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.”
