Chapter 3
Hardin
My father had only been informing me of his intention to marry and did not really care about my opinion. I realized shortly after he told me of his wedding to Camila, a member of the pack that I hadn't known existed until he mentioned her name.
The preparations were already underway to my horror and a day had been fixed for the ceremony even as I struggled to come to terms with the fact that my father was replacing my mother whether or not I liked it.
And now three weeks later, in the garden of our mansion, my father was tying the knot with Camila, with or without my blessings.
I wanted to be anywhere but here, forced to wear a suit and pretend like I was happy for their union like the rest of the smiling crowd.
The last thing I wanted to do was be here. Even worse was the fact that I had to stand beside Camila's daughter to be their ring bearers. Not that I had met the woman's daughter yet. And all for the better. I wanted to delay seeing my stepsister for as long as possible. And I hoped she truly felt the same way.
I didn't think I would ever forgive my father for doing this. Or Camila for forcing her way into this family.
As I stood beside my father, waiting for the bride to enter, I heard him whisper.
"Thank you so much for being here with me, son. It means a lot to me."
Giving him a smile that was so fake, as my lips struggled to curve up. It would have been better if I frowned at his words, and then I nodded in response.
"You didn't give me much of a choice now, did you?" I said through my teeth and he was about to reply when the marching song started.
Camila's daughter walked down the aisle holding the rings but that was not what held my attention.
It was who she was. Jasmine Scott
Jasmine Scott walked towards us, dressed in a peach silky dress that clung to her body, accentuating every curve that she possessed.
She looked like the definition of temptation and sin.
Her ebony hair was in a twist, bringing her crystal clear green eyes into focus and when those eyes landed on me, there was no look of surprise in them.
What the fuck?
How was this happening?
I didn't know what was worse. My father remarrying or realizing that my stepsister was none other than The Jasmine Scott that had cussed me out and had zero regards for my personality.
There was a large possiblity that she knew that my father was getting married to her mother. Was that why she had mouthed off to me and acted like she could talk to me anyhow she pleased? I could only wonder.
Of course, she did. She was well aware. Jasmine Scott was a gold digger like her mom, and only took joy in benefitting from what she did not deserve.
There was no way she did not know she was going to be my stepsister if she knew her mother was marrying the Alpha.
If I was mad at Jasmine before, the wedding changed things by a long mile. I hated her. Both she and her money grubbing mother would pay for all of this.
I didn't care what my father said about what he required of me and how he wanted me to treat them, but I had no intentions to ever accept them.
As Jasmine and I stood opposite each other, listening to our parents recite their vows, I tried to get Jasmine to look at me. To catch a glimpse of what she was going to expect moving forward.
When our eyes finally met and she frowned, I smiled malevolently.
Well, that makes two of us, sweetheart.
That didn't lessen the way my chest tightened when the priest announced that my father was officially married.
It took everything for me to not storm out of the garden and just run. To find something to pour out all of my rage on.
The reception was going to take place in the house and when my father announced that I was going to take the dance floor with Jasmine alongside him and his new bride, I fought the urge to vomit all over the floor.
It was a damn shame that I was sober.
Downing four glasses of whiskey one after the other, I faked a smile and walked up to where Jasmine stood with some girls.
"Oh my God, he's so handsome." The two girls on either side of her gushed and I smirked, watching as Jasmine frowned when I stretched out my hand.
"Hello, stepsister. Would you like to dance?"
She looked at my hand like it was a sword pointed at her chest and for all intents and purposes, it was.
Because the last thing I would ever offer Jasmine and Camilla was a warm hand to hold. Not in this life or the next did I approve of this marriage.
When her hand touched mine, my eyes widened momentarily at how soft her palm was.
"Don't be fooled, Hardin. That was how her mother deceived your father into this sham of a matrimony,"I reminded myself.
Escorting her towards the dance floor, I wrapped one hand around her waist and pulled her to me, our chests brushing.
She smelled like flowers and strawberries. It would have been a delectable scent for a female if I didn't see her for who she was. An opportunist.
"So, tell me, Jasmine Scott, how does it feel to finally be surrounded by riches? I bet when you were mouthing off to me about being poor but upright, you didn't think to enlighten me and the rest of the school of your little scheme?"
Her eyes widened and she pulled back to look at me, her gaze confused and defiant.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Hardin." She whispered and my grip tightened on her waist.
So soft. So fragile her entire frame was. So riddled with curves that could bring a man to his knees.
Unfortunately for Jasmine, I saw more than her pretty face and innocent eyes.
"I'm talking about this sham of a marriage. How did your mother manage to trap my father in something like this?" I asked with a smile and watched as her eyes widened in shock and rage.
"I beg your pardon, Hardin." She spat and tried to release herself from my grip.
"We have to talk!" I snapped at her immediately, "you better stay calm and come with me. Or are you willing to cause a scene and ruin your mother's big day?" I mocked, and she stopped struggling, allowing me to take her hand and lead her away from the crowd.
Taking her into my father's study, I closed the door and turned to face her.
"How much?"I asked, while her face distorted in confusion.
She looked at me like I was demented.
"How much, Jasmine? Tell me how much you and your mother want, to get the fuck out of our lives!" I screamed and she flinched, her eyes welling up with tears.
"Fuck you, Hardin." She replied and I was all I could do, to not see red.
Pinning her against the wall, I lowered my face until I was staring at her.
"What did you say?" I asked and she whimpered, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"What the fuck did you say to me, bitch?" I roared and she started crying in earnest.
It should have made me release her but I was far too gone.
All I could see was my mother's face as she took her last breath.
And now, Camila and Jasmine who were only after my father's money were going to get to live here and start a family?
"Unless I was dead!" I cursed.
"Leave me alone." She pleaded and I smirked.
"Not until you tell me what it will take for you and your gold digger mother to leave this house for good. Name your price."
The door to the study opened and my father walked in, his face distorted in rage.
"Get away from her this instant." His voice boomed, echoing round the room and I frowned, stepping away from Jasmine who looked like she was about to faint.
Well, that made the two of us. Because I was about to pass out from being so angry.
"Go upstairs, sweetheart. I'm so sorry about him." He said to Jasmine and she scurried out of the room immediately, shutting the door behind her.
Turning to face me, his face hardened.
"I have done everything to make you feel alright since I told you about this wedding and I have allowed you to be when you lashed out and revolted, even refusing to eat for days. I have let you talk to me however you please because I understand that you are hurting, Hardin. But one thing I will not have you do is disrespect my wife and her daughter. Try this again and you will be punished. Do you understand me?"
I didn't answer. I actually did not need to, because Russo Morales had passed across his message.
Nodding when he saw the look on my face, he walked out of the study and slammed the door behind him.
I was still certain about one thing. If I could not get Jasmine and her mother to leave, then none of us would know peace.
Chapter 4Jasmine's POV"Jazz, are you okay?" A voice to my right made me open my eyes and it was Nadia's."Huh?""You closed your eyes and shuddered, like you were having a nightmare. Your food is going to get cold."I had totally forgotten that we were in the cafeteria and as my eyes met with Hardin's from where he was seated at the popular table again, I realized why I had gone into a trance instead of eating my lunch.It had been a week since the wedding.Where Hardin had threatened me and I had wept like a baby instead of standing up to him.I realized now that the one time I did it was a knock off, and I understood why no one ever stood up to him.Far away from him was the only way anyone could ever have the liver to talk back to him.I couldn't get the way he had looked at me from the other end of the aisle on the day of the wedding, his face completely expressionless but his blue jade eyes hot with rage.His hands had tightened into fists as his face took me in and recognition
Chapter 5Hardin's POVThe last thing I could have imagined would ever happen after the long tiring day at school was looking up to find Jasmine watching me fuck one of my flings, Doreen or Delilah or whatever her name was.One minute, she wasn't there and the next she was, her eyes wide as she watched me.I had realized that she didn't seem to notice that I had caught her watching and decided to give her a show to see if she would flee.The little bitch hadn't and she had watched me till the very end, her big green eyes wide and curious, and her rosy lips slightly parted like she was seeing someone being fucked for the first time.Why she looked so surprised and embarrassed when she was probably getting fucked frequently was beyond me.I had to teach her a lesson about not minding her business as soon as possible. It seemed as though she had forgotten that I didn't want her and her opportunistic mother in my house because I had been silent for a week.My silence was because I wanted
Chapter 6Jasmine's POV"He didn't come down today either?" Russo, Hardin's father asked as we sat down to have dinner in the dining hall.I saw my mother shrug but knew that she would be upset the most because she was trying her hardest to reach out to Hardin and I hated Hardin even more.Today at school, he had publicly embarrassed me after one of his friends had lied and said I could sit with them at their table since I was Hardin's family.Well, I couldn't blame them. I blamed myself for being naive and thinking that the order had come from him directly when he didn't even want to go to school or come back with me.I shivered as I remembered the confused look in his eyes when he saw me there before it turned to rage. Pure unadulterated rage."What is this thing doing here?" He had asked and no one, not even Alex, his friend who had invited me to the table could stand up for me and explain to them that I was not there of my own accord.But then again, Hardin was the king of the sch
Chapter 7Jasmine's POVThe next day at breakfast, I was helping my mother set up the table when Hardin suddenly came down to the dining hall.My mother looked like she had seen a ghost and perhaps she had because since we moved in to the house, Hardin had refused to eat with us, choosing to either eat in his room or go out to eat which I knew had made my mother very distressed and sad about how he had not still accepted her."Oh, Hardin, it is a pleasure to have you join us for breakfast. Please sit." She had said."Thanks." He replied, his voice deep in a way that made me shiver and I kept staring at him, unable to look away.His ebony hair was damp, indicating that he had just showered and as the shirt he wore hugged his biceps paired with loose fitting pants, I could not deny that Hardin Morales was probably one of the most gorgeous male I had ever laid eyes on.But then, that gorgeousness meant nothing when I remembered that behind that face and body was someone who hated me and
Chapter 8Hardin's POVHeading straight for the shower after leaving Jasmine's room, I removed my clothes and rested my head against the wall as the rivulets of hot water poured down on my back.My mind wondered back to the horror in Jasmine's eyes, the way her body had bucked up in fear and how she had tried to flee from me, her eyes confused and scared when I touched her and I wondered if she was a virgin.Had I been her first? Was that why she had been so resistant of me? Or was it because I was her step brother?I didn't understand why instead of satisfaction from watching her squirm and beg me for mercy, from watching her body react to me even though she did not want to, from feeling that tight wetness and seeing those large tits, I was feeling guilty for what I had done.Why in the hell was I feeling like I should not have done that to her?She deserved it. She deserved everything that had gone down tonight and even the rat yesterday. Her innocent eyes could not deceive me. She
Chapter 9Jasmine's POVI looked at myself in the mirror and what stared back at me was a horrified, extremely sad girl.How my life had drastically changed in the couple of hours following my mother's departure with Russo for the weekend still felt like a dream. I wanted to wake up and find out that everything was just one horrid nightmare. But like the dead rat and the note in blood that Hardin had left on my bed, it was real.Hardin had done all of those things to me, each time without remorse or care.He had touched me and my body had shamefully responded even though I hated everything. Even though I begged him to stop. And then he had put his...I could not even say it. Just thinking about it made me sick.And then he had paraded me in front of his friends like a slave and even made me to call him master after bringing them food by the pool.I didn't know what to do. I felt like pulling my hair out. Perhaps I had pulled it during the night when I was asleep, if I could even call
Chapter 10Hardin's POVOne of the advantages of the fact that my father had built his mansion in the woods, was the expanse of land that we were surrounded by. It was easy to shift and run in the woods. It was also easy to get some exercise in it, if you wanted to do it outside and if there was one things wolves hated, it was feeling claustrophobic.I had just finished running and I stood in the clearing behind our house where I had set two goal posts and lined the field with chalk.We had a lacrosse game coming up soon against the neighboring town and as the captain, it would be a damn shame to be out of form and lose the game when we had managed to retain our winning streaks since the season started.As I removed my shirt and threw it on the grass, I picked up the lacrosse stick and ball and stood in the center of the field that I had created and demarcated, ready to train when my mind went to Jasmine.With the way she had looked at me when our parents had returned from their trip
Chapter 11Jasmine's POVThere was a knock on the door to my room and I wiped my eyes quickly, turning and ready to tear into Hardin if he was the one.I was terrified of him and what he could do to me but I did not deserve any of this.And if he was coming here to rub in the fact that he had yet again succeeded in ruining my life with that useless rumor, then he would be in for a surprise because I would not cower.And it didn't matter what the consequences would be this time because what had he not already done?The door opened and when Nadia stepped in, with her smile hesitant, I released a breath that I didn't know I was holding and sniffed, more tears rolling down my eyes.Her face softened and she opened her arms wide as she ran to pull me into a hug."Oh, my sweet friend, I'm so sorry. I brought those cookies that you like so much." She said gently.Pulling back, I widened my eyes."You did?" I said tearfully and she nodded, cleaning my eyes with her hand and leading me towards