The Alpha’s Dhampir (Celestial #3)

Prologue

The roads east of Black Ice wound through thick green pines and uneven terrain.

Hunter Chain didn’t seem to notice. His hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly it creaked, and the tendons in his forearms stood out as if they too couldn’t wait for him to reach Birchwood Pack.

Hunter’s reflection floated in the glass: black hair, silver eyes, a chiseled jaw set in the determined mask of a wolf on a mission.

Chasen, his adopted brother, sat shotgun, taking up most of the seat. He was a mountain of muscle, brown hair cropped close and eyes the color of freshly-turned soil. He was a werebear, not a werewolf. And though he was raised as his brother, he was tasked with being his guardian.

“You’re going to break that thing,” Chasen said. “Hands at ten and two, not death grip and tourniquet.”

Hunter blinked, forcing his fingers to relax. “I just want to get there is all.”

“Your mate won’t vanish if you show up five minutes late. You’ve waited a month, Hunter. She’ll wait another quarter hour.”

That earned a snort, but not a smile. Hunter’s gaze returned to the road, where icy patches glimmered in the pale sun.

All month, all he’d wanted was to see Kristy.

He met her shortly after his world split open.

His parents, his whole axis, moved to Elysia to protect his sister from a demon bastard.

She was a welcome find when everything felt dark.

He replayed every message she’d sent, each sweetly formal note that promised she’d be waiting.

She’d asked, just once, if he could wait to claim her until her father returned from overseas, and he’d agreed.

Of course he’d agreed, even though his wolf howled for her every damn day.

But he’d heard that Beta Henry had finally returned, and he was now on his way to claim his mate.

“Think this is a mistake to surprise her?” Hunter asked, voice low.

Chasen rolled his eyes. “It’s not my place to say. But if you ask me—”

“Never mind, I’m not.”

Chasen laughed, a deep, gravelly rumble. “Fine, fine. I’m just along for the ride, as always.”

They made the last turn, gravel crunching under tires, and Birchwood Pack’s territory unfurled ahead in orderly rows of pines and sturdy houses. The main lodge stood at the heart, a log cabin with twin stone chimneys.

Hunter’s pulse roared as he pulled in next to the walkway. An omega greeted them at the door, his pale hair slicked flat, posture bent in a subtle, habitual bow.

“I am Alpha Hunter of Black Ice. Is Beta Henry back?” Hunter asked, already knowing the answer.

“Yes, I will link him for you.” The omega bowed his head and brought them to the parlor.

A few moments later, the front door opened, revealing a muscular man with a salt-and-pepper beard and eyes the same pale blue as Kristy’s. He smiled, but it was an apologetic twitch of the mouth, not the broad greeting Hunter expected.

“Alpha Chain. I’ve heard all about you from Kristy. You’re her mate, and I’m guessing you’re here to take her home?” He gave him a sad, fatherly smile.

“Yes, we were just waiting for your return. Is Kristy here?”

“She’s here somewhere. Alpha Will is probably at the training grounds. I noticed he has a block up, so it must be an intense match. I’ll go find him. He will want to meet you personally. Please, excuse me.” Beta Henry gave Hunter a polite nod before he excused himself.

Hunter checked his phone. He scrolled through old texts from Kristy, each one warmer and sweeter than the last. He stared at the last message, sent two days ago:

Can’t wait to see you. Counting the hours. XO.

As he paced, a faint scent drifted down the stairs. Her scent. The rooms used scent blockers, but he could smell that she’d been in the hall recently. She was up there somewhere.

Hunter was already moving. He left the lounge, ignoring the omega’s wide-eyed protest, and headed up the stairs two at a time. Chasen followed, boots thudding. At the top, another hallway stretched long and dark, lined with closed doors.

Hunter followed the scent, heart jackhammering. He stopped at a plain white door.

“You planning on invading her private space?” Chasen snorted right behind him.

“I think she’s in there.” Hunter reached for the door, turning the knob. He stepped into the room, and the world froze.

The bedroom was bright sunlight everywhere, cutting through gauzy white curtains and spilling onto the tangle of bodies on the bed.

Every sense in Hunter’s body detonated at once.

The scent hit him first, a muddy mix of Kristy’s sweetness that was faint, almost lost beneath a chemical cloud of masking agents that were smeared with the raw, musky stink of another man’s rut. His stomach flipped, bile rising.

The air thrummed with movement: a flash of pale limbs, a man’s broad back, Kristy’s legs wrapped around his hips.

A muscular man was slamming into her, growling her name in a way that made Hunter’s wolf claw at the inside of his ribcage.

Kristy’s face was turned away, but her moans made it clear she was enjoying the encounter.

The man above her thrust once, twice, and then stilled, his head falling forward.

Hunter’s vision tunneled. He didn’t feel Chasen’s hand on his shoulder, the grounding grip; he didn’t hear the faint snarl vibrating in his brother’s chest. All he could hear was the alpha’s voice, low and smug, as he panted in Kristy’s ear.

“You will remember me and how I feel,” the man muttered, each word thick and hot. “You will raise our pup as his. I’ll have control of Birchwood and Black Ice, with my heirs running them.” This wasn’t just any man, but Alpha Will of Birchwood.

The alpha moved to kiss her, and that was when she noticed the scent. She snapped her head toward Hunter, and for an instant, her gaze met his.

Blue eyes wide. Horror. Shame. A plea that Hunter didn’t want to recognize.

He couldn’t breathe. The pain in his chest was gut-wrenching.

Chasen’s control snapped. He barged past Hunter, hand flashing out to grab the alpha by the throat and rip him off the bed.

The man went sprawling, hitting the floor with a thud, his bare ass exposed.

Chasen didn’t let go as he hauled the alpha upright with one fist and lifted him several inches off the carpet, pressing him against the far wall.

The alpha scrambled for purchase, feet kicking, eyes bugging.

Chasen sneered, voice dripping contempt. “And you call yourself an alpha,” he spat, flicking his gaze down to the man’s shriveled, pathetic dick.

The alpha spluttered, purple-faced, but Chasen squeezed harder. “You’re lucky I don’t end you here.”

Kristy, forgotten for a heartbeat, had pulled the sheet tight around her trembling body.

She stared at Hunter, mouth working silently.

Her hair clung damply to her forehead, the vulnerable line of her neck shining with sweat.

The mask of pleasure had long since slipped off her face; now, it was only terror and a crumpled sort of hope.

“Hunter—please,” she said, voice breaking.

He couldn’t move. He couldn’t look away.

Chasen let the alpha drop, and the man slumped to his knees, coughing and gasping. “Fuck,” he rasped.

Chasen bared his teeth, then turned to Kristy. “You want to explain, or should we leave you two lovebirds alone?”

Kristy shrank back, knuckles white around the sheets. “Hunter, it’s not—I can’t—” She glanced at the alpha, then back at Hunter, eyes filling with tears. “Please, let me explain.”

Hunter’s voice was foreign, ice-cold and mechanical. “You’re pregnant.”

A sob wracked her chest, but she nodded. Just once.

Hunter stared at her for a long, long moment, and then something inside him folded in on itself. Every memory, every dream, every night spent counting down the days—gone. Ashes in his mouth.

“You don’t need to explain,” he said, voice flat. “I heard and saw enough.”

“I didn’t have a choice! You don’t understand, Hunter—I couldn’t refuse my alpha—”

“The moment you became my mate, I became your alpha,” he said, and for a second, even the house seemed to go silent.

A pause, a breath. “I’m so sorry, Hunter. I—I was already pregnant. I didn’t know what to do, and—”

Blaze surged to the surface. Hunter’s silver eyes went molten, and his voice came out half a snarl. “You had every chance to say no. Every chance to call me, to trust me.” His nails dug crescent moons into his palms. “You didn’t. So let’s finish this.”

Chasen watched with approval, jaw tight.

Hunter drew a shaky breath, then spoke the words that would tear his own soul out: “I, Alpha Hunter Chain of the Black Ice Pack, reject you, Kristy Smitter of the Birchwood Pack.”

Kristy jerked as if slapped. Her hands flew to her mouth. The silence in the hallway was absolute. Even the fire downstairs seemed to pause its crackle.

Hunter waited.

Kristy trembled, eyes wild, then gathered the sheet higher over her chest. Her voice was barely audible. “I … Kristy Smitter of the Birchwood Pack … sever our bond and reject you, Hunter Chain of Black Ice.”

The rejection hit Hunter like a punch in the ribs. All at once, the golden tether of the mate bond snapped, and he staggered. Chasen caught his arm, steadying him.

For Kristy, it was worse. She collapsed on the bed, clutching the sheet like a lifeline, sobbing so hard her whole body shook.

“What the hell am I supposed to do with her now?” Alpha Will sneered, voice hoarse. “She’s carrying my heir, but her father can’t know. I can’t have a luna who’s—”

Chasen bared his teeth, his own animal close to the surface. “You could start by acting like a man instead of a conniving little shit.”

Chasen took a step forward, but Hunter’s hand shot out to stop him. He looked at the alpha, eyes dead and cold.

“That’s not my problem,” Hunter said. “You got what you wanted.”