Claimed By The Storm Brothers

Eira

Please just let me find my mate already.

That was the first thought in my head when I opened my eyes. Not happy birthday. Not today might be different. Just the same quiet, desperate plea I had been repeating for months.

Let him show up and take me away from all of this. I’m so tired of surviving them.

I had lived in the Moonridge pack house for six years, but it never felt like home. After my parents died, Alpha Ronan took me into their house to stay as a servant. I cooked, cleaned, did laundry, and stayed out of the way. In return I got a small attic room, food, and the chance to go to school. Most people in the house treated me like I wasn’t there. The Alpha was the only one who treated me nicely.

His sons were a different story. Kael, Thorne, and Soren the Alpha’s triplet sons had made my life difficult since the day I arrived. Kael mostly ignored me. Soren liked public humiliation. Thorne was the worst. He didn’t need a reason. A look, a delayed answer, or just existing near him was enough. Over the years I learned the safest way to survive: stay quiet, keep my head down, and never push back. Fighting only made it worse.

Today was supposed to be different. It was my eighteenth birthday.. the day every werewolf waited for. The day the mate bond was supposed to appear and change everything. I hadn’t slept. All night I kept imagining some kind stranger who would finally pull me out of this life.

“Eira!”

Thorne’s voice came from downstairs. I sat up, pushed my glasses back into place, and forced myself out of bed.

I was still a slave in this house, and the people I served included the three most unbearable brothers in the territory. Not a day passed without them reminding me I only survived because of their father’s goodwill. Going to the same school made it harder to escape.

“Eira!”

I recognized the impatience in his voice. Of the three, Thorne was the tallest and the most short-tempered. Black hair falling over his forehead, sea-green eyes that never softened when they looked at me, and a sharp mouth that never missed a chance to cut.

Today, on my birthday, I already knew he would make sure I suffered for it.

I walked down the stairs carefully. The second I stepped into the living room, Thorne fixed me with an irritated look.

“What took you so long?”

I stayed quiet. Silence only made him angrier. He stepped in close enough that I could feel his breath on my face.

“You answer when I talk to you, four-eyes.”

I had taken my glasses off for a second because my eyes were itching. He took it as defiance. Things would have turned ugly if Alpha Ronan hadn’t walked in right then.

The Alpha came straight over, rested a hand on my shoulder, and smiled.

“Happy birthday, Eira.”

The whole room froze. Thorne’s mouth fell open. Kael and Soren stopped chewing and stared. Even Luna Seren glanced my way.

“It’s her birthday?” Kael said.

“She even has one?” Thorne muttered.

Luna Seren looked at me over her coffee. “So you’re what, fourteen now?”

Alpha Ronan frowned. “Yes, she has a birthday, Thorne. Everyone does. And she’s eighteen today. That’s why I planned something special for her.”

I pushed my glasses back on, already uneasy.

“Unfortunately I have a meeting with the council of Alphas,” he continued, “so I can’t be there. The triplets will make sure you have a good day.”

He pulled out a credit card and handed it to Kael.

“I want the three of you to take Eira to Central Mall after school. Let her get whatever she wants.”

“I’ve got hockey practice,” Thorne cut in.

“Then you’ll skip it,” Alpha Ronan said.

I could see Thorne’s temper rising. Missing practice because of me would only make him more determined to ruin my day.

“It’s fine,” I said quickly. “I can just go to a regular store. No one needs to miss anything for me.”

“Nonsense,” the Alpha said. “The triplets will take care of you today, and that’s final. Enjoy your birthday.”

He kissed Luna Seren on the cheek and left.

I knew he meant well. He had no idea how much harder he had just made things for me.

Breakfast was silent. None of the brothers said a word about the mall or the birthday. The drive to school was just as quiet. Kael drove. Thorne sat in the front and kept glancing at me in the rearview mirror with a look that promised payback. I sat in the back with my hands folded in my lap, trying to stay small and forgettable.

When the car stopped in the parking lot, we all got out.

“See you after school?” Kael asked.

“You really don’t have to,” I said. “I don’t want you missing practice.”

Thorne’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “It’s nothing we can’t sacrifice for you. Don’t worry about practice. We’ll miss it for your sake.”

He reached up, adjusted my glasses with exaggerated care, and gave me a cold little grin.

“And trust me, Eira… you won’t forget this eighteenth birthday.”

Then he walked off toward the classrooms, leaving the threat hanging in the air.

I stood there longer than I should have, staring after him. Six years of this. Six years of keeping my head down and taking whatever they threw at me. And today the Alpha had handed them the perfect reason to make it worse.

My hands tightened around the strap of my bag.

Please, I thought again. Just let me find my mate already. Let him show up and take me away from all of this. I’m so tired of surviving them.

I forced myself to start walking toward the school entrance, the same thought still turning over and over in my mind.