Gazes

3.

Aurora

For days after that, I did my best to make sure I steered cleared off the paths of the three brothers. For all it was worth, I could tell that they were doing the same with me.

As usual, Mother made sure I worked until I almost dropped dead even in the new house. And of course, I made sure I stayed away from everybody, including the servants.

It wasn't until long before they began to call me the cold queen even in the pack.

That didn't bother me anyway. What was more important to me was staying out of trouble.

I swiped over the surface I was cleaning once again. The place sparkled, and I smiled to myself for a job well done. I got up from my crouching position and stretched, only to see the three brothers all staring at me like hawks. I staggered backward a little from how hot the intensity of their gazes were.

A small part of me told me that Titan must have told his brothers about our little encounter, and they must be here to see how true it was.

My fears compounded when I saw Tristan slowly walking up to me. I kept moving backwards until I stumbled on a sofa. I lost my balance and landed on the chair with my back. Tristan chuckled softly and laid over me.

I gasped and tried to push him off, but he wouldn't bulge.

"You really are something." He said to me.

I blinked at him, trying to read the meaning of his words. His finger went to my face, and he began to caress me. I tried to resist the pull I felt toward him, but I found it impossible. My desires began to grow, and I was helpless against it.

Tristan's blue eyes narrowed on me. He leaned his face towards me, and our lips were only a few centimetres apart. My lips parted of their own accords, eagerly waiting for the touch.

"Quit playing with the girl, will you?" Titan hissed from behind us.

I heard Tilder laughed a bit before he whined.

"You just had to take the fun away, Titan." He pouted.

Tristan got up from me, and I scrambled away. I couldn't believe that I had nearly fallen for the antics of the three brothers.

Besides, what the hell was wrong with my body? First, it reacted to Titan drinking water. Now, it craved a kiss from Tristan. Only God knows how I would react if Tilder came within a breath of me.

Those were my stepbrothers, for heavens' sake. I reminded my traitorous body inwardly.

"You really give yourself a lot of credit, thinking that I wanted to kiss a girl like you," Tristan said.

His voice dripped off venom, which caused me to shiver slightly. I opened my mouth to say something, but Titan beat me to it.

"Is this you and your mother's plan? To seduce us like she seduce our father?"

At my confused look, Tristan hissed.

"You think we haven't heard the tale about your mother's deeds? The way she married men that are well to do, and somehow they die and leave all their wealth to her?"

"Well, she chose wrongly this time," Tilder added with a chuckle. "She should have done her assignment well and realize that we three brothers would never let her get away with even a chicken from this pack."

Of course, I now know the reason for their hostility towards me. They thought that I was in cohort with my mother to take what belongs to them. With the way I had acted like one horny bitch with two of them, I was sure that I already gave them reasons to see that they were right. I slapped myself mentally at how foolish I was.

"I... I'm not... my mother..." I stammered, not sure of what to say at this point to vindicate myself from their accusations.

"We came here to tell you to warn your mother not to try anything foul," Tristan said to me with a sneer. His body became rigid, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for anyone who was foolish enough to step on the wrong foot with the man.

"Also, tell her not to ever refer to us as her children," Titan added. He paused for a second and added. "Unless, of course, she's looking for her death." The way he said it, I was afraid he would carry out the threat if Mother actually called him her son. I gulped again to keep my fear away.

I looked at Tilder, sure that he would have something he wanted to say too because it seemed like they were using me as the errand girl to send their messages to my mother. I didn't know why they didn't confront her themselves. I knew it wasn't because they feared her though. Perhaps they didn't want to offend their father.

"I certainly don't want to be your brother though," Tilder said, bringing me out of my thinking zone. "You are too beautiful for that to happen." His brothers gave him deadly stares.

"What?!" He protested. "Are you both going to pretend like you didn't feel it?" He looked at his brothers one after the other.

I got curious about what it was they were supposed to be feeling. I saw Tristan and Titan still looking at Tilder like he was a fool. The guy just shrugged at them and raised his hand in surrender.

I didn't wait around for them to notice my presence and resume their discussion of hatred for me though. While they continued to warn Tilda to watch his words, I slipped away from them. Once I was safely gone from their presence, I heaved a sigh of relief.

As I turned to return to my room, I nearly collided with my mother who was standing at the corridor. My heart flew out of my chest, and I wondered how much of everything she had seen and heard. From the expression on her face, I could tell that she had just come.

"Follow me. We have somewhere to be." She said to me. Without waiting for my response, she walked away, knowing that I had no choice but to follow.

Something told me that I was not going to like the outcome of wherever it was that we were going though.