Alpha Dhampir~ On Hold

Chapter 10

Adrian Ivashkov

When I had found them, all sitting around the cradle-robber I had feared the worse. I had smelt Rose's blood almost immediately and froze, my mind going to the darkest of places. Unknown to most I knew her blood from the many times she would hurt herself when she was younger. Yep, that's right I knew my little Dhampir when we were children, she was my cousin after all. I had felt so much pain and sorrow when we had lost her, and when my aunt had found out that the woman she had hated for 'ruining' the reputation of Vasilisa Dragomir was actually, our little Rosemarie, she cried as we all had thought Rose had died. My aunt, well actually my cousin, Janine had gone back to her mother's maiden name and left the royal world behind, falling back on her years as a Guardian, leaving Rose at an academy. For the first time in almost twelve years, I saw my cousin again, at the Ski lodge and I had immediately known it was her. She looked exactly like I dreamt she would, a desert beauty, of course my opinion and love for her was purely platonic despite what everyone thought.

So, when I had smelt Rose's blood and saw how her friends were mourning, I freaked. Catching their conversation, I had wanted to laugh as they had finally found out the truth about Rose and me, and before she had; that part made me want to cry as I had always wanted to tell her but both Aunt Tati and Aunt Janine had told me I couldn't as Rose didn't know about her father. Speaking of fathers poor Dmitri thought that his sorry excuse for one was actually an Ivashkov. The closet that bastard got to the name and wealth was the fact that he was adopted, nothing more and nothing else. Breaking into the conversation I was happy to inform him of that little titbit and momentarily he was pleased but then he remembered why they were all out there and sobered up again.

It wasn't until a few hours later when Abe Mazur who I knew more as Uncle Abe, came to Court, did I find out what had happened to Rose. I was furious, how dare Dmitri do that to her. Aunt Tati and I feared for her life as we along with the other two bloodlines of her family had wanted nothing more than to welcome her in with open arms, now she knew who Abe was. It had been planned, we all knew she wouldn't have rested until Dmitri was turned back so when we had gotten the news that he had, celebrations were in order and so were introductions. But that never happened, not the way we wanted at least.

Several hours after she disappeared Aunt Tati dragged me and several guardians out to a suburban house where we were greeted by the sight of Rose running away and a Strigoi tackling her. It took all of Abe's willpower to convince our guardians not to kill the Strigoi or the two in the house as they were friends. I was just so happy to see my little Dhampir alive that I jumped her, rolling her into the ground before she flipped the tables on me. Her smile upon recognising me was blinding, as was her aura. It had changed, Aunt Tati had told me on the drive all about the Blood Purges and I knew that it had been completed. Rose still had the black outlined mass in her aura that stated she was shadow-kissed but it was now surrounded by a mostly golden hue which shouted Moroi. My cousin was now an Alpha Dhampir, which was eighty or more percent Moroi rather than the fifty percent for a normal Dhampir.

I had dreamt of telling her of her true heritage and boy, her reaction was better than my dreams. She screamed, threw things at me and cussed me out until eventually she stopped, limp in Pavel's arms, breathing heavily. I will be honest, the sight of her like that scared me. She just stared at us, her father and Aunt Tati who had stood behind me the whole time I had spoken, her eyes wide with shock until they narrowed in rage.

"What do you mean I am the crowned Princess?"

Aunt Tati took over and explained that because she had three royal family lines, she was now the Princess for all of them. Rose shook her head, either disbelieving or in a way to calm her down. We watched as she went back to struggling in Pavel's arms who watched her with sympathy and worry. I thought that we were going to ease her into the news but apparently bombarding her all at once was better, just like ripping off a Band-Aid was. The next news was the worst, Pavel had to hold her while she screamed and cried, her breathing eradicated until she eventually passed out from either shock or lack of air.