CH:3 The Step Brother

Alexander’s POV

The girl's body collapsed on top of me. I moved the damp hair from her face. She lay warm and limp against me, her breath shallow, her lashes damp with tears. Her naked body was burning hot. She had given everything she had, every ounce of strength and emotion, every shred of innocence, until exhaustion claimed her.

“Who is she? What is going on? Why is she in my chamber?” All these questions jumped into my head. I saw our bare bodies mingling together, my heart was beating fast, I tried to sit up, but due to the little weight on my body. I had to move her aside, so with care I pushed her on my side and covered her body with sheets. The girl lay asleep on the mattress, hair spilling across the pillow in a dark, tangled mess.

Mate. Ours. She is fire, claim her now!

My wolf Thunder voice was raw and frantic with excitement. Thunder was losing control, he was demanding I reach for his mate, mark her, and claim her, he wants his teeth into her soft skin and binds her to us forever. My chest heaved as his hunger surged, the scent of her, wild, sweet, intoxicating, curling around me like smoke.

“Enough, Thunder! Stop it.”

I snapped at him inwardly, silencing him with the steel edge of my will. I took back control of my body.

“You will wait, and not demand anything.”

I looked at the girl's face once again, my beast snarled, resisting, but I caged him with discipline. My wolf might burn with desire, but I would not let lust or instinct rule me. Not now. Not when I had enemies circling like vultures. A rustle sounded from the shadows.

I didn’t need to look.

“Sapphire, show yourself.”

From a corner of my chamber, a figure stepped out. My most trusted man, my second in command, and my beta, Sapphire, showed him. Sapphire's eyes were down, his shoulders tense as he knelt at once.

“My King…” he began, but his voice was low, and I could feel the disappointment in his tone.

I stared at him coldly.

“Sapphire, explain this to me.” My tone was harsh and demanding. My eyes were glowing red.

Sapphire wolf coward, and he took two steps back.

“She is here on the orders of The Elders. She is the daughter of the Alpha of Blood Pine Pack. Her name is Vexia Blackclaw. She is married to you by the order of The Elders.”

He bowed lower, stammering. “I, I returned late from my mission. I failed to stop her. By the time I entered, she had already… she had already climbed onto you. I swear, my King, I meant no disrespect.”

“Failed.” My voice cut like a blade, soft but lethal.

“You call this failure?”

“They believe… they believe the Alpha King can be stirred awake, they want her to bear your child.” He stopped, trembling.

The shameful truth hung heavy between us. They had used a girl as a vessel for their desperate hope. And she came out as my mate.

My expression darkened. “Lock this girl away. She has no place at my side. I do not accept her as my wife.”

Sapphire hurried forward to obey my orders. A relief and fear twisted his features. He moved toward the bed, reaching for her unconscious form.

But he stopped as footsteps echoed outside the door. Sapphire froze in his steps. His eyes darted to me, and he then slipped through the window and hid once again, leaving only the curtains swaying in his wake.

I had no time to curse him. I sank back into the bed, forcing my body still, arranging my limbs with practiced precision. My lids lowered, my breath shallow, controlled. I covered both of us.

The door creaked open.

“Ah,” a voice drawled, smooth, mocking, soaked in venom.

“What a sight this is.”

Ronan Grey Thorn.

My step-brother. After the death of my mother, my father married his mother. Ronan is raised beside me. Fed from the same table, taught by the same tutors. And yet, always in my shadow.

Always second. It always bothered Ronan; he was upset when he lost the race for the Alpha King.

He came into the room as though it belonged to him, his boots clicking against the polished floor. His eyes swept the bed, the unconscious girl, my unmoving form, and a grin tugged at his mouth.

“You should thank me, brother,” he sneered, stopping at my bedside.

“I’ve been generous.” His hand waved toward Vexia’s body, who was sleeping peacefully, unaware of all the affairs.

“I gave you a woman to warm your bed.”

Ronan’s tone was coated with poison, each word a jab meant to wound. A cripple. That’s what he saw. A king lay low.

“Bother, you should have seen her helplessly signing the contract of a marriage with a crippled, Alpha… ” he continued, leaning down close, so near I could feel the heat of his breath.

“Ahh, she was sweet, frightened, beautiful, and a virgin too. But unfortunately wasted on you.”

He came from the other side of the bed. He bent lower on Vexia, his gaze sliding to her body showing from the blanket. He slowly inhaled her scent, his nostrils flared as if savoring her scent, and a groan of approval slipped from his lips.

My wolf erupted in fury, a roar shaking the walls of my mind.

He dares! He dares touch what is ours!

I held still and controlled my wolf. My fists clenched beneath the blanket, my nails digging into my palms until the skin threatened to split. But I did not move. Not yet.

“Dear brother, do you want to know the truth, brother?” Ronan’s voice softened, venom lacing the silk.

“It was her father. Yes, her father, you know that? Vexia Blackclaw’s father helped me plan your fall. Without him, you would still sit untouchable on your throne. But now…”

He straightened, his smile vicious, his eyes glinting with ambition.

“Now, you are nothing. A useless cripple. And me? I hold the reins. I act in your stead. The pack follows my command.”

My teeth ground together, rage covered my whole body.

Ronan wasn’t done. He leaned closer, close enough that his shadow stretched across both me and Vexia.

“I can not kill you now because it will tremble the balance of the pack and the werewolf world, but soon… I will take everything from you.”

“The power, the position, the title, and why stop there?” His voice dripped with greed.

“The throne will be mine soon. The kingdom, the woman. Yes…”

His gaze lingered on Vexia’s limp form, a hungry curl to his lips.

“Even your woman.”

The wolf inside me slammed against his cage, a howl of such force it rattled my bones.

Kill him. Rip his throat. Tear him apart. No one touches her. No one takes her.

My blood boiled, every muscle screaming to lunge, to strike, to end him here and now. But I was still.

Timing. That was the key.

For now, I let him believe I was helpless. I let him spill his poison, let him show his hand, while inside me the fire of vengeance burned hotter than ever. When the moment came, I would make him regret every word, every breath, every second he dared stand in my shadow and believe himself my equal.

Until then… I lay still, fists clenched beneath the blanket, the promise of blood burning in my veins.

Ronan Grey would not touch my mate.

Not now. Not ever. My wolf growled.