Rejected by Her Mate Claimed by Four Alphas novel Chapter 96

25 Points

CHAPTER 86

Clara’s POV

It was Alpha Killian.

I closed my eyes tightly, thinking I must be hallucinating. Maybe I was having some kind of stress–induced nightmare. Maybe all the tension from the day had finally caught up with me, and my mind was playing tricks.

This couldn’t be real. Killian was supposed to be unconscious in the hospital, fighting for his life after suffering a serious seizure. There was no way he could be in my bed right now.

I chanted in my head that it was Darius. That when I opened my eyes, I would see Darius keeping his promise from earlier. That made sense. Darius had said he would come to me tonight.

But when I opened my eyes again, I came face to face with Killian.

His green eyes were bright and alert, not at all like someone who had just suffered a serious medical emergency. His face had color in it, and he was looking at me with an intensity that made my heart race for all the wrong reasons.

“What are you doing here?” I stuttered out again, my voice barely above a whisper.

Killian smiled, a slow, dangerous expression that made something flutter in my stomach. He was lying on his side next to me in my bed, his head propped up on one hand while the other remained

on my arm.

The sight of him there, so close and so clearly healthy, sent my mind reeling. How was this possible? I had seen him unconscious just hours ago. I had watched the medical equipment monitoring his vital signs.

“What do you think I’m doing here?” he asked, his voice low and smooth.

The question made my mind go blank. I couldn’t think of any reasonable explanation for why Killian would be in my bed when he was supposed to be unconscious in the hospital.

“You’re supposed to be sick,” I said, trying to pull my arm away from his grip. “You had a seizure. You’re supposed to be unconscious.”

“Am I?” he asked, that same dangerous smile playing on his lips.

I stared at him, my mind trying to process what was happening. If he was here, talking to me,

clearly alert and aware, then that meant everything I had witnessed earlier was fake.

“You faked it,” I breathed, the realization hitting me like a cold slap.

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Killian’s smile widened. “Very good.”

“You faked the seizure?” I asked, still struggling to believe what I was hearing.

+25 Points

The implications were staggering. He had fooled everyone. The doctors, the nurses, Xander, even Darius. They were all rushing around making arrangements to transport a critically ill patient, and it was all based on a lie.

“I faked all of it,” he confirmed, his voice matter–of–fact. “And I’d do it again to get what I want.”

“What you want?” I repeated, though part of me already knew the answer.

“You,” he said simply.

The single word hung in the air between us like a challenge. I felt my pulse quicken, but not entirely from fear.

I was stunned. The casual way he admitted to such an elaborate deception left me speechless. He had manipulated everyone, caused panic and worry, all for his own purposes.

“You can’t be serious,” I said, trying to sound stronger than I felt.

“I’m completely serious,” he replied. “I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life.”

The intensity in his voice made me believe him, which only made everything worse. This wasn’t some impulsive decision. He had planned this, calculated every move.

I tried to sit up and move away from him, but his hand on my arm tightened, keeping me in place.

“You need to leave,” I said firmly. “Right now. Before someone finds you here.”

“No one’s going to find me here,” Killian said confidently. “Everyone thinks I’m unconscious and dying. They’re not going to check on me for hours.”

The casual way he talked about his deception made my stomach turn. How could he be so calm

about lying to everyone? About making people worry for his life?

“You can’t just break into my room,” I protested, trying again to pull away from him.

“I didn’t break in,” he said. “I walked in. Your door wasn’t locked.”

“That doesn’t give you the right to be here.”

“Doesn’t it?” he asked, leaning closer to me. “After everything we’ve shared? After the connection

we both felt?”

“We haven’t shared anything,” I said quickly. “And there’s no connection.”

Even as I said it, I knew it wasn’t entirely true. There had been something between us from the

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CHAPTER 86

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moment we met in the training ring. Something I couldn’t explain and didn’t want to acknowledge.

Killian laughed softly. “Liar.”

The word stung because part of me knew he wasn’t entirely wrong. My body had responded to him from that first encounter, and I had been confused by those feelings ever since.

“I want you to leave,” I said, trying to sound more confident than I felt.

“What you want and what you need are two different things,” Killian replied.

He shifted closer to me, and I suddenly became very aware that I was only wearing a thin nightgown while he was fully dressed. The proximity felt dangerous in ways I didn’t want to examine.

“I know what you need,” he continued, his voice dropping to a whisper. “I can smell it on you.”

My face burned with embarrassment because I knew he was right. My body was responding to his presence in ways I couldn’t control. The same way it responded to Darius.

The thought hit me like a punch to the gut. How could I be feeling the same things with Killian that I felt with Darius? What kind of person did that make me?

“Stop,” I said weakly.

“Stop what?” he asked innocently. “I’m not doing anything.”

But he was doing something. The way he was looking at me, the way his voice had changed, the

way he was lying so close to me in my bed. Everything about his presence was deliberate and

calculated.

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