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126

Author: Gold Writes
last update Huling Na-update: 2025-09-24 03:10:59

ZADE

The night felt endless.

The city was blurred by the headlights of my car as I drove aimlessly, too wired to stop, too frantic to think. Every corner, every alley, every face I passed, I searched for her.

My phone wouldn’t stop vibrating in the cupholder, lighting up with my mother’s name over and over again.

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t.

Not when I had nothing to tell her except failure. Not when I couldn’t admit that the one person she needed for her damn ritual was gone, vanished into thin air.

“Where are you, Brooks?” I muttered, my knuckles white on the steering wheel.

Her laugh haunted me. Her scent. The way she had looked at me that last night before she disappeared. And now the clock was ticking.

The blood moon was tonight.

The phone buzzed again. Another call from my mother. My jaw tightened. I ignored it, pressing harder on the gas, the engine roaring beneath me.

Then it hit me.

At first, I thought it was just the stress, the exhaustion. My chest clenched, my skin fev
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  • MATED TO HER ALPHA STEPBROTHERS   144

    STEPHANThe palace was now a machine. Seamstresses, attendants, and priests moved around me like I was some sacred relic rather than flesh and blood. My body was measured, draped in silks heavy with gold thread, my hair coiled and uncoiled a dozen times until my scalp burned. Each ritual, each whispered vow, each touch of paint across my skin was meant to prepare me for the wedding and the coronation.But nothing could prepare my heart.Every time I caught my reflection in the gilded mirrors, I didn’t see a bride. I saw a girl caught between duty and grief, cloaked in jewels that felt like chains.Heath hovered constantly. His hand always at the small of my back, his shadow following mine through every corridor. His eyes were sharp, always scanning, as though danger might step through the walls at any moment. But more than that… it was his need. His need to keep me near, as if his grip on me could erase the ghost of Zade that still lingered in the corners of my heart.“You don’t

  • MATED TO HER ALPHA STEPBROTHERS   143

    BROOKSThe palace was now a machine. Seamstresses, attendants, and priests moved around me like I was some sacred relic rather than flesh and blood. My body was measured, draped in silks heavy with gold thread, my hair coiled and uncoiled a dozen times until my scalp burned. Each ritual, each whispered vow, each touch of paint across my skin was meant to prepare me for the wedding and the coronation.But nothing could prepare my heart.Every time I caught my reflection in the gilded mirrors, I didn’t see a bride. I saw a girl caught between duty and grief, cloaked in jewels that felt like chains.Heath hovered constantly. His hand always at the small of my back, his shadow following mine through every corridor. His eyes were sharp, always scanning, as though danger might step through the walls at any moment. But more than that… it was his need. His need to keep me near, as if his grip on me could erase the ghost of Zade that still lingered in the corners of my heart.“You don’t h

  • MATED TO HER ALPHA STEPBROTHERS   142

    STEPHANI didn’t move at first. Seeing her here, alive and completely unbothered should have sent me spiraling, but instead something inside me just went cold.“What are you doing here?” My voice came out flat, colder than I meant. “Come to see for yourself that I’m still breathing after I stuck a blade in my chest?”Lady Natasha tilted her head, a small frown flickering over her lips before it softened into a smile. “Stop talking like that,” she chided me softly like I was some petulant child, making herself comfortable on one of my couches. “No matter what’s passed between us, you’re still my son. I love you.”I scoffed, shaking my head as I stepped past her, into the kitchen. “Right. Love,” I repeated, a humorless laugh escaping my lips. “That’s what that was back there? Forcing me to beat my mate bloody? Forcing me to kill her?” I dropped my duffel bag onto the counter, grabbed a glass, and poured myself a shot of wine—dark, red, bitter. “You’ll forgive me if I don’t feel very

  • MATED TO HER ALPHA STEPBROTHERS   141

    STEPHANI told myself I wasn’t going to check on him. That he wasn’t worth the steps it took to walk down the hall. That I didn’t care.But my feet didn’t listen.The door to his chamber was cracked open, light spilling out. I pushed it wider and stepped inside, finding him bent over a half-closed trunk. Clothes stacked, weapons tucked away. He didn’t even look surprised to see me.“I’m almost done,” Zade said quietly, not glancing up. His tone wasn’t sharp, wasn’t bitter… just tired. “If you’re here to drive me out faster, don’t worry. I’ll be gone tonight.”Something twisted in my chest. I crossed my arms, leaning against the doorframe. “Take your time.”That made him pause. His hands stilled over a folded shirt. Slowly, he lifted his head, meeting my gaze with guarded eyes.“Heath won’t like that,” he muttered, the corner of his mouth tugging up in something almost like humor.Despite myself, I felt a short huff of air escape me, half laugh, half sigh. “He’ll live.”For a moment,

  • MATED TO HER ALPHA STEPBROTHERS   140

    BROOKSI swallowed hard, dragging my gaze away long enough to whisper.“Leave us.”Stephan’s brows drew together, calm but firm. Heath, however, exploded.“What? Absolutely not! He’s a traitor, Brooks. You can’t—”“Leave us.” My voice shook, but I forced the words out anyway.Heath’s snarl reverberated against the walls. “Do you have any idea what he’s capable of?” He thundered. “What he’s already done? You think I’ll just stand here while he spins more lies—”“Let her choose,” Stephan cut in, his voice low but sharp. His hand clamped on Heath’s arm, holding him back. “If this is what she wants, we respect it.”Heath jerked his arm free, eyes blazing, but Stephan’s steady look held him still. At last, after a heavy silence, Heath ground his teeth together and spat, “Fine. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”They both turned, Stephan giving me one last searching look before guiding Heath toward the door. The iron creaked as it opened, then slammed shut, leaving me alone with the one ma

  • MATED TO HER ALPHA STEPBROTHERS   139

    BROOKSThe first thing I felt was the heaviness of my own body. Heavy. Sore. Like I had been dragged across broken glass and set back down in one piece, but not quite whole. My eyelids fluttered open to the faint glow of lantern light, the ceiling above me lined with gold-trimmed patterns I knew well. I was in my chamber. Home. Alive.Before I could make sense of it, movement rushed toward me.“Brooks.” Stephan’s voice, sharp with relief, was the first thing I heard. His hand was on mine in an instant, warm, steady, grounding me to the bed. On my other side, Heath leaned down, his face was so close that his hair brushed my cheek. He wasn’t calm. Unlike Stephan, he looked like a storm barely contained, his chest heaving as if he had been holding his breath for hours.“You’re awake,” Stephan said, his tone softer now. His thumb stroked over my knuckles as if reassuring himself I was real.“Alive,” Heath muttered, his jaw tight. “Barely. You scared the life out of us.”I blinked slowl

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