Pregnant and Rejected By My Alpha Mate: Part 2

Bastien’s POV

I’ll kill them all.

Every last wolf who laid a paw on Selene will pay, followed by that coward they call an Alpha. It was bad enough that Drake wasn’t man enough to fight his own battle, but to let his men attack an innocent she-wolf is a new level of abhorrence.

I thought I was hallucinating when Selene joined the fight. After all, my mate doesn’t have a violent bone in her body, but I suppose her wolf had other ideas. Everything should have stopped then and there, but I wasn’t near enough to help her, and Drake’s guards were so blinded by bloodlust they never even registered that the obstacle blocking them from their target was the mother of their Alpha’s child.

In fairness, Drake is almost as angry as I am. We both moved for Selene the moment we heard her yelp, surging forward to protect her even as the scent of her blood seeped into the air. We shifted at once, reaching for the little wolf collapsed in a puddle on the floor at the same time.

Axel almost took control again when he realized what Drake was doing, but the brutality of his snarl fended off the other Alpha just in time. Drake turned on his men with a vengeance while I scooped up Selene, laying into them with more strength and authority than I’ve ever seen him display.

By the sounds of it, a few Eros wolves will soon be unemployed. I can approve of that much, but this never should have happened in the first place. If Cavanaugh had been paying attention to his surroundings, he could have stopped this. I saw Selene step in and tried to warn her off, but I couldn’t reach her until Drake called off his dogs.

I lay Selene on the couch and pull a blanket over her small form, kneeling in front of her and stroking her gleaming white fur. Crimson stains bloom on her arms, shoulder and ribs, and though the wounds don’t look severe, it terrifies me that she hasn’t regained consciousness.

Axel is alternating between whining and growling, beside himself with concern for Selene and overwrought with fury towards the wolves who did this.

Sick of listening to Drake’s shouts, I thunder, “Stop barking at those idiots and get a doctor!”

He looks like he wants to punch me, but one glance at Selene convinces him to obey. His Beta and the guards disappear, and then Drake is striding towards the door of Lila’s bedroom. A fresh growl bursts from my chest, but he ignores me, narrowing his glowing green eyes with disgust. “Back off, Durand. I have a right to check on my daughter.”

Axel lets off a string of curses in my head, emitting a bevy of choice words I wouldn’t mind throwing at Drake myself. With great effort, I refrain. I hate hearing him call Lila that, but he’s right. I know he won’t hurt the pup, and I want to make sure she’s all right too.

“Come on, little wolf.” I coax softly, trying to steady my hands as they continue to shake with rage. “Open your eyes for me.”

Selene whimpers faintly, her ears twitching in response to my voice. Sweet relief slams into me, but I refuse to be bowled over, not yet. “That’s it, baby.” I praise, “come back to me.”

I can hear running footsteps in the distance, and the faint sounds of a grumpy pup waking from slumber. Drake is rousing Lila, and I feel nothing but annoyance towards the man when I hear her disgruntled whines. Still, I think Selene must hear them too. Her eyelids begin to twitch as the noises grow louder, and I jump on the idea. “Wake up, Selene.” I encourage, “Lila needs you.”

Her bright eyes blink open, looking glassy and far away. She whines, sounding so much like her pup I almost want to laugh, before clamping them shut again. “Tsk, none of that,” I chide, finally releasing the breath I’ve been holding since I saw her hit the floor. “Open them all the way, beautiful.”

I can’t hold back my grin when she finally complies. “That’s my girl.” I commend her, waiting for the luminous pools to focus. It only takes a moment for her brain to catch up before her nerves start zinging messages of pain back to the control center. Guilt fractures my insides when her pupils contract to pinpoints and her face twists into a grimace. “I know it hurts, angel, but we need you to shift.”

Lila is crying now, and Drake appears in the doorway, rocking the pup in his arms and trying fruitlessly to calm her. I’d like nothing more than to storm across the room and rip the child from his arms. This is all his fault. He hurt my mate and made her pup cry in a matter of minutes.

Selene’s head twists around on the cushions, searching for her daughter and trying to rise when she cannot find her. Before I can step in, Selene’s arms give out and she crumples back onto the sofa with a whimper.

Drake’s concerned expression deepens, and he moves nearer, clearly intending to put Lila in Selene’s line of sight. I shake my head at him firmly, Selene might need to see her pup, but Lila does not need to see her mother bleeding out in the living room.

“She’s alright Selene.” I promise, pleased to see Drake carrying the toddler out of the room. “She just got woken up before she was ready, that’s all.” Pressing a kiss to her velvety muzzle, I continue, “you have to shift back now.”

I feel like an ogre for asking this of her, especially knowing it’s only her second time. Unfortunately it can’t be helped. Shifting takes a lot of energy; if she doesn’t do it soon, she won’t be able to until she’s had some time to recover. Of course, the doctors can still examine her in this form, but it’s far from ideal. “Shift sweetheart.”

Scrunching her face up in concentration, Selene’s limbs begin to blur at the edges, vibrating with heat and energy. Louds cracks and pops fill the air, punctuated by a keening cry as my mate’s body twists and bends, reshaping itself in ways that defy nature. By the time the transformation is complete the doctor has arrived, and my mother close behind.

I wrap the blanket a bit tighter around Selene’s naked body, trailing soothing caresses where I can. “You did so well, baby. I’m so proud of you.”

“Bastien!” Mom exclaims, looking horror struck, “What happened?”

“Cavanaugh happened.” I grumble, “Will you do me a favor and go make sure Lila’s alright, he took her out a few minutes ago.”

Selene shifts restlessly, too exhausted to speak as she watches my mother leave, immediately taking up her marching orders. “Don’t worry.” I croon, reading the distress in her pale countenance. “Mom will take care of her. She’ll spoil her so much you’ll have a real problem on your hands by the time she’s done.”

She barely has time to process my words before the doctor approaches. Unfortunately it’s a man, which is the very last thing we needed. If I know my mate, the outbreak of violence will have sent her straight into flashbacks of Garrick. Concern for Lila may have kept her partially present, but right now she’s probably halfway between reality and nightmare.

Sure enough, she tries to scrabble away from the man, yelping in pain and not moving an inch. With every second that passes, I find more reasons to hate Drake Cavanaugh. I don’t want to be forced to hold Selene down, and I don’t have any idea where I could even apply pressure without harming her worse than she already is.

I share a glance with the white-coated shifter, “You’re safe, Selene.” I try to reassure her, “This is Dr…”

“Fields.” The man supplies promptly.

“This is Dr. Fields, he’s here to help you.” I explain, “You need to let him take a look at you.” When she simply shakes her head and cowers, I add. “I’ll be right here, I’m not going anywhere.”

The doctor takes an experimental step forward, and Selene jerks away as if she’s been electrocuted.

Fuck. I think desperately.

Let me out. Axel commands savagely. She needs a wolf, not a man.

I can’t. I sigh. He’s not wrong, Selene always finds more comfort from my wolf when she gets like this, but until Axel grows opposable thumbs, comfort is all he can provide.

Dr. fields nods in my direction, beckoning me to him so we might confer. With great trepidation, I do as he asks, leaving Selene’s side even though it goes against my every instinct.

When I reach him, he’s already preparing a shot, pressing a needle through the top of a vial full of viscous liquid. “I can’t examine her like this.” He says curtly. “She’ll have to be sedated.”

“You know she’s not going to let you near her with a needle either.” I remark irritably.

The serious-looking man eyes me from over the top of his glasses. “Then you’ll have to hold her down.”

____________________

As long as I live, I will never get over the horror of holding my injured mate down so a strange man could put his hands on her.

I know it had to be done.

I know there was no other way.

But I will never forget the terror in her eyes, or the sounds of her pleading and crying when Dr Field’s approached with the syringe. I will never forget the pain I inflicted trying to keep her still, the physical wounds I worsened while she begged us not to hurt her, or her wails of agony when we did it anyway.

Even injured as Selene was, her survival instincts kicked in strongly enough that overpowering her surging adrenaline took two doses of sedative. When it was over, it was all I could do to carry her to bed without breaking down. I finally collapsed in the chair at her side, watching the doctor tend her wounds and praying to the Goddess that she won’t remember what happened.

If she does, she’ll never forgive me.