The Vampire's Bride

A Preview of Hunter's Princess

Xander felt as if he had been sitting still for three hundred years. He shifted to warm his frozen muscles, grumbling against the last of the winter frosts. The worn cloak did little against the storm. His eyes were fixed on the stag in the way that a wolf stares down prey.

So many who looked into those eyes called them shards. Jagged pieces of ice dyed emerald green glinted in the starlight as Xander pulled the string back on his bow. The arrow slid smoothly back, focusing on it's target. He'd spent three damn days in these icy woods. The stag, a handsome male with long antlers, would make the days spend freezing his ass off worth it. The hunter exhaled and let the arrow fly.

It sped towards the stag. The arrow raced across the snowy clearing, finally burying itself in the throat of the animal. It let out a scream of pain that frightened off the rest of the herd before stumbling after them himself. Xander cursed and chased after it. He drew an arrow from his quiver as he ran. He dove in front of the stag, sending another arrow into the animal's stomach when it bucked. A second later he was rolling out of the way as those deadly hooves crashed down.

Xander's hand found his hunting knife. He gripped the leather-bound hilt, ripping it from the sheathe to ram it into the stag's eye.

The animal fell to the ground with a mightly scream. Xander, winded, approched the animal with caution. He breathed out a harsh laugh.

The prize was his.

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Serah Carters was two seconds away from breaking something. Truly, she loved her family, but at that moment she wanted to strangle nearly every one of them.

She tossed her long dark hair over one shoulder and fixed her father with a glare as sharp as a gleaming silver blade. He was a tall man who only seemed to grow more handsome as he aged. Her father's fangs glinted briefly in the light cast from the candles resting on the table. He was engrossed with his meal, as was the rest of the crowded table. Serah ran her tongue passively over her own flat teeth. She wasn't a vampire, none of the children were. Their parents considered themselves lucky in that aspect. She hadn't touched her rack of lamb and steamed carrots.

Serah was furious.

"Serah, you haven't eaten a thing!" Her older sister, Aileen, cried. "Are you sick?"

Aileen was a bit of a ditz. Her sister was beautiful, with her mother's blonde locks and their father's deep brown eyes. She was curvy, she was stunning, she was charming, and Serah hated her.

It seemed that all the perfumes and sweets she had indulged in over the years had gone straight between her ears. Serah was irritated with her as well. She found herself constantly irritated with Aileen. Now she was even more annoyed with her sister than ever.

Aileen was getting married.

Now that wouldn't have been a problem in itself, except Serah had been begging for a year now for marriage. She'd never begged for anything. Aileen demanded everything. The marriage hadn't even been her sister's idea!

"Serah's angry," came the eerily soft voice of Flynn. Serah whipped her head around to glare at her youngest brother. He was already staring at her with the same emotionless, turquoise gaze that he always wore. She'd never seen a single spec of light in his eyes. Most seven-year-olds were bright-eyes and energetic. Flynn never left his room unless he had to. He always seemed to know everything: every secret, emotion, and event.

Her father released a weary sigh.

"Serah," he began. "We cannot continue this argument, especially at the table."