1: Her New Stepbrothers

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I've watched Mom die in bits and pieces over the years. I've watched the light fade from her eyes, watched her become hollowed out, and watched her fade into nothingness.

This happened after she lost her husband and I lost my dad.

Recently, I've been watching the light return to her eyes, watching her skin shine, watching her regain control of her life, watching her laughter fill the house, and watching her become the Mother I grew up knowing.

I knew all these were happening because of the new man in her life.

The late-night phone calls, the giggles from her room, the new gifts and packages… I was watching my mom become a girl again; it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

Fifteen years after Dad died, Mom had finally fallen in love again. She was keeping the identity of her man from me, but I was just glad she was brightening up again. At least one of us has a thriving relationship.

Dad's death destroyed Mom. It shattered her from the inside out, but despite her being hollowed out, she still gave her all for me. She made sure I attended the best schools and received the best education, but then, I wouldn't say I failed her; I would say I just failed to become the woman I wanted to be.

You haven't become her yet. My wolf corrected, you're just 22, you still have your whole life to become the woman you've always wanted to be.

Trust Aurora to always be the optimistic one.

“Are you sure I look good?” Mom asked me for the umpteenth time since we started dressing up for the first official meeting with her fiancé and his family.

And yes, she was still keeping his identity away from me.

“Yes, Mom, you look amazing. He sent the gown to you, and it fits you perfectly. Don't allow the voices in your head to win.”

“Yeah, I know,” she sounded breathy, “it's just that I'm meeting his sons for the first time tonight and I'm nervous. What if they don't like me? They're grown-ups1` and…”

“Calm down, Mom.” I was in front of her and, my hands on her shoulders, “You're a very charming woman, and it'd be their loss not to like you, and if they don't, you're marrying their father and not them.”

“Yeah, right?” she laughed awkwardly, “I guess I'm just… You know this whole marriage, fiancé stuff at my age is a bit overwhelming.”

“And you're killing it,” I assured her before turning back to put the finishing touches on my makeup. Her boyfriend proposed to her a little over a week ago, and that was why we were finally meeting today. Mom didn't know it, but I was more nervous than she was, and…

“That reminds me,” I turned to her. She was done and sitting on my bed while I sat in front of the mirror, “You said, sons. How many does he have?”

“Three.”

“Wow.” Three stepbrothers? That was definitely overwhelming.

“How old are they?”

“I think the youngest is around your age, and the oldest is 25.”

I tried to think of a single father with three sons like that, but none came to mind.

“And his identity? You're really not going to tell me until I see him?”

“Brooks, the thing is…” she wiggled her fingers together like a child, “He's…”

A loud honk from outside cut her short. It was the driver sent to pick us up, and I tried not to gawk at the car. It was a Rolls-Royce with a dressed-up driver who opened the doors for us to step into paradise because that was what the seats of the vehicle were.

The car further confirmed what I was thinking about Mom's fiancé. He has to be rich; no, he has to be wealthy. When we arrived at the restaurant and I saw the interior as we were led to the private room that had been booked for us, I further confirmed my suspicions.

But nothing prepared me for the man Mom was getting married to.

Nothing prepared me to see Alpha Romano in flesh and blood.

Wait, my mom is dating the alpha king? They're getting married? No way!

But it was a yes way. As the Alpha hugged me and promised he'd be a good father, I realized that this was real.

I took my seat beside Mom and willed her to look at me, but now that we're with the love of her life, every other thing stopped existing.

“My sons are running but… Oh, they're here,” he completed, and I looked at the door, but there was no one there.

“They should be at the car park now,” he told me when he noticed that I was staring at the door. “A minute from now, they will be here.”

I wanted to ask how he knew they were already here, but he was the Alpha of alphas, the alpha king himself. He would even smell them from miles away.

The door opened in less than a minute, and his sons strode in, and I found myself holding my breath.

I know them. Everybody in the country knows them. They were Stephan, Heath, and Zade Romano, the alpha Princes who were the subsequent rulers of the Blood Moon Pack. However, what I had completely forgotten was that I knew the middle brother in ways not everybody in the country did.

I knew how long and thick he was, how he grunts and groans in the throes of passion, how he fucks like he was a wild animal with the sole intent of destroying.

And he knows me, too, in ways only one man apart from him does. He knows how much I liked to beg, how I moaned and whimpered, how I sounded when I reached that peak of ecstasy only sex could bring.

It was the most reckless night of my life. Fuelled by the betrayal of the two people I trusted the most, I had made the stupid decision of getting drunk and hooking up with a stranger who was willing to take up the offer.

Except he was no stranger. When I woke up in the morning, I realized the man I allowed to fuck me in that savage way was no one other than the second Alpha Prince and so I bolted, certain that our paths would never cross again. We were of two distinctly different social statuses, and we'd never see each other again.

But we were seeing each other right now. As future Stepsiblings.

No god, please. The moon goddess shouldn't be this cruel.

He didn't look at me. Other than a brief nod of acknowledgment when we were introduced, nothing more came from him. He looked indifferent, and that was only when I started to relax more. He definitely didn't remember me. Of course, he wouldn't remember. He was the Alpha Prince, the playboy of the three. He probably takes different girls to his bed every night.

The first brother, Stephan, larger than life and a replica of their father, sat directly opposite me. It was intimidating and uncomfortable, especially since each time I looked up, he was looking at me.

It was awkward, and when I smiled to diffuse the mood, he looked away from me like I was nothing but a pest.

The third brother, Zade, didn't even take his EarPods off.

The dinner continued with my mom and the alpha doing most of the talking. I input bits and pieces when my opinion was sought, and it was decided that the wedding, a very private one, would be held next week at the Alpha's castle.

I excused myself to use the ladies, but it was instead to calm my racing heart. First time I had a one-night stand, and now, the man is going to become my stepbrother.

It wasn't a coincidence. I was unlucky, and the Moon Goddess didn't like me.

I dried my hands and turned to the door, only to shriek with my soul nearly tumbling out of my body.

It was him, leaning against the door and observing me like I was a specimen made to be studied.

I placed my hand over my racing heart.

“You scared me.”

“Did you do that on purpose?” he pushed himself off the wall and started stalking towards me. I wanted to stand my ground, but I found myself moving back under his intimidating aura.

“What?”

“Approaching me. Initiating the one-night stand. Was that part of your mother's grand plan?”

“What?”

“Was she hoping to whore you out to deep pockets but when it didn't work, when I didn't call you back after that night, she decided to go for our old man instead?”

I scoffed when I understood his words, and I pushed my hair back from my forehead.

“Listen…”

“No one ever tells me to listen,” He interrupted me at the same time my butt hit the sink and I had nowhere to, “I do the talking and they listen.”

“I don't…”

A large palm covering my exposed thigh cut me off. I gasped at the sudden sensation, and I looked down to see my gown hitched and his palm trailing upwards.

“What the fuck do you think you're doing?”

“Why?” he leaned closer while I veered back, an amused grin on his lips, “You have no problem begging me to fuck you that night but now, you don't want me to finger you?”

Has he gone mad? No, he must have gone mad. He was definitely mad.

“I was drunk that night, and I didn't know who you were. Now we're about to be step-siblings, and you want… You’re thinking of touching me?”

The more I spoke, the higher his palm climbed, and the breathier I became.

“But you're not complaining and I can smell it, you know,” his grin deepened, ‘the scent of your arousal.”

He has gone mad. He definitely has.

I opened my mouth to talk, but a door opening cut me off. It was the main door of the gents toilet and the person that came out should have me bolting off the sink but shock glued my ass to it.

It was Zade, the third brother. Still with his Earpods on, he walked to the sink, right beside us, washed his hands, dried them, and walked out without as much as a glance in our direction.

What the…