Semua Bab CLAIMED BY MY STEPBROTHERS: Bab 1 - Bab 10

LEILA'S POVThe burning started at midnight.I thought it was a fever at first. Kicked off the blankets, stumbled to the bathroom, turned the shower to cold. The water hit my skin and turned to steam.That's when I knew something was wrong.I gripped the sink, staring at my reflection. My skin was flushed, covered in a thin sheen of sweat. My eyes, normally violet-gray behind my brown contacts, looked strange. Brighter somehow.Then the pain hit.Not gradual. Not a slow build. It slammed into me like a freight train.I collapsed, hitting the tile hard. My body convulsed. Every nerve ending felt like it was on fire. I tried to scream but couldn't get enough air.What's happening to me?My bones ached. My skin felt too tight. Something inside me was pushing, trying to get out."Finally."The voice came from inside my head. Ancient. Furious. Female.I gasped, curling into a ball. "Who...""I'm you. The real you. The part they buried before you could even know I existed."Another wave of

LEILA'S POVThey moved me to a different room after the incident.Not a cell this time. An actual bedroom on the third floor of the pack house, but the windows were reinforced with wards, and I could feel guards stationed outside my door.Still a prisoner. Just a more comfortable one.My mother had brought clothes, food, and apologies I didn't want to hear. Marcus had posted round-the-clock security. And the brothers...The brothers kept trying to see me.I could feel them through the incomplete bonds, thin threads that pulled tighter every hour. Maddox's barely controlled rage. Ronan's cold strategizing. Alec's constant worry.But Marcus wouldn't let them near me."Too dangerous," he'd said. "If the bond strengthens before we find a solution, I'll lose all three of you."So I sat alone in my gilded cage, counting down the days.Seven days until Dane came for me.Six now, actually. It was past midnight.I couldn't sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw that message written in frost

LEILA'S POVWhen everyone finally left my room, I stood there trembling, still wrapped in Maddox's torn shirt. The adrenaline from the attack was fading, leaving me hollow and shaking.I needed to calm down. I need to think clearly.A shower. That's what I needed.I locked the bathroom door behind me, not that it would stop any of them if they really wanted in, and turned the water to cold. My skin was still flushed from the partial shift, from the violence, from everything.The cold spray hit my overheated skin and I sighed in relief.But the relief didn't last.As I stood under the freezing water, I felt it. A prickling sensation on the back of my neck. Like someone was watching me.I opened my eyes, scanning the bathroom through the shower's glass door.Empty. Just steam and tile and my own paranoia."You're losing it," I muttered to myself, closing my eyes again.But the feeling didn't go away. If anything, it intensified.And then my body began to betray me.Heat. Not from exerti

LEILA'S POV"Let go of me!" I struggled against his iron grip. "I'm not going anywhere with you."Dane's silver eyes gleamed in the moonlight, predatory and possessive. "You don't have a choice, little hybrid.""You're a monster who killed my father!" The words tore from my throat, raw with grief and fury. "Why would you ever think I'd mate with you? Stay away from me. I never wanted this and I will never accept it."His expression didn't change. "Your father's death was…""Murder. It was murder." Tears burned my eyes. "You're a killer. If I wasn't your supposed mate, you would've killed me too, just like you killed those rogues. Just like you've been hunting hybrids for eighteen years."I shoved against his chest with all my strength.He didn't budge. Instead, he caught my wrists and pulled me flush against his body. The heat radiating from him was overwhelming, making my already burning skin feel like it might combust."Your body says otherwise," he murmured, one hand sliding to my

DANE'S POVThe healer's hands glowed brighter over Leila's wounds, sweat beading on her forehead from the effort. "Her healing is fighting me. The hybrid blood is rejecting the magic.""Then find another way," I growled."Alpha." My beta, Marcus, appeared in the doorway, his expression grim. "You have a visitor.""Not now.""It's Alpha Garrett. From Riverbend Pack." Marcus's jaw tightened. "He has Council members with him."Fuck.I looked down at Leila's pale face, her chest barely rising and falling. Every instinct screamed at me to stay with her.But if Garrett had brought the Council, this wasn't a social visit."Stay with her," I ordered Selene. "If anything changes—""I'll send word immediately."I forced myself to leave the room, each step away from Leila feeling like tearing off my own skin. The incomplete mate bond—because that's what it was, whether she accepted it or not—pulled at me like hooks under my ribs.Marcus fell into step beside me as we headed toward the main hall.