4

Raven’s POV

His lips slammed onto mine, and in less than a millisecond, I responded, our tongues deeply entangled as he tore off my nightgown, leaving me in my underwear.

“I was barely able to hold myself back there in the changing booth,” he admitted, “I wanted to bend you over and show you exactly what a good time looks like,”

My head was spinning with so many thoughts.

Dante had already had his wolf since he was 11.

Which means all this time that he has been tormenting me he knew.

He knew that we were mates and yet he still made every day a nightmare for me.

I seemed to come to my senses as I remembered that and tried to push him off me as he was trying to unhook my bra.

But he kissed me harder until all the ‘no’ I had inside me went down my throat.

I had always heard that the physical chemistry between mates was intense but nothing could have prepared me to experience it myself.

It was completely out of this world, his touch was electrifying everywhere it reached my body until I didn't care that I was doing this, having my first time with the person I hated the most.

Until I climaxed so many times and my mind entered a hazy state.

By the time I finally snapped back into reality, he was already dressed again, looking down at me with a gaze that burned at my skin.

I left his room that night in one of his hoodies, promising myself that it would never happen again.

But it did.

If I didn't go to him Breeze would drive me crazy.

Wolves were not like people; they moved purely on instinct rather than logic.

Breeze didn't care that he was my adoptive brother or my biggest bully, she wanted to have him.

The crazy thing was that he never turned me away.

Our entire relationship felt so wrong.

Outside his bedroom, he still treated me like a loser, except he didn't allow anyone else to do so.

So progress I guess?

We never sat down and talked about the implications of us being mates, as shameless as it was it felt good to have his approval.

The same guy who said I was going to die alone because of how fat I was, the same person who had once joked openly to his friends that they should just think about me anytime they want to drop their b* was now the one worshipping my body.

He kissed every inch of flesh that he always claimed was excessive and made him want to puke.

In a sick way, it made me feel good about my body.

“Raven tells me the truth, no lies, Dante has a secret girlfriend now doesn't he?”

Luella suddenly asked one day at lunch and I nearly dressed her in the fruit juice I was inhaling.

I forced the liquid down my throat and replied, “How am I supposed to know?”

She sighed dramatically

“Come on! Both of you live under the same roof. Haven't you caught him sneaking her in once?”

I could feel every individual strand of hair standing up at the back of my neck.

As crazy as it was to even assume, I was worried that all Luella had to do was take one look at me and she would know who the identity of the ‘secret girlfriend’ was.

For the first time in my life, I didn't feel so insecure anymore.

The same guy that the prettiest girl in school, Luella, had been trying and failing to snatch was coming to meet me in bed every night.

Except for the added complication that he was my adoptive brother.

“I'll keep an eye out, but I doubt there's anyone like that,” I said, trying to clear my tracks.

Part of me felt a little bad because it was like I was making a fool of my best friend. She had been crushing on Dante forever.

Then I remembered the many, many times that she had left at my expense, and most of my guilt all but evaporated into the air.

Every night was like a dream.

But just like every other dream eventually you'll have to wake up.

And after waking up you just wish you could go back to sleep and continue the beautiful dream.

At night I was the only one he looked at, the only one he craved.

But during the day, when I’d see him at school, he was hanging around with the slimmest girls possible as if he was going out of his way to compensate for what he really wanted.

Then what was just supposed to be a twisted physical affair to feed my low self-esteem became something more when, after intimacy, he would pull me close, embrace me in his arms, and bury his face in my chest.

Such a gentle, soft side from a boy who had only been harsh to me had an immediate effect–a crush.

I started looking forward to those cuddles more than us sleeping together.

Then my delusions were fed further whenever I saw how aggressively he would behave when another guy so much as looked in my direction.

If that wasn't him staking his claim then what was?

I pictured that we were in a secret affair for now, but once we were older and ready to handle the can of worms that would inevitably come from our relationship, I assumed that he would tell everyone about us.

He never told me this.

I just assumed that's what he meant.

A week after I turned 18, the Alpha's health took a nosedive and the Elders were having serious discussions about Dante taking over.

There was suddenly a lot on his plate and he didn't come to see me for an entire week. During that week I noticed something that had my heart racing.

The first thing I did was to check.

I did.

And I was able to confirm my suspicions.

So I went to Dante's room instead, holding out a white object that had two red lines across.

“Dante…I'm pregnant.”