Rejected by My Alpha, Carrying His Heir

A DEAL I DIDN'T EXPECT

I didn’t trust him.

That was the first thing I knew for sure.

Kael stood a few steps away from me, his posture relaxed, but his eyes were anything but. They were sharp, observant, like he was studying every reaction I made.

“You’re thinking too hard,” he said.

“I’m thinking enough,” I replied.

A faint smirk touched his lips, like he found my resistance amusing.

“That depends on what you think you know,” he said.

I folded my arms slightly, ignoring the ache in my body. “Then enlighten me.”

He didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, he glanced around, his gaze briefly scanning the dark forest like he was checking for something.

Or someone.

That didn’t make me feel any better.

“You’re not safe out here,” he said again.

“You’ve said that already.”

“And you still don’t believe me.”

“I believe you,” I said. “I just don’t trust you.”

That made him pause.

For a moment, something shifted in his expression—less amusement, more interest.

“Fair enough,” he said.

Silence stretched between us.

Uncomfortable.

Uncertain.

Then he spoke again.

“I can help you.”

I almost laughed.

“Help me?” I repeated. “By following me in the dark and watching me like I’m some kind of target?”

“You are a target,” he said simply.

That shut me up.

My chest tightened.

“What do you mean?”

He stepped closer, his voice lowering.

“It means you leaving that pack wasn’t just about you anymore,” he said. “It made you visible.”

“To who?”

He held my gaze for a second too long.

“The kind of people you don’t want to meet unprepared.”

A chill ran down my spine.

“And you think you’re better than them?” I asked.

“No,” he said. “I just know them.”

That wasn’t reassuring.

At all.

“So what?” I said. “You want me to just follow you?”

“I want you to survive,” he replied.

Silence.

Then—

“What’s the catch?” I asked.

Because there was always a catch.

Kael's expression darkened slightly.

“You listen to me,” he said. “And you don’t run when things get difficult.”

I stared at him, my heart beating faster.

This wasn’t help.

This was something else.

Something deeper.

Something dangerous.

But right now…

I didn’t have many choices.

And that was the problem.