Rejected and Pregnant: Claimed By The Dark Alpha Prince-Chapter 697: Bond refused to snap

Being asked out by the Prince was a scenario that hadn’t even hovered on the periphery of her imagination.

"Your marriage ended only a short while ago," she began, her voice trembling as she searched his eyes for any sign of a lingering desire. "Are you truly certain? I am a suppressive Omega, Dominick. Yesterday, you were revolted by the idea of this bond. You were furious that the Moon Goddess had even linked us. How can everything change in a single night?"

Her mind was a whirlwind of suspicion. Men like Dominick, built on pillars of pride and old grief, didn’t simply pivot their entire worldview between dusk and dawn.

"My wolf wants this," Dominick answered. "He and Eva have already formed a connection that I can no longer fight."

Jeniva’s lips parted, but the protest died in her throat. He was right. Inside her, Eva was practically radiant, her spirit howling with a frantic, joyous energy. The silence between the two wolves had finally shattered because Black had just whispered the one thing Eva had been starving to hear: he wanted her.

"Ask your wolf," Dominick challenged, his eyes never leaving hers.

"You’re right. How can they..." She trailed off, her focus shifting inward as she began scolding Eva with frantic intensity. ’You were supposed to hold the line! Why did you give in so easily?’

’Because I feel the tether between us finally pulling back,’ Eva countered. ’Before, no one even looked at us, but Black didn’t care. He said he loved me for who I am, Jeniva.’

’What? How could you both already be in love?’ Jeniva thought, mentally rolling her eyes at her wolf’s sudden sentimentality. ’It’s been one night!’

"Even if we attempted the rejection ceremony a second time, it wouldn’t take," Dominick’s voice broke through her internal argument, grounding her back in the reality of their situation. "The bond has already deepened beyond that point. We’re past the stage of simple refusal."

Jeniva took a deep breath, finally sitting up straight and smoothing her hair in a futile attempt to reclaim some of her composure. Dominick followed suit as he watched her every move with an unsettling intensity.

"Last night was a chaotic mess for me," Dominick admitted. "However, your pheromones worked wonders. Thank you for letting me stay close to you." He leaned forward slightly, closing the distance between them once more. "What I said to you wasn’t a lie. I truly want to know who you are. I want to give this bond a chance to breathe."

Jeniva simply stared at him, her mind still reeling from the shift in his demeanor. She looked away, her eyes landing on the scattered pillows. "I’ll order the suppressants for you," she asserted, her voice clipped as she tried to steer the conversation back to safe territory.

"Don’t do that," Dominick countered firmly. "At this stage, the suppressants will only cause the rut to intensify. It’s too late for medicine." He offered her a faint, knowing smile that reached his eyes.

"Now that I have you near me, I believe I’ll manage well enough. But I will wait. I’ll await your response before I move any further."

With that, he quietly slipped out of the bed. He retrieved his discarded shirt from the floor, shaking it out with a sharp snap. Jeniva remained seated, her gaze involuntarily tracing the powerful play of muscles across his back. She felt a sudden tightness in her throat and swallowed hard, unable to look away.

Once he had pulled the shirt back on, Dominick turned to face her. The hard, distant mask he usually wore had vanished, replaced by a expression of quiet sincerity. "Thank you once again, Jeniva," he said, offering her a genuine smile that reached his eyes before he turned and disappeared through the door.

The moment the door clicked shut, Jeniva’s hand flew to her chest, her fingers clutching the fabric over her racing heart. She took a long, shaky breath, trying to steady herself.

"What was that?" she whispered to the empty room. "Did my heart just skip a beat?" She shook her head violently, as if she could physically toss the feeling aside. "Eva, you have to stay grounded. The difference between me and Prince Dominick is vast. It’s higher than any mountain in this country. We can’t let ourselves forget that."

~~~~

Dominick leaned heavily against the marble counter, watching the churning water filling the bathtub.

"Who asks someone to date them in such a short span of time?" he muttered. "Black, you’ve truly made a mess of my mind. I hope Jeniva refuses. If she says no, you will break this connection you’ve forged with Eva. If you don’t, I’m taking us to the temple for a second rejection."

’But you just told her a second rejection would be useless,’ Black’s voice rumbled, echoing with a smug, knowing resonance in the back of his head. ’Why are you changing your story now? You wanted this too, didn’t you, Nick? You wanted to see for yourself why the bond refused to snap.’

Dominick gripped the edge of the counter until his knuckles turned white. He couldn’t deny the sliver of truth in his wolf’s words. Part of him, the part that wasn’t buried under grief, was dangerously curious about the woman who had managed to survive his coldness.

He glanced in the direction of the bathtub for a moment before turning off the tap. He shed his clothes and stepped into the water.

"That is what haunts me," he murmured. "The rejection should have worked. It has never failed before. What went wrong? Did we not truly reject each other from the bottom of our hearts?"

Dominick took a deep breath and submerged himself completely, letting the freezing silence of the water drown out his thoughts. When he finally broke the surface, gasping as the air hit his lungs, his body heat had finally ebbed to a manageable simmer.

He slicked his wet hair back. "Well, I have made my move," he whispered. "It is all up to Jeniva now."