Reject My Alpha President (Iris and Arthur) novel Chapter 4

#CHAPTER 4: Invitation

Iris POV

My friend and former senior classmate Brian Eldridge was standing there in a tuxedo, his salt-and-pepper hair, which was usually a sort of disheveled halo around his head, had been neatly combed, and his typically paint-smeared hands were clean and with shiny, recently manicured nails.

“Brian?” I asked.

He smiled at me and then looked beyond me to the hotel employee. “She’s with me,” he said with authority.

I was surprised again. Brian was an alpha? People at the university assumed Brian was a beta, and he didn’t correct them. But then, he might have faced some pushback on that; alphas rarely went into the arts.

It wasn’t “powerful” enough for them.

He held out his arm for me now, which I took. “You look lovely tonight, Iris,” he said.

“You clean up nicely yourself,” I said back with a smile as he led me inside the room, which was lavishly decorated and absolutely teeming with party-goers. Selina had been right: many were obviously not alphas.

“What brings you to this boring all-alpha shindig, my dear?” Brian asked.

“My fated mate is here,” I said firmly. Selina might marry him, but I had been chosen for him. I still had that.

“Who is that?” he asked in pleased surprise.

“Arthur Daven.”

Brian stopped in his tracks and looked at me with a complex mix of emotions. “Presidential candidate Arthur Daven?”

“The same.” I gathered myself, waiting for him to laugh or look at me with pity.

He did neither, saying, “I see.”

I waited as people near us danced and drank and traded favors.

“The party tonight is in celebration of Arthur’s candidacy as well as to announce his engagement to Selina Willford,” Brian said, and I wondered if my shattered life were showing on my face.

This time I was the one who said, “I see.”

He was obviously picking his words with care. “It’s well known in the Alpha circle that Arthur and Selina have been engaged since they were fifteen.”

I nodded and somehow kept my expression pleasant. Fifteen. That means this isn’t because of his presidential run or his corporate plans.

Then came an even worse thought: Arthur was engaged when we met. All the alphas knew, but I was never important enough to tell.

No wonder he had been so resistant to our relationship when we first met. He must have been so disappointed I was human. He had probably thought he was doing me a favor making me his bed-warmer.

Brian looked away from me, and I saw Selina step up on the little stand where the small band had been playing. The music stopped, and she smiled out over the crowd.

“Thank you all so much for coming tonight,” she said, her powerful alpha voice easily reaching out to the crowd. “As so many of you know, Arthur and I are here not just to thank you for endorsing his candidacy for Alpha President but also to join us in celebrating our official enouncement for our formal engagement celebration, which will happen next month on, of course, the full moon.”

There was wild applause and hearty congratulations all round. I watched as a smiling Arthur stood with Selina, champagne in hand. Confetti fell, and the crowd cheered. I had never seen Arthur look so happy.

I couldn’t believe no later than this morning I had thought our child would bring Arthur and me together in marriage. He had never intended to be with me. I felt a stabbing pain in my heart followed by another in my stomach.

I felt a wave of dizziness pass through me, and I remembered I had eaten nothing since breakfast that morning. But the pain in my stomach intensified, and I was unable to stop the blackness that filled my eyes.

When I woke up, I was in a hospital. My bed was in a private room, I saw right away, and there was a large window to my right through which I could see dawn breaking.

On my left was a figure it took me a minute to recognize, wanting it so desperately to be Arthur. But it was Brian who sat there, still in his tuxedo.

His kind eyes watch me struggle fully awake.

“What happened?” I asked.

“You fainted, my dear girl,” he said gently.

My face flooded with heat. “In front of everyone?”

He shook his head. “You were very graceful, and a caterer helped me get you out of the room. Considering all the celebrating, I don’t think anyone really noticed.”

“Well, I have that,” I said faintly.

Brian looked at me in concern. “I had to say I was family to stay with you, and the doctor told me about your pregnancy. She also said you were dehydrated.” He nodded to the IV hooked up to my arm.

“I see,” I said. I was saying that a lot. I shook it off. “Thank you so much for your help.”

“I confess, I was more than a little concerned when you said Arthur is your fated mate. Did you really not know about Selina?”