Fated to my Stepbrother's Mate

Someone close once told me that nature is a sublime storyteller in every setting. Well, at first, I barely believe in that old aphorism until my wolf pack brothers and I went for our weekly night hunting in the northern part of the village.

Our alpha pack ordered the six of us to bring fresh meat from wild animals and vegetables for our weekly consumption. We have been doing that for the past six years. And we never disappointed everyone.

"Are your rifles loaded already?" asks Lance, the eldest of the six of us. He was a year older than me and the first-born son of our alpha, making him the next in line of his father's pack.

But compared to his alpha dad, Lance's wolf is known for being ruthless, manipulative, and self-centered. He believes that his dad owns everything including the houses we are living in, the air we are breathing, and even our wolves; that we cannot do things without them. Without him.

My wolf detested him but I was left with no choice but to follow his every command. Their family owns the written rules everyone obeyed since my world began. And complaining is not the best choice if we don't want to get ousted from the pack or worse obliterated.

"What's the point of using rifles when we have our claws and fangs, right?" and the one insisting on his theory is my best friend Buddy.

Buddy and I grow together in this wolf world filled with uncertainties and injustice. Our houses, which were owned by Lance's dad, are connected, making it hard for us not to see each other night and day.

"You've been telling us that, Buddy, over and over again," Lance said back. But his tone was coated with sarcasm in our ears. "I'm not gonna stain my hands with the dirty and stinky soil. So, if I were you, better shut your mouth and hop into the car before I will change my mind."

My name is Ezekiel Ramirez. But the pack used to call me, Ezra. There is nothing more to share about me, really. Apart from that, my wolf came from a broken family, I think am the most inadequate one in history of the wolves.

I live with my uncle, not by blood, Robin Fisher, the strongest beta of the Gemini Pack. He and his mate, Alexa, was not blessed with a son, so they adopted me when I was eight, right before my dad, died in front of my eyes.

The way he got killed was brutal, unimaginable, and unforgettable by a group of wolves who tried to colonize the Gemini Pack. Good thing the pack was gifted with this one beta, my uncle, who killed most of our enemies.

Since then, I promise my wolf that one day, if given the chance I will survive and become stronger similar to Uncle Robin, I will revenge for my papa's death. I will rip their bodies into pieces and put them on fire. The same thing they did to papa.

The good thing is, Uncle Robin knows where their pack lives in peace. And about my mama, I know she already had her own family with her son, Razel, my stepbrother. Our age gap is three years. He is seventeen while I am already twenty.

Needless to say, Razel and I know that we were step-brothers. Mama did not deny or push me away from him. Instead, she wants us to get close as much as possible. And we did it for her sake. Our hearts become closer like real brothers.

My wolf has been keeping an eye on him even from the distance between us, and so is his wolf to me. And because of him, I met my fated mate, Cherry. We have been mates for almost three years already and our relationship is getting mature and intimate.

"All right, who wants to take the first bullet?" asks Lance the second we reach our final stop. We then hop out of the car carrying our respective rifles.

"Last week was mine. So, it'll be better if we do alternate." I propose to them, making sure there will be no bias and misunderstanding on the mission.

However, the final say still depends on Lance.

"How about it's my turn now?" the one proposing and taking the courage is Kendra, the weakest among the six of us which we agreed immediately.

"Wait... Did you smell it?" Lance eagerly breathes while rolling his eyes throughout the dark forest. He then switches off the engine of the car to switch the lights off.

Indeed my wolf can smell grilled barbecues from the distance. The scrumptious and luring smell even reminded my stomach that I miss my dinner before we headed to the forest.

"Who wants to play hide and seek tonight?" he added. "don't worry, we are simply going to surprise them with a prank."

"What?" Could not help but blurt out my suspicions.

To our surprise, Lance takes off his clothes and shifted into a wolf. So, out of curiosity, I drag my werewolf senses heading to the source of the smell, and found a group of humans is having their camping nearby the cliff.

I know Lance better than anyone. And I might have an idea or two about what has been running through his mind, so I shifted into a wolf as well, not to join his evil plan, but to stop him by hook or by crook.

The rest of the team also followed. As soon as we are in our wolf forms, Lance flashes at the speed of light heading to the humans. I don't want to get left behind so doubled my speed to stay behind him.

Lance ordered us to spread in four directions which the rest of us participated immediately, excluding my wolf. I was simply sneaking behind him. Good thing his excitement preceded to notice me.

"Come on, babe. We've been together for like two years, right? Just this night, okay?" begs the man to the woman who is occupying the tent.

But Lance is not going after them when he simply ignores those giggling and continued moving forward instead. He was after those groups of humans who are wasted and stayed outside having fun.

Wait. What is my stepbrother doing in that group? As far as I can sense them, the majority of them were pure humans. And the only wolf in their crowd is him and the man seated next to him.

To my surprise, Lance disappeared from his spot. Three seconds later, continuous howling backgrounded the stillness of the entire forest which immediately caught up everyone's attention, including Razel.

As far as I know, Razel still has no access to his werewolf abilities yet. Truth be told, he hasn't had his first shift yet. And that is also what worried me the most.

Their boisterous screaming almost broke my eardrums to the point that I was startled and not able to know what to do next. My feet were stiffened like steel and nailed to the ground.

Memories bring back memories of when papa was slaughtered. Their boisterous screaming sounded the same as where we are. If not because someone bumped into me by accident, my wolf could have stayed in the same spot until Lance's evil plan ended.

"Ezra?" Razel breathes out my name when our eyes were locked with each other. He was holding a female human even before they stumbled on the ground.

When I catch a glimpse of the woman, I remember Razel once sent me a photo of the person he loves dearly. And she is the one in the photo.

Her name is Felise, 17 years old. Every time Razel and I talk over the phone, he keeps on boasting to me that she is his first love and believes to be his last girlfriend.

Apart from that she comes from a wealthy and powerful lineage, Razel declared that she is a sweet, loving, caring, and understanding kind of woman and lover.

He even confessed to me that they almost have had sex if not because of her mom knocking on the door. As long as Felise makes him happy, I am happy for them as well.

"R-U-N!" I uttered to Razel before anyone could see them.

So, they run as fast as they can. After two seconds of studying the atmosphere, I realize Lance and Kendra are running in Razel's direction. Perhaps they already notice he is a wolf.

And Lance plans to kill him before he could tell anyone about the disturbance we caused. The worst part of my situation is that I have to choose between my pack brothers and Razel.

Worst-case scenario, if Razel gets killed, I cannot forgive myself for allowing Lance to succeed in his evil plan. Mama will get infuriated or worse, she will despise and disown me as her son. It will be an endless nightmare for me and my wolf. Mama and Razel are all I have.

On the other hand, if I choose to trespass and prevent Lance from his plan on killing the sole witness of the incident, he will also get infuriated at me. It means to him that I choose and help Razel to inform his pack about us.

The possible outcome will be a huge disaster for our pack. As a result, my wolf might be dismissed from the brotherhood and the pack.

Uncle Robin and Alexa will chase me out of their house. I'll become homeless, a lone wolf, and worse of all, no one will accept me anymore. My wolf can barely imagine that either.

On top of that, Lance and the entire Gemini pack are not aware that I have a stepbrother from my real mother. I have been hiding that one secret of my past, future, and present because Razel comes from a different pack. Wolves who come from another pack are enemies of our pack.

Which among them should my wolf take side with?

In the middle of taking things into consideration, a boisterous screaming coming from Razel and Felise vibrated my ears which resulted in my foot being lifted on its own and flashed in their direction before Lance could kill them or the two falling into the cliff.

At my current speed, my wolf could barely reach Razel on time. So instead of trying to save them, I went straight to Lance and Kendra's wolves to make sure none of them could follow my stepbrother. We stumbled on the ground a few times and in unison.

"What are you doing?" Lance blurted out. He then moves out of the ground in a rush and started chasing Razel again but I manage to stop him by bumping into his wolf.

"Lance, STOP!" I yell at him but he did not listen to me.

Instead, he screams at me, "he killed Monbert, you son of a bitch!" which surprised me and my decision on helping Razel was having a second thoughts.