me what she was capable of – beyond

knowing the unknowable that is.

Together we actually make quite the pair, I can blind men while she can paralyze them, and I can‘t think

of a better use of our combined talents in this moment. I know Bastien can defeat Blaise if he‘s able to

actually get near him. The trick is making the Calypso Alpha play fair.

I‘ve been training myself not to get my hopes up these

past few weeks, but when we first unleash our combined powers on the shifters in the room, I can‘t

help but feel a surge of excitement. This can work, we can do this! I think, pouring all my belief into my

mate.

I should have known better. I should have learned my les son after a lifetime of crushed dreams. When

Blaise first called for his spellcaster | was simply eager to get a second chance against the man, but as

soon as he arrives the tide turns against us. The men Helene froze in place simultaneous ly broke out

of their spell, and my veil of shadows begins to swirl as he sends gusts of wind through the room.

All at once the three wolves stalking Blaise on his throne‘s raised dais are forced to fall back and fight

the army closing in on them, shifting into their wolf forms and fearlessly facing down their attackers.

Blaise‘s sentries are relentless, one man after another charging the trio of rebels.

“Where are the others?” | ask Helene and my father anx iously, “I thought you said there were more

rebels.”

“They‘re attempting to seize the palace so that even if we fail here, Blaise won‘t be able to hold onto his

power.” My fa ther explains in between incapacitating guards.

“We need help.” | state nervously, “there are too many of them.”

“Have faith, little mother.” Helene tells me, repeating the same words which have tormented me

throughout my impris onment.

“Faith can‘t win wars.” | mutter, watching as Bastien‘s huge black wolf rips the shifter surging around

him limb from limb with brutal efficiency. Looking beyond them, I see Blaise

standing before his throne, looking down on the chaos with a triumphant glint in his eyes.

Suddenly I remember Helene‘s words when I was first learning to harness the shadows, about the

fears utter dark ness brings out in all of us, and the many skeletons Blaise has in his closet.

Redirecting my obsidian fog for the Calypso Al pha, I swirl the black mist around Blaise, blocking out all

his surroundings.

Helene is busy trying to counter his spellcaster, but my own vindictive fury eggs me on, pulling ghosts

and monsters straight out of Blaise‘s nightmares and manifesting them in the black veil surrounding

him. I can hear his cruel laughter fade to a nervous grunt, and then his howl pulls all the atten tion in

the room.

Bathed in shadows, the Calypso Alpha is quickly fraying at the edges, his worst fears and darkest

secrets pummeling him in a relentless assault. I can feel his spellcaster‘s eyes on me, contemplating

some way to stop me, but I think the man is afraid of harming me and infuriating Blaise.

That‘s right. I think maliciously. You just stand there and watch while your master unravels.

All of my attention is focused on maintaining the shadows around Blaise, and I can almost see his

flailing limbs through the impenetrable fog. Helene and James are urging me on, but their voices sound

distant to my ears. I‘m so intent on tor turing the horrible man, that I don‘t notice the scene around my

shift, until Helene tumbles to the ground at my feet.

Her cheek lands on my foot, and my concentration breaks as I look down at her in shock. Too late I

realize Blaise‘s sor

cerer must have found a loophole to attacking me – by at tacking my mentor. I have no idea what he‘s

done, but one thing is painfully clear as I stare down at Helene.

Her eyes are wide and vacant, her chest has ceased mov ing with her breath, and she‘s so still I might

think she was paralyzed – were it not for the fact that her heart has ceased beating. Horror fills me as

reality sets in, and I realize I was so distracted and consumed by my desire to punish Blaise, that

Helene was attacked mere inches away, and I didn‘t even no tice.

After a hundred and fifty years of surviving no matter what, my wonderful mentor has been vanquished

– and by a tyrant‘s crony no less. Helene is dead – and it‘s all my fault.

Helene always said I would be her last student. I didn‘t re alize she was speaking so literally when she

said it though. I wonder if she knew from the very beginning, from the first day we met, that I would be

the end of her.

My dazed mind struggles to come to terms with the fact that two people have died for me in under half

an hour, and even though I feel so stunned I think I must be dreaming, guilt is already washing over me

in a tidal wave of shame and re gret.

Dropping to my knees, I roll Helene onto her back, shak ing her gently and calling her name even

though I know she can‘t hear me, “Helene!” | cry, “Helene, get up!”

My father is bending over me, his large, warm hands on my shoulders. “She‘s gone Selene.” He

murmurs, “She‘s gone, you can‘t help her now.”

“No!” I insist tearfully, “she‘s lived forever, she‘s got more power in her little finger than I do in my whole

body, she has to be faking, this has to be some kind of spell.”

“Sweetheart, you have to focus.” My father coaches, “Blaise still lives and your mate still fights. It‘s over

for Helene but it doesn‘t have to be over for you.”

Little by little his words seep into my brain, and I‘m finally able to look up at the scene around me.

Bastien, Grayson and Matthew are still fighting tooth and nail, but Blaise and his spellcaster are

standing side by side, looking only too pleased with themselves. “This is what defiance gets you, my

beauty.” Blaise informs me. “Now be a good girl and come to me be fore anyone else gets hurt.“