All Chapters of Rejecting My Alpha: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Dimitri's POVThe pull hits me before my boots even leave the car.I go still with one hand still braced on the door, and for a second I think something is wrong with me, some old wound from the war with the Kessler pack finally catching up. Then it comes again, sharper, pulling from somewhere behind my sternum like a hook has found purchase in me and started to reel, and I understand what it is a breath before my wolf does.I have never felt anything like this in my life.My wolf comes forward fast and wild, faster than I can rein him in, and for a man who has spent every year since he was nineteen making sure nothing ever catches him off guard, that alone is enough to put my teeth on edge. Something in this building belongs to me. Something in this building is mine, and neither of us, man or wolf, knew to expect it tonight."Alpha." Carter's voice, low, careful. My Beta has been at my side long enough to know when to speak and when to shut up, and right now he's choosing his words l

Athena's POVAsher meets Dimitri at the front steps of the pack house. Within the next minute, Dimitri steps outside his car, and I watch my brother do the thing he does best: offer exactly enough warmth to be correct and not a single degree more."Alpha Romanov." Asher extends his hand, and Dimitri takes it, the two of them measuring each other in the space of a handshake the way Alphas always do. "Welcome to Silverwater.""Alpha King." Dimitri's voice gives nothing away either, and for a moment the two of them stand there, equals in rank if nothing else, deciding silently whether that's going to be enough to build something on.It isn't friendship. I don't expect it to be, not yet, maybe not ever. Asher has spent ten years being the only person standing between me and everyone who might want something from our bloodline, and a mate bond doesn't erase that instinct just because it happened. What I see instead, walking a step behind them into the house, is acceptance. Careful, measured

Dimitri's POVThe backyard of the Silverwater packhouse looks nothing like it did when I arrived.White fabric hangs between the trees, moving lightly in the evening breeze. Lanterns have been placed along the paths, their warm light falling across the grass in soft, uneven pools. Tables have been arranged farther back, covered in white cloth and flowers I don't have names for, the kind of careful excess that tells me this pack has been planning weddings and matings in this same yard for generations. The ceremonial space sits at the center of it all, prepared for the moment that will bind Athena to Blackridge.I stand near the edge of the gathering.I have been waiting long enough. I dislike waiting. It serves no purpose. There is always something that can be done, something that can be handled, something that can be finished. Standing in one place while time passes has never appealed to me, not since I was young enough to learn that time spent standing still is time spent vulnerable.

Athena's POVTonight, something shifts between us.I can feel it before I even fall asleep.The bond between us has always been there, pulling at me in ways I don't fully understand, but tonight it feels different. There is something else woven into it now. Something quieter and more personal.Something that belongs only to us.I don't try to name it.I simply let myself fall asleep beside him.I am sleeping on my side when I feel Dimitri's arm winding around my waist.His body moves closer behind me, pulling me against his chest. His face presses into my hair, and his arm tightens around my waist as though even in sleep his instincts know exactly where he wants me.My eyes remain closed for a moment.I smile.I don't remember him doing this before.The realization makes something flutter inside my chest.I stay where I am, listening to his breathing behind me.Eventually, sleep takes me again.When I open my eyes, the room is still quiet.I glance toward the window and see the sun ju

Athena's POVThe ceremonial hall at Northcreek is grand in the way old, established packs tend to be, dark wood and high windows, the new Alpha standing at the center of it all looking equal parts proud and overwhelmed as his pack finishes the formal recognition. We arrive in time for the last of it, the elders speaking their final blessings, the crowd's low murmur rising into something warmer once the ceremony itself concludes.Dimitri and I move through the receiving line with the rest of the visiting Alphas, offering our congratulations in turn. The new Alpha, young and clearly still finding his footing in the role, shakes Dimitri's hand with the kind of grip that tries too hard to prove itself, and Dimitri returns it evenly, offering a few brief words of respect before we move on. I add my own congratulations, warmer than his, and the young Alpha's shoulders ease slightly at the difference. With me, he seems free to simply accept the kindness instead of wondering what it might cos