Mated To My Stepbrother
It shouldn’t have to be difficult, Ashton,” I uttered, my voice quivering as I stared at him.
“It was a mistake, Novah,” he sighed, closing the door on my face.
“I love you,” I whispered, my heart cracking as I stared at the door. He was never going to see me as anything other than his pathetic step sister.
I could never be more.
Novah’s life wasn’t as perfect as the world thought. Trapped in a house that felt too cold to be called a home. With a father who barely looked at her, without hatred in his eyes.
But the world didn’t know that, all they saw was the perfect daughter, and a great student.
All Novah has ever wanted was love, someone who sees her to be just as more than just a nerd.
Worlds collide when she realises that the boy she had been crushing on for two years would be her step-brother.
Will Novah kill the feelings that she had harboured for years? Or will she act on them and deepen the rift between her and her father?
In the toss of family and love, where do morals stand?
Read
Chapter: Chapter 127Novah’s POV The afternoon offered a fragile escape. The herb garden, tucked against the south wall, was a pocket of stubborn life. Weak winter sun struggled through high clouds, warming the dark earth fractionally. Meredith was already there, her hands buried in the soil, tending rosemary and thyme that defied the frost. The air was clean, sharp with the scent of damp earth and sage, a stark, blessed contrast to the Keep’s thick atmosphere. I knelt beside her, mimicking her movements, pulling weeds with clumsy, city-soft fingers. The physical act helped. Grounding. *Anchor.* Earth. Cold, clean air. The scent of green defiance. *Layer calm.* The pack pulse was muffled here, softened by stone and distance, though the underlying anxiety still thrummed, a constant, low drone."He pushes harder," I said quietly, wrestling with a tenacious root.Meredith sighed, a soft exhalation like wind through bare branches. "Fear feeds his boldness. Danger’s shadow makes him taller. He scents blood, c
Last Updated: 2025-08-19
Chapter: Chapter 126Novah's POVDawn wasn’t gentle. It seeped through the arrow slit like grey sludge, leaching colour from the stones, failing to touch the chill deep in the Keep’s bones. I lay still, eyes closed, breathing shallow. Not listening, exactly. *Feeling*. The pack pulse.Low tide again. Not the frantic surge of crisis, nor the suffocating undertow of grief. This was slower, denser. A thick, viscous thrumming beneath the skin of the world. *Anxiety. North.* It coated everything, sticky and cold. *Weariness.* Bone-deep, the kind that settled after too many hollow-eyed returns from the hunt. *Watchfulness.* Sharp, brittle shards – Thorne’s faction, coiled and waiting. And beneath it all, the bedrock: *Grief.* For Finn’s mother. For Finn. Settled now, not a wound but a constant ache, like damp wool against the skin. *Grief. Finn.*I pushed myself up. The stone floor bit into my bare soles, a familiar, grounding shock. *Anchor.* Cold. Solid. Unyielding. Yesterday’s raw edges – Doric’s fury, Maren
Last Updated: 2025-08-18
Chapter: Chapter 125Novah’s POV The word hung in the suddenly silent hall, sharp as a shard of ice. *Distraction.* Heat flooded my face, a mix of scalding anger and cold humiliation. The wolf surged, a silent snarl building in my chest. *Guardian!* I clenched my fists under the table, nails biting crescents into my palms. *Anchor.* Stone. Breath. The scrape of Torin’s spoon. *Layer calm. Layer calm.* Not for Thorne. For the pack. For the frightened eyes watching. *Show them the banks hold.*Torin’s voice cut through the brittle air, low and hard as the mountain itself. "Every soul under this roof *is* the core, Thorne. From the greybeards to the weanlings. Protect one, protect all. That’s the strength of the bond." He held Thorne’s gaze. "Or have the years worn that truth thin?"Thorne’s smile was a thin, bloodless line. "I forget nothing, Beta. Least of all the cost of misplaced… sentiment." He pushed his barely-touched bowl away. "We’ll see how enduring that bond feels when the enemy’s breath mists th
Last Updated: 2025-08-17
Chapter: Chapter 124Novah's POVThe cold wasn't just in the stones anymore. It had seeped into the marrow of the Keep, into the spaces between breaths. Dawn was a reluctant smear of grey beyond my slit window, offering no warmth, only the slow reveal of another day heavy with unspoken things. I lay still, eyes closed, listening. Not just to the distant drip of melting frost, but to the *hum*. The pack pulse.It was a low tide today. Not the crashing waves of yesterday’s confrontation at the forge, nor the suffocating undertow of Maren’s grief. This was deeper, slower. A thick, viscous thrumming beneath the skin of the world. *Anxiety. North.* It coated everything, sticky and cold. *Weariness.* Bone-deep, from hunters returning hollow-eyed under a moon that offered no prey. *Watchfulness.* Sharp, brittle, like shards of ice – Thorne’s faction, coiled and waiting. And beneath it all, the bedrock layer: *Grief.* For Finn’s mother. For Finn. Settled now, not sharp, but pervasive, like damp in old wool. *Grie
Last Updated: 2025-08-16
Chapter: Chapter 123Novah’s POV The word hung in the air, sharp as a knife. *Distraction.* Heat flooded my face, a mix of anger and humiliation. The wolf surged again, a protective snarl building in my chest. *Guardian!* I clenched my fists under the table, nails digging into my palms. *Anchor.* Stone. Breath. The scrape of a spoon. *Layer calm. Layer calm.* Not for Thorne. For the pack. For the anxious eyes watching this exchange. *Show them the banks hold.*Torin’s voice cut through the tension, low and hard as bedrock. "Every member of this pack is the core, Thorne. From the oldest warrior to the youngest pup. Protecting one is protecting all. That is the strength of the bond." He held Thorne’s gaze. "Or have you forgotten?"Thorne’s smile was thin, humorless. "I forget nothing, Beta. Especially not the cost of misplaced… sentiment." He pushed his barely-touched bowl away. "We shall see how enduring the bond feels when the enemy is at the *gate*, not just beyond the ridge." He stood, Roric and Selene
Last Updated: 2025-08-16
Chapter: Chapter 122Novah's POVDawn bled grey and reluctant through the narrow slit of my window. Not the fiery promise of sunrise, just a slow leaching of the dark, like water soaking into parched earth. I lay still, eyes closed, breathing shallow. The stone beneath my thin mattress was cold, a familiar anchor against the chaos already stirring *within*.*Anchor.* Breath. Cold stone. The rough weave of the blanket. *Layer calm.*But beneath that deliberate focus, the pack pulse hummed. It wasn't the sharp, discordant clash of yesterday's forge confrontation, nor the suffocating wave of Maren’s grief. This was… deeper. A low thrum, like the Keep itself groaning under its own weight. *Anxiety. North.* Thick and pervasive. *Weariness.* From the hunters returning late, empty-handed again. *Watchfulness.* Thorne’s faction, sharp-eyed and coiled. And beneath it all, a persistent, cold *grief* that hadn’t lessened, just settled into the marrow of the place. *Grief. Finn’s mother. Finn.*I pushed myself up, sw
Last Updated: 2025-08-16
Chapter: Chapter 186SELENAI got into my car angrily. I was prepared to drive over to the house of Lily's mother and question are about what was going on. How could her daughter have the audacity to pass off someone else's child as Adams child for five years?However just as I was about to start my car I failed a gun pressed to my forehead. I turned slowly, and Lucian was in the car, staring obsessively at me. Adam had told me that Lucian was back and that he was the son of one of his business partners. I knew that I would run into Lucian sooner or later and I was worried about what the meeting was going to be like. But I never in my life thought that he would be in my car with a gun to my head. "Lucian what is the meaning of this? Do you know that this is a crime? How dare you point a gun at my head?" I asked. "Get the heck out of the driver seat. I am sick and tired of doing this with you, Selena. I keep waiting and thinking that you will come back to your senses and you will see that Adam is not
Last Updated: 2025-03-31
Chapter: Chapter 185SELENA"So you are saying that you want to get back together with Adam? Look, I know that you love that man, and I guess I should have known that you were going to go back to him when you insisted on coming here. But are you sure that you can really do it this time? This is the third time that you will be getting back together with Adam. The first two times did not work. Why do you think that it is going to work now?" Ryan had a worried look on his face as he asked me all of these questions. Although my brother sounded a bit harsh I knew that he was just asking me this because he was worried about me. "I have already made up my mind Ryan. I am going to get back together with Adam and I will make sure that our relationship works out this time. We have been through a lot together and we have grown a lot. So we can definitely make it work as long as we put in the effort. We are already together, anyway. And even though you and dad might not like it, we have a right to be happy," I sai
Last Updated: 2025-03-31
Chapter: Chapter 184My heart sank to my chest when I heard the familiar voice of Jenson. I turned back slowly, and I saw the man who was supposed to be dead, sitting on the bed, a cold look on his face. I screamed, and my phone fell from my hand. "You..... aren't you.... aren't you dead?" I asked him. I shook my head, forcing myself to think quickly. He wasn't dead just yet! I couldn't let him realise I was trying to murder him! I threw myself at Jenson and started to cry. "Jenson ...baby ...I am so glad that you are alive. I was so scared ...I was calling the ambulance and Lucian....I really wouldn't have known what to do if you had indeed been dead. Can you please not scare me like that next time? I don't think I'll be able to live on if you die!" I said, crying real tears. I was crying because my plan had failed when I was so close, but he didn't need to know that. Jenson just needed to think that I was crying because he almost died.Jenson pushed me away coldly, a sneer on his face. "Do you
Last Updated: 2025-03-31
Chapter: Chapter 183JOLIEI left Jenson into the house that I had rented out for our vacation. I made sure that it was a place far away from the city so that it wouldn't be easy to trace what would happen back to me. He was already old anyway, and I was sure that his death would be chalked up to a heart attack. Besides, Lucian wouldn't really care to find out what happened to his father, not when he was busy spending his money. The past few days have helped me realize that Lucian was only sticking around for the money that he could get from Jenson. He really didn't care for him as a father, and I thought that Lucian would thank me even if he found out what I did. I got rid of the man standing between his inheritance , he should be thankful to me. "Are you sure that it's a good idea for us to come here, Jolie? There is hardly any network. How am I going to communicate with the people at work?" Jenson asked me as he looked around the house. "Come on Jenson, you said that you only have today to spare
Last Updated: 2025-03-31
Chapter: Chapter 182SELENA I was disgusted when I heard Lily say these things. I always knew that she was not a good woman, but the fact that she could just hand her son away and demand that and didn't want to hear from him ever again...it was really really cold. "Lily, what kind of mother are you? This is your son! Adam wants custody of the kid but that doesn't mean that he wants to take the kid away from you forever! He still wants you to be in his life. Why are you doing this to the kid?" I asked. I looked at Daniel who was clinging on to his father, and I felt my heart breaking for him. He was a kid who clearly needed love, but with a mother like Lily, it was obvious that he never got any of that love. "Oh please, you don't have to pretend like you're such an amazing woman, Selena. Isn't this what you wanted? You have your man back, and you even gained a son in the process. You should be happy since you beat me, why are you acting like you care?" Lily sneered at me. "Some of us have kids that
Last Updated: 2025-03-31
Chapter: Chapter 181ADAM"Philp, I want a divorce. I am sick and tired of this. I can't tell such a crazy lie, and I can't continue to live with you. I want to leave. Please let me go," my mother said.There was complete silence after she said this. I could not believe that my mother had really asked for a divorce. I had tried to get her to feed a divorce from this man several times but she refused to listen to me.She was convinced that he was the love of her life, and there was nothing that could change her mind. "Janet? Are you mad?! I brought you here to fix the issue that you created and you are telling me that you want a divorce? What are you going to do when you get a divorce?! Where do you think you are going to do if you leave me?" My father yelled at her. My mother smiled, and for the first time in my life, I saw her relaxed. It was as if she had let go of all of the burdens she was carrying as soon as she said that she wanted to divorce my father. "I don't know yet, I am going to get a jo
Last Updated: 2025-03-31
Chapter: Chapter 17Roseline POV.No matter how I tried to hide, the truth will come throwing itself at me.A few days ago, After I refused to go to the hospital, Anthony insisted I attend a clinic center, which I eventually did.After the check-up, I was asked to come back for the results.On my way back, I saw a strawberry cake which happens to be my father's favorite. At that moment, I thought of him; I hadn't set my eyes on him since I ran away from him."Are you interested in buying?" The middle-aged woman asked, showing the warmest smile I've ever seen."Huh? I will respond as I move closer. I might get the chance to see him because of this. An idea pops into my head, and I smile proudly; my father always ordered this cake on a particular day.Checking the time, the delivery would be made in the next few minutes. The distance from here to his company is just twenty-five minutes which indicates that I can still buy time for myself before the delivery arrives."Can you please wrap the cake up? I'm in
Last Updated: 2024-12-28
Chapter: Chapter 16Sinclair POV.It sounds like a joke. It felt like a mystery but all is reality. When I heard the word "Court,” I thought I'd got in trouble with my hearing, and I couldn't deny the fact that my heart skipped a beat. However, I never expect much from Jonathan at this point.The very thought sent a surge of adrenaline coursing through my veins. I had never imagined it would come to this. My heart raced, not just from the threat but also from the gnawing absence of Roseline.Who could have thought I would have to face such huge consequences because of her absence? It seems it's a great thing to appreciate others. I now realize the worth of her presence around me, but I never cherish it."Are you going to take me to court over this?" I managed to ask, my voice steadier than I felt. Jonathan leaned back in his chair, his expression a mix of smug satisfaction and barely restrained fury."Don’t play games with me, Sinclair. You signed a contract, and this is your chance to make things right.
Last Updated: 2024-12-28
Chapter: Chapter 15Sinclair's POV.Eating the food doesn't feel like one when my entire world is crumbling to my face. I didn't feel like myself while Roseline was in front of me but she felt like someone different."Are you okay? Is the taste bad?" I heard Mother Theresa's voice as she asked me after noticing my reaction.I quickly wore a smile, I was about to respond when my phone rang out."I'm fine Mom but I need to pick up this call""Sure go ahead"When I turned my phone upside down to see the caller's ID, my heart throbbed in pain as the name on the phone screen appeared to be Jonathan, Roseline's father."Bro, Is something wrong?" Anthony questioned, and I could see his concern all over his face.With a fake smile that looked real, I stood up. "It's a business call, I gotta go!" With that, I rush out without waiting for any response.What I know for sure is that Mother Theresa won't let me off easily without packing the food for me. However, I escaped this time.As soon as I got into my car, I dr
Last Updated: 2024-12-28
Chapter: Chapter 14Roseline POV.The morning light spilled through the curtains, casting a warm glow over the room. Time was fast passing. I didn't know how night turned into morning and I woke up again with my tears and fear.I had barely slept, my mind racing with thoughts of Sinclair and the inevitable confrontation looming ahead. The fact that he was sleeping in the same department as mine kept my heart racing.After a quick shower, I dressed in a simple outfit, hoping that the mundane act of getting ready would ground me. The tension in the air was thick, and I could feel it in my bones. I didn’t want to think about the past, but it hung over me like a storm cloud.As I made my way to the living room, the sound of voices reached my ears. I froze, recognizing one of them immediately. It's Sinclair!"Is this a joke or what are you trying to say?" When I heard Anthony's voice, I drew myself closer and listened to their voice. Keeping my heart alert as sweat broke out of my body."I'm sorry for causing
Last Updated: 2024-12-28
Chapter: Chapter 13My heart almost stops beating when someone holds me, I'm pretty sure that my soul already left my body by then.Roseline!” Anthony’s voice broke through the tension, and I felt an immediate rush of relief. He stepped inside his expression with a mix of concern and confusion.“What’s going on?” he asked, taking in the panic etched across my face. “I heard you talking to yourself”When I realized that it was Anthony who held me, my body shook, and I almost lost balance."Easy on yourself!" He warned me before he carefully held my waist as he helped me sit on the bed."Are you okay?" Anthony asked the concern in his voice palpable.I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding, feeling the tension in my shoulders ease slightly. “I thought… I thought someone was outside,” I stammered, pointing to the window. “There was a shadow. I thought it was...”“It's a tree” Anthony finished for me, his lips quirking into a small smile. “You know, the branches can play tricks with the light.”I s
Last Updated: 2024-12-28
Chapter: Chapter 12 Roseline's POV.I sat on the edge of the bed, my heart racing. The soft glow of the lamp barely illuminated the shadows creeping into the corners of the room, amplifying the eerie silence that enveloped me. I couldn’t shake the feeling of dread that hung thick in the air, a palpable reminder of my earlier encounter with Sinclair.What have I done?It's the truth that I'm a liar, but I never thought of acting so smoothly when my heart would end up aching. I never thought it would hurt this much.If he didn't want me and chose his dead girlfriend instead, why was he looking for me? This wasn't what I expected, I only ran away to give him space.The moment Anthony had mentioned Sinclair’s name, my stomach had dropped and I knew something like this would happen. I had wanted to scream, to run, but instead, I had played along, pretending she didn’t know him. The way Sinclair looked at me earlier, he seemed desperate, searching, which sent chills down my spine. I had felt the weight of his
Last Updated: 2024-12-14
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