Pregnant And Rejected By My Alpha Mate By Caroline Above Chapter 185
Chapter 185
Frederic
I‘m not sure what to make of the city of Tartarus. On one hand, I can‘t help but admire the power
apparent in ev ery corner of the opulent capital. On the other, it seems like a bloody waste to have
relegated three quarters of the citi zens below ground. Just as in Elysium or his teenage home in the
Gemini pack, Frederic was always analyzing the pack structure and leadership, always assessing how
he would do things differently if he was in control.
He supposed ise was powerful and mad enough to afford to subjugate the popce this way, but
that also meant he was wasting an incrediblebor force. The under ground inhabitants would be much
better served as an army – one that could help expand his territory rather than simply upholding the
same status quo that had always ex isted.
In his ce, Frederic would certainly not have kept the aristocrats in such high esteem either. If
anything, they were the ones who should be forced to live in the ruins of centuries past. Frederic had
spent more that enough time with Arabe and pack elites to see that they were only useful as financial
backers and ckies. If he had his way the entire entitled ss would be ousted.
Once he reached the city, more and more horrified to
realize this was Selene‘s destination despite the threat ise apparently posed to her, it has taken him
quite some time to finally zero in on her scent – more than enough time to thoroughly explore the ins
and outs of the multi tiered metropolis.
ConTEent bel0ngs to N?v(e)lD/rama(.)Org .
By the time he finally caught onto her scent, near a chic little hotel in the West End, he‘d already filled
half a note book with observations, ideas and warnings to help guide him when the day finally came
that he had his own pack to run. He might have been ousted from Elysium, but he‘d hit road blocks
before – this was just another hurdle to overe. He wasn‘t giving up, he was simply pausing and res
cuing Selene from her own recklessness in the meantime.
From the hotel he followed her trail to the park, then an apartment that reeked of Bastien and – to his
shock – Ara be. What had happened here? He wondered. He could guess why Bastien might have
come here, since the Alpha did have a bounty on Vnas, but he couldn‘t fathom how he‘d be
tangled up with Arabe.
Eventually he tracked them to a modest church near the city center, where he‘d watched Selene and
her witchy mentor enter, soon followed by an entire army of Capital guards and the man who could only
be ise. Minutester he saw Helene skulking out the side door. He couldn‘t see was was happening
inside, but he could see violent shes of light and hear Bastien roaring like a feral beast. Shortly after
ise escorted a tearful Selene out the front – and
two bodies were dragged out the side doors. Bastien at least, appeared to be alive. Arabe was
undoubtedly not.
At first he hadn‘t been sure who to follow. He wanted to go after Selene, and he knew Bastien would be
the most likely person to be able to take on ise, but in the end, he chose the person who wasn‘t
surrounded by guards. He fol lowed Helene for a few blocks, before she disappeared from sight
completely. Confused, he ran ahead, then stopped and turned in a circle, wondering why he couldn‘t
catch her scent any longer.
The next thing he knew she was right in front of him with her hands sped in front of her. “I hate to
break it to you, but if you thought this pack was going to be an easier mark than the Novas, you were
sorely mistaken.”
“That isn‘t – I‘m not, I came to try and stop Selene from doing whatever it is she nned.” He insisted.
“Well I‘m afraid you‘re toote.” Helene announced un helpfully.
“But, you‘re going to try and rescue her aren‘t you?” He demanded.
“Whatever I do, I have no ns on sharing it with you.” She bit.
“Please.” He begged. “I want to help, I care about Se lene. I don‘t want anything to happen to her.”
“You have an odd way of showing caring.” Helene groused.
“Look, I‘m not perfect, but I‘m better than ise.” Fred eric imed, “If you‘re going to get her back you
need as much help as you can get, and you know the old saying: the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
“What use are you to me?” She asked slyly, “I‘ve been in this city longer than you have, I see things far
beyond the naked eye.”
“Yes, but I have contacts.” Frederic asserted, “No one stages a coup on their own. I have underworld
allies in ev ery pack on the continent.”
Helene arched a brow. “Any of them silversmiths?”
“No,” Frederic replied, bewildered, “But I be the rebels know a few.”
It took Selene a long time to decide if she wanted to try to get out of dinnerpletely, or run out
halfway through. In the end, she imagined ise would simply take
an outright refusal as defiance; he needed proof of her ill ness, and she was only too eager to give it to
him. Yes, she decided, it was far better to go to dinner and let him see for himself.
She wished she could call home and check on L, but even if she had ess to a phone, she was too
afraid to risk it. She didn‘t get the sense that ise was a patient man, and he already wanted more
than one child. If he knew about L it would only be a matter of time before she was dead.
She couldn‘t stand waiting for Helene to solve her problems for her. She wanted to save herself for
once. She wanted to rescue Bastien the same way he‘d rescued her in the past. So as the eerily silent
servants lead her down the hallway to dinner, she tried to take in every detail she could about her
surroundings. She still feltpletely turned around in the huge estate, but after a few days out and
about she might learn to find her way. She decided then and there that she had to behave well enough
for ise to let her roam the pce freely, and if that didn‘t work, she at least needed to learn to pick
the lock on her door.
When they finally reached their destination, the ser vants gestured for Selene to go through a solid
mahogany door. She expected to be entering ise‘s private cham bers, instead she found herself
entering a massive banquet hall. It seemed that she and ise would not be eating din ner alone,
though she had no idea what he was nning
for dessert.
The entire hall was full of obedient aristocrats showing their fealty at ise‘s court, and though she
was let in through a side door, Selene did not go unnoticed. The mo ment she stepped inside there was
a collective intake of breath as hundreds of heads turned her way. Muttering met her ears as she took
her first hesitant steps, feeling
suddenly very self conscious in her pale pink gown.
She moved through the sea of tables without making eye contact with anyone and simply trying to keep
her head held high. Some people whispered of her beauty, others spected on her rtionship with
the Alpha, while more still noted the silver cuffs on her slender wrists. That‘s right. She thought dryly.
He might be able to dress me up and paint my face like a doll, but at the end of the day I‘m a prisoner
just like you.
When she finally reached ise, he beamed – sparking more murmurs than ever. “Selene you look
stunning.” Heplimented.
“Thank you.” She replied, amazed at how calm she‘d managed to sound.
“What do you think of my court?” He asked, sweeping an arm towards the shimmering gathering.
“It‘s certainly an embarrassment of riches.” Selene re
marked, unable to keep the irony from her voice, “I‘m sur prised your people don‘t look happier.”
“Happiness isn‘t a requirement for a prosperous pack, my beauty.” ise dered, with the heir of a
lecturing professor, “Hard work and obedience are.”
“And here I was thinking happy people were more pro ductive.” Selene bit, drawing ise‘s piercing
gaze.
“And that is why I lead, and you serve.” He answered, pulling out her chair. “I hope you‘re hungry.”
“Oh,” Selene uttered, taking in thevish spread in front of them. “I‘m sorry, I wasn‘t thinking… you
know, with the kidnapping… I‘m having a very strong aversion to poultry.”
“Ah yes,” ise answered, gesturing for the servants to remove the various roasted birds from the
table and mak ing Selene kick herself for mentioning it, “The joys of preg nancy. How far along are you,
anyway?”
“Four and a half months.” Selene shared, “but I have a severe nausea condition, so I haven‘t put on as
much weight as I should have.”
“Halfway,” he nods in approval. “Good, we should be able to find out the sex tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” Selene repeated, aghast. Suddenly it seemed she didn‘t need to be near any poultry to
feel sick. Her terrified body did the work for her, and abruptly emp tied the contents of her stomach,
right into ise‘sp.