Pregnant and Rejected by My Alpha Mate

#Chapter 16 The Wine Is Drugged

Selene’s POV

Woops.

When I asked Drake to keep me company at the party, I planned to flirt and dance, to give Bastien a little taste of his own medicine. Annoyance, that was the plan. An annoyed Bastien is manageable, an enraged Bastien is dangerous.

I stare at my husband with wide eyes. He’s standing in the doorway, on the verge of shifting, fury rolling off him in waves. His metallic gaze is locked on my face, on my tears and Drake’s comforting hands.

Drake doesn’t seem the least bit troubled by the rabid creature looming over us. He slides his fingers from my skin, turning to Bastien with a friendly smile. “Bastien, it’s been a while.”

“Too long.” Bastien agrees, “So long you seem to have forgotten who you’re dealing with.”

Drake rolls his eyes, and I have a sudden and newfound respect for the young Alpha. He may wear the face of a playful rogue, but underneath he is every bit the hard and commanding leader the role demands. “Honestly Bastien, I didn’t think you’d be so ungrateful.” He quips, “In case you haven’t heard, I saved your wife’s life tonight. I wouldn’t have had to if you’d been here.”

Bastien’s claws extend and retract compulsively, betraying the conflict raging within him. Drake’s words were an outright provocation, but there was no denying the truth in them. After a moment Bastien settles into a low simmer, striding past the other man to reach me. He drags me into a tight embrace, cuddling me to his chest. “What happened?”

Feeling suddenly warm and hazy, it takes me a moment to realize he asked a question. Drake – apparently – suffers no such impediment. “You have some vipers in your nest.” He drawls, “It was only a matter of time before one striked.”

I plant my palms against Bastien’s chest, trying to push away from him so I can pin Drake with the full force of my indignant glare. “What happened to ‘heroes don’t tattle?!**

Drake’s face scrunches up in a wince, and I belatedly realize my mistake. I look up at my husband, whose handsome features are awash with foreboding. “Am I to take it you intended to keep this information secret?” He asks, his voice dangerously low.

I lower my gaze, careful not to challenge his dominance, “It wasn’t a big deal.” I argue, “It’s not as if she knew I couldn’t swim.”

I see Bastien’s head turn in my periphery, and realize he’s now looking to Drake, “Who?”

His answer is immediate. “Redhead, blue dress, gaggle of minions trailing after her wherever she goes.”

Ten minutes later the door swings open, and Aiden pokes his head in. “Bastien would like to see you in the great hall.”

in the hall just in time to see the rest of the party guests gather within. We move forward, slipping through the crowd until the object of everyone’s attention is

the hall, the redhead from the gardens at his

this. Bastien makes short work of her hesitance, clamping one large hand around the

makes her wince. “Mrs. Durand, I’m deeply sorry for the things I said and the way I treated you. I

my husband’s chest, and the woman quickly amends her statement. “I should never have treated you that way, no matter

not sure what I’d expected, but this isn’t it. Part of me is indignant: I’ll never learn to stand on my own two feet if other people are always fixing my problems for me. The rest of me is gushing pure elation. For the

been so fierce and fearless when she was bullying me, emboldened by my vulnerability

never do so again: you won’t like the outcome.” I

hear anyone speaking about my wife in such a way, or anyone lays a hand on her again, I will not be held accountable for my

when we sat down to dinner, but by the end of the second course, my husband was back to acting

detachment. One moment he’s so happy he’s grinning like a fool, the next he’s snarling and

make it through the meal in starts and stops, and Bastien’s odd does not go unnoticed. I see his parents exchange glances a few times, but no

party begins to shift toward

daze. His pupils are dilated and his eyes

I question pointedly, checking his forehead for

approaches his side and asks him to dance. I recognize her as one of the women who’d been gossiping with my would-be

of my neck, It was extremely odd for a pack member to approach and proposition an Alpha

– about my marriage – but I know something is wrong. This is not Bastien. His behavior is completely out of character, regardless of how he may feel about me or Arabella or anyone else. He is not in control, and he is

studying Bastien’s wine glass out of the corner of my eye. I shift in his direction and

the confirmation I need to

my back for years without complaint; the least I can do is return the favor. Doubt lingers in my mind as I search the crowd. What if he will not come away, what

I

a moment to find them. They stand at the center of the dancefloor, Bastien swaying drunkenly next to the blonde, who is

needn’t have worried about being rejected. When Bastien sees me over his partner’s shoulder he steps away from her without a word, closing the distance between us as if in a trance. I rise up on my

to sway to the music. I drop back down onto my heels as he begins to turn us haphazardly around the dancefloor, his intimate grip and undulating movements

his right mind, but he is the same dominant Alpha he’s always been, and my body

dancing and the next Bastien has dragged me out a side

| gasp, trying to get his attention. “Take me home.” i free my hands from their trapped position between our bodies and catch his face between them. “I need you to take

long moment, as if trying to remember something he’s long forgot. Bastien’s confused expression gives