Chapter 4: How To Sleep With Your Stepson Before Meeting Him

RAE

      

       I grabbed a pair of scissors, about to ruin my wedding dress. 

      

       Then the door to my suite slammed open and my mother and my baby sister Johnie walked in, already dolled up while I was still in my running clothes.

      

       “Rae!” Johnie squealed and wrapped her tiny arms around my legs. 

      

       I crouched to her height and snuggled closer. “Who’s this pretty grown-up lady and what have you done with my baby Johnie?!” I gushed and tickled her. “Confess!” She giggled and giggled.

      

       “Why were you holding scissors?” My mother’s gaze narrowed slightly. “And why—Rachel, what is this?!”

      

       “I don’t think it suits me.” I let Johnie go.

      

       “Are you joking? Almost every influential person in the city is here. Your obnoxious cousins. The mayor. Even Wondra’s CEO.”

      

       I blinked rapidly. If I became the talk of the town for fleeing my wedding, would Wondra TV still promote me as promised?

      

       “Rachel!” My mother suddenly yelled and then she pressed her fingers together to compose herself. “He’s doing us a favour. Can’t you see that?”

      

       I looked away. 

      

       She came closer, cupping my face. “A lot of people know you’re damaged goods, sweetie, yet Jason wants to marry you. You should be running down that aisle to get to him and worshipping the ground that he walks.”

      

       I didn’t know what was worse, the scorn she’d been regarding me with for years or the words coming out of my own mother’s mouth now. 

      

       I glanced at Johnie but she was occupied with the teddy bears on my suite’s bed, playing ‘dress-up’. 

      

       “He doesn’t love me—“

      

       “And who could love someone like you?” Her hand was still on my cheek, cruelly tender. “Huh?”

      

       I gaped at her, knowing I had heard right. Just like I remembered every name she had called me while growing up. I was weak, useless, and a waste of seven months. The fact about hearing things repeatedly was that it would start to stick. 

      

       My job was the only thing that seemed to convince me that my life had value. At Wondra, I was needed. At home, I was a mistake, and Jason must think the same. 

      

       A powerful Alpha and owner of a multi-billion dollar corporation mating an Omega? It was disappointing, and that was why he proposed with a merger contract, not a ring.

     

       My mate didn’t love me. I finally understood that I was too damaged to deserve love. 

     

       “Give me ten minutes,” I sniffled. 

      

       “If you ruin this for your father and I, we will make you suffer.” She released my cheek, picking Johnie up in her arm. “Hurry up, dammit!”

      

       The door slammed shut behind her again and I flinched.

      

       Changing out of my leggings and sweatshirt, I wondered for the umpteenth time where I’d be now if my work-slash-vacation at Storm Creek had gone differently. 

      

       His ID confirmed that he was eighteen, and even though he didn’t look his age, I had slept with a… a kid! A boy ten years younger than I was.

     

       After putting on my wedding dress and panicking over the past, I purposely left my suite in twenty minutes, not ten. 

     

       “All stand,” the officiant said downstairs.

      

       My father hooked my arm around his forcefully. “You know how much I hate tardiness,” he growled, yanking me forward when it was time to walk down the aisle.

      

       I had to beam at the guests as soon as they saw us. “You mean how much you hate me, not tardiness,” I mumbled caustically.

      

       “Shut up,” he spat while waving at the crowd like a proud dad.

      

       At the altar, I touched Jason’s hand and bands of electricity ripped through me.

      

       There was no love. No chemistry, just this out of place connection that made him attractive, even after his nonchalant attitude towards me.

      

       “How dare you keep me waiting?” Jason asked, half-smiling, half-not.

    

       “How dare I? You’ve kept me waiting for your attention these past few months.” I was suddenly bold.

      

       His gaze held mine, darkening. I sucked in a lungful of his scent and drooled. I wanted to touch all of him, yet flee at the same time. My parents threatened to make me never work again if I didn’t do this, but there was a tiny part of me that wanted to be here because of our bond. I believed in it. Maybe one day, he might love me.

     

       “Will you deny that you’re marrying me for convenience?”

      

       “Hm,” he scoffed and a smirk fleshed out on his face. “I didn’t think you’d have bite. Any more hidden traits that I should be aware of, wifey?”

    

       We’ve sat beside each other for dinner on Sunday nights, yet the only thing he knew about me was that I was an Omega. Sometimes, I even questioned if he knew my name.

      

       On the other hand, Jason was well known in the city and amongst our kind. That was why seated in the crowd today were the most influential humans and werewolves. 

      

       “No. But I am curious about one thing. How old are you?” 

     

       “40, why do you ask?”

      

Good question, because there was literally g****e that had all the basic information about him on it in existence.

  

  “I guess… I just wanted to be sure you’re not 18 or…” I bit my bottom lip, knowing I’d better stop talking.

  

   My point was that I wanted a man who would choose me, love me, and be crazy obsessed with me. Someone old enough! Was that too much to ask for?

      

       “Are you crying?” Jason frowned just as the officiant began to speak and I shook my head, looking elsewhere, mortified. “My age isn’t a secret,” he began slowly. “I’m 40 years old, not 18, obviously. And I’m also the Alpha of the Trydon pack, but I have no family. Rachel, we’ll have all the time in the world to go over these things after our nuptials,” he assured me.

      

       “Mhmm,” I croaked, thinking about a certain boy. 

      

       As depraved as I was, I wished my mate was someone else at this moment.

      

       “We are gathered here to witness the joining of Jason Kane and Rachel Rosier in holy matrimony.” My heart thundered in my chest, an ocean of nerves suddenly beneath my feet. “A union that is about to be joyfully witnessed by everyone present. Please, if there are any objections, state now or forever hold peace.”

      

       The hall was quiet for minutes. I found Mandy’s gaze in the crowd and she shook her head, silently pleading with me. Even Johnie’s eyes were puffy with sad tears.

     

       I screwed mine shut, convincing myself that as long as I got promoted to Features producer, I wouldn’t be too miserable. 

      

       “Let us—“

      

       “I fucking object!” 

      

       The crowd gasped, and a second later, I realized I didn’t make that up in my head. Was that an ex? I doubted any of my wicked exes were imaginative enough to crash a wedding.

      

       “This wedding will never happen, Father!” the intruder said.

      

       I gasped out loud, suddenly a third party to this drama and not the bride who’d just been lied to. The Trydon Alpha had no family. Jason just said so. This… this was deserving of popcorn. 

      

       Clasping my mouth to hide my wild smile, I turned to the aisle, but then I saw who was standing there.

      

       I lost balance, instantly hyperventilating.

      

       No…

     

       Malachar?

     

       “What is the meaning of this?!” My mother shot to her feet as the rowdiness in the hall spiked uncontrollably.

      

       Did I… did I fuck my mate’s son three weeks ago?