Blood And Silver Rise of the Alpha's Rejected Mate novel Chapter 17

Chapter 17 

DANE 

Evelyn preferred to stay in the city, so I made my way to the penthouse. 

It wasn’t the same one I’d shared with Ann–Aurora. It was one Evelyn had picked out. Somehow more filled with things and less homey at the same time. 

At least, it never felt like home to me. 

I walked in, still not able to get the sound of the child I’d heard at Aurora’s house out of my mind. 

Maybe because this pregnancy announcement had come right after–and because I’d had to learn it from the fucking internet. 

“Evelyn!” 

“I’m in here, baby!” she called. 

She trotted into the foyer in a tiny little dress, grinning from ear to ear, then threw her arms around me before I could get a word 

oul. 

# 

I took her by the shoulders and pushed her back. “Why the hell does the internet think you’re pregnant?” 

Chapter 17 

2/6 

She blushed and stammered, suddenly out of sorts. Her eyes got big watery. “Oh, no! How did they find out? Someone must have leaked it. I was really looking forward to telling you first!” 

I stifled a growl that started low in my throat. “How can you be pregnant with my child?” I asked. “I haven’t touched you in over a year.” 

Her checks turned pink. “I know you said you needed time…but do you remember that night three months ago?” 

I knew which night she meant. Three months ago was the eight year anniversary of the night the Reeds massacred my pack. The night I’d lost my parents. My grandmother. The night I’d been forced to marry the woman who now called herself Aurora DeVere. 

Slowly, I nodded. As a rule, I never got shitfaced enough to lose control, because Alphas couldn’t afford to make mistakes. 

But that one night every year, I let myself go. All the way. 

I was too ashamed to face the memories. 

“Well, that night you were drunk, and you came to my bed, and…” Evelyn’s cheeks turned pink. 

My jaw clenched. A year ago, I had stopped sleeping with Evelyn because I’d finally faced the truth: I didn’t love her. 

But every time I looked at that damn crescent birth mark on her arm, I remembered I owed her my life. 

Chapter 17 

I’d come clean with her. I told her how I felt. I tried to break 

with her. 

3/6 

up 

She wouldn’t hear it. She insisted I’d come around. That I did. 

love her. 

She refused to break off the engagement. 

And now, if she really was having my child…. 

The image of Aurora’s face danced through my mind. Then, like a vivid daydream, so did the faces of two children. A little boy with dark eyes and blond hair, and a little girl with dark hair and Aurora’s lilac eyes. 

The picture was so real, my breath caught. 

Evelyn thought I was reacting to her. She jumped up and down and clapped. “I knew you’d be excited!” 

“I…” 

She grabbed both of my hands and pulled herself into my arms again, squeezing while I just stood there. She started babbling about shopping and names and nurseries. 

All I felt was cold. 

I didn’t want Evelyn to have my child. 

I owed her. I had a responsibility toward her. 

Chapter 17 

But I realized then in a way I never had that I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life with her. 

Now, I didn’t have a choice. 

Honor, Aurora had said last night. 

She thought I had honor. 

I didn’t know if that’s what it was. 

4/6 

But I’d grown up without parents, and I wouldn’t let any child of mine live life without their father. 

It looked like Evelyn was finally going to get what she wanted: a wedding date. 

AURORA 

Once I’d snuggled and read to the twins and they were asleep, I called Lilliana. 

“Aurora,” she said brightly as she answered the phone. “You never call. How wonderful to hear from you!” Then she made a shocked face. “Oh! I did hear the twins are missing. How terrible! Has grandmother found them?” 

I smiled just as brightly. “It seems someone startled our cousin Evander when they attempted to poison my children, and he 

Chapter 17 

thought it was best they be with me.” 

5/6 

Lilliana’s smile turned to a scowl, just for a second. “Oh…they’re with you, now? I’m sure that’s nice.”