Share

TWENTY EIGHT

Author: Evelyn Scott
last update Last Updated: 2025-05-12 00:33:33

Aria’s POV

“Aria… Aria…”

The voice floated through the fog in my head like a distant echo, pulling me slowly toward consciousness. My eyelids felt heavy. My limbs, heavier. Every breath I took felt like it was dragging me up from deep water.

“Aria, can you hear me?”

I forced my eyes open.

The ceiling was white. Too white. I blinked slowly, turning my head toward the voice. Mara. Her eyes were red, hands wringing a washcloth. Beside her stood someone else. Taller. Broad shoulders. Dominant presence.

Alpha Lucien.

My heart skipped.

What was he doing here?

Panic swelled in my chest.

Did something happen?

Why is he here?

Who told him I’m in the hospital?

Does he know about…

No. No. There was nothing to know. Right?

But why was I here?

“Aria,” he said, stepping closer to the bed. His voice was different from his usual calm, but coiled tightly with restrained rage.

I tried to sit up, but a sharp pain shot through my waist and lower back. I winced, gasped, and fell back agai
Continue to read this book for free
Scan code to download App
Locked Chapter

Latest chapter

  • Mated to my Stepfather, claimed by my Stepbrother   THIRTY THREE

    Kael’s POV“Sign this paper,”The familiar man, barked, sharp and angry, followed by a loud thud, and something heavy slammed onto the table.I flinched at the sound. My hands twitched against the coarse rope cutting into my wrists. “If you want me to sign anything, take this damn blindfold off my face,” I snapped.But they didn’t.They never did.I didn’t know how long I’d been here. Maybe three days. Maybe ten. Time had stopped making sense. The rhythm of my life was no longer marked by sunrises or nightfalls, but by the hollow rumble of my stomach and the way my skin grew colder each time the silence stretched too long.The room reeked of damp mold and old blood. The walls whispered with echoes I couldn’t place. Rats scurried across the corners sometimes. My body throbbed from the cold floor, my back sore from being hunched over for so long.The only light I ever saw flickered behind my blindfold when someone opened the door. A pale flame or a torch. It never stayed for long.They f

  • Mated to my Stepfather, claimed by my Stepbrother   THIRTY TWO

    Gracie’s POVThe afternoon sun spilled through my bedroom window, but the warmth felt distant, like a memory from someone else’s life. I pressed my forehead against the cool glass, staring out at the familiar forest beyond the pack grounds. The trees swung gently in the breeze, their leaves gossiping secrets I couldn’t hear. Everything outside seemed calm, but inside me, chaos fumed.It had been two days since the wedding. Two days since Kael disappeared without a trace. Two days since I’d heard the rumors,whispers that evidence had been found in Kael’s room, evidence that would point directly at me.The thought twisted in my gut like a knife.I sank down on the windowsill, my heart pounding so loud I thought it might burst from my chest. My fingers clenched into fists. I whispered to the empty room, barely able to breathe.“They’ll come for me. They have to.”My voice was shaky, barely a breath. There was no use pretending. I was trapped in a nightmare, and no matter how hard I wishe

  • Mated to my Stepfather, claimed by my Stepbrother   THIRTY ONE

    Aria’s POVIt has been weeks since I found out I was pregnant. The days have blurred together, each one more suffocating than the last. I sat on my bed, staring blankly out the window. The cold light of the evening sun barely reached through the curtains, but it did nothing to dispel the storm swirling inside me. Guilt, fear, and regret twisted in my gut like a knot I couldn’t untangle.“Now that I’ve conspired with the pack’s doctor to lie that I was raped instead of him telling Alpha Lucien I was pregnant…” I whispered to myself, my hand pressing lightly against my lower belly. “What will happen now?” My breath hitched, and I clutched the test result in my hand, my fingers trembling.The small piece of paper was a death sentence in my hands. It wasn’t just a medical test result; it was the evidence of my betrayal, but its actually not because Kael was my fated mate according to Freya and also what I felt, but this pregnancy is the mark of everything I had tried so hard to hide.Posi

  • Mated to my Stepfather, claimed by my Stepbrother   THIRTY

    Kael’s POVDarkness.That was all I could register when I first opened my eyes, or tried to. A thick, rough cloth pressed against my eyelids, tied tight. I was blindfolded. I tried to move my hands, but the harsh clink of chains echoed in response. Cold metal bit into my wrists, pinning them above me. The same icy grip anchored my ankles.I was restrained completely, I couldn't carried my led or do anything to breakthrough.Panic filled in my chest.“What the hell?” I rasped, my throat parched and raw.I strained against the cuffs, wincing as the metal dug deeper into my skin. My breathing grew heavier. My pulse thudded in my ears. Where the hell was I?The last thing I remembered was being in my room, dressing for the wedding. That damned suit. Gracie’s brother, my so-called brother-in-law had brought it earlier, insisting it was what I should wear for the ceremony. It looked like something out of a funeral catalogue, not a wedding.The wedding to me, I would say forced, though, I d

  • Mated to my Stepfather, claimed by my Stepbrother   TWENTY NINE

    Gracie’s POVI sat in front of the vanity mirror, my face plastered with layers of makeup, the foundation thick enough to hold in every detail the makeup artist had spent the last hour perfecting. The reflection staring back at me was nearly unrecognizable, but beautiful all the same. A smile curled on my lips, as I whispered, “Black beauty.”“Gracie,” Rita’s voice broke my moment of self-admiration, her fingers brushing along my cheek as she adjusted the final bits of my makeup.“What?” I turned to her, my expression instantly faltering at the concern in her voice.“Your man hasn’t checked or called you today,” she said, her tone drenched in worry.I waved off her concern with a flick of my hand. “Ohh! You should have known, he’s busy dressing up, getting ready for the ceremony.”Rita raised an eyebrow, clearly skeptical. “I mean, he’s your groom, Gracie. Shouldn’t he be here, checking on you?”I chuckled, shaking my head. “He’s fine. Trust me.” But the truth was, I wasn’t so sure.

  • Mated to my Stepfather, claimed by my Stepbrother   TWENTY EIGHT

    Aria’s POV “Aria… Aria…” The voice floated through the fog in my head like a distant echo, pulling me slowly toward consciousness. My eyelids felt heavy. My limbs, heavier. Every breath I took felt like it was dragging me up from deep water. “Aria, can you hear me?” I forced my eyes open. The ceiling was white. Too white. I blinked slowly, turning my head toward the voice. Mara. Her eyes were red, hands wringing a washcloth. Beside her stood someone else. Taller. Broad shoulders. Dominant presence. Alpha Lucien. My heart skipped. What was he doing here? Panic swelled in my chest. Did something happen? Why is he here? Who told him I’m in the hospital? Does he know about… No. No. There was nothing to know. Right? But why was I here? “Aria,” he said, stepping closer to the bed. His voice was different from his usual calm, but coiled tightly with restrained rage. I tried to sit up, but a sharp pain shot through my waist and lower back. I winced, gasped, and fell back agai

  • Mated to my Stepfather, claimed by my Stepbrother   TWENTY SEVEN

    Alpha Lucien’s POVI sat in my office, a mountain of documents spread before me, patrol reports, supply lists, complaints from the elders. The usual nonsense. The ink on the latest patrol log bled slightly at the edges, a sign it had been written in haste.My fingers paused on a thick, cream-colored envelope titled Wedding Preparation List.A bitter smirk twisted my lips.“Beta Alvarick is funny,” I muttered under my breath, tossing the envelope aside like it was something foul.So he truly believes this wedding will go on?He thinks I don’t see through him, his so-called concern, his too-eager moves to marry off his daughter to Kael.He thinks I haven’t noticed the way he walks lately, shoulders puffed, eyes gleaming like a man already savoring power that isn’t his.I’ve watched him. I know his games. He forgets who I am.He forgets that I made him. That everything he has came from my generosity, my deal. Years ago, I told him, let me marry your first daughter and I’ll give you whate

  • Mated to my Stepfather, claimed by my Stepbrother   TWENTY SIX

    Kael’s POVThe afternoon sun scorched the ground as I dragged my feet across the compound. I hated the heat. Hated the sweat sticking to my back. Hated the bandage around my head that itched like hell. But most of all, I hated how everyone kept looking at me like I was some fragile piece of glass.“He’s still recovering.”“Don’t talk too much around him.”“Don’t trigger anything.”Bunch of cowards.I’m Kael, son of Alpha Lucien, heir to the Mooncroft pack. That’s what they kept telling me, anyway. You’d think that title would come with respect. But all I got were awkward smiles, half-bows, and whispers behind my back.Everyone acting like they knew me. Like they had memories of me, stories, moments, relationships.And I had nothing.No memory. No attachment. No trust.Just… emptiness.It was annoying.Even worse was the way they tried to control me. Every word I spoke was either corrected or explained away. Every reaction was measured by their expectations of who Kael used to be.Well

  • Mated to my Stepfather, claimed by my Stepbrother   TWENTY FIVE

    Gracie’s POVI tossed restlessly on the bed, my breath ragged, heart thundering beneath my ribs. My mind raced with panic as I heard the knock again, firm, loud, and impatient. I knew that knock. My mother.Damn it.She must’ve heard the mourns. I personally knew how I moan anytime Darren and I have sex. I hadn’t exactly been quiet, and the walls in this our pack house weren’t made of stone. I sat up abruptly, sheets tangled around my legs like chains. Darren, shirtless and still flushed from our reckless mistake, looked at me with wide eyes.“She’s here,” I whispered, panic rising in my throat.He sat up too, running a hand through his already disheveled hair. “Who?”“My mother!”He froze. “What do we do?”“Hide. Inside the wardrobe. Now.”He hesitated, blinking as if I’d just asked him to leap off a cliff. “Seriously?”“Do you want her to see you here?” I hissed, already out of bed, fumbling for my night robe.The knock came again, louder this time.“Gracie!”Darren didn’t need any

Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on GoodNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP
DMCA.com Protection Status