All Chapters of The Dangerous Alpha Stepbrother Wants Me: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

SONYA'S POVI slowly open my eyes to a basement that smells like mold and blood.Not the best start to my day at all.My head is pounding, my neck stings where the knife cut me, and my wrists are zip-tied to a metal chair that's seen better days. Like, several decades ago."Fuck," I mutter, trying to assess the situation without panicking. Panicking won't help. Panicking is what gets you killed in horror movies, and I refuse to be that girl.Even if I'm currently living that girl's nightmare.The basement is mostly empty except for some old furniture and a single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. There's a door at the top of a rickety staircase, and I can hear muffled voices beyond it.One of them is definitely Zane. The psychopath who just murdered Vanessa in cold blood and kidnapped me.The other voices are unfamiliar. Male. His men, arguing."Boss shouldn't have killed the blonde yet," one says. "She could've been useful.""Vanessa was a liability," another responds. "You saw how

SONYA'S POVNo.No, this can't be happening."You're working with Zane?""Not working with. Using." Derek's smile is nothing like the boy I thought I loved. Nothing like the person I spent six years building a fantasy around. "Zane thinks he's the mastermind, but he's just a pawn. A convenient way to get rid of Reign so I can finally take what should have been mine from the beginning."The betrayal hits me like a physical blow, stealing the air from my lungs.Six years. Six years of loving him, and I never even knew him at all.I can't breathe. Can't process this. "The debt. The Rogue King. That was all fake?""Not fake. Just... orchestrated. I needed a reason for you to go to Reign, Sonya. Needed you to sign that contract so you'd be close enough to break his curse." He steps closer, and I see no remorse in his eyes. None. "See, Sonya, that curse? It can be transferred. And once you break it and Zane steals it, I'm going to kill Zane and take it for myself."My legs nearly give out.

DEREK'S POVThe holding cell smells like piss and failure.Fitting, I suppose, given how spectacularly everything just went to shit.I'm sitting on a metal bench that's bolted to the wall, my wrists still aching from where Reign's warriors bound me before throwing me in here like common trash. The fluorescent light overhead glitches every few seconds, casting shadows that crawl across the concrete walls.I was so close.So fucking close to everything I've worked for, planned for, sacrificed for all these past years. And now here I am, locked up like a criminal while my self-righteous brother plays hero with his shiny new mate.Reign's curse was fragmenting, Ravenna was transferring it, and all I needed was five more minutes. Five minutes and I would've had the ancient Alpha magic that should've been mine from the beginning. The power that would've made me unstoppable. Stronger than Reign. Stronger than our father. Strong enough to take everything they ever denied me.But no.Sonya had

DEREK'S POVA door clangs somewhere in the cell block, and I'm snapped back to my current shitty reality.I'm still in the holding cell. Reign's holding cell. Waiting for a trial that will probably end with my execution or permanent exile."Fuck!" I slam my fist against the wall again, harder this time.Blood wells from my split knuckles, but I don't care. The pain is nothing compared to the rage seething through me.I was supposed to be exceptional.Instead, I'm locked in a cage like an animal while Reign gets everything. Again.Where the hell did I miscalculate?The mate bond. That's where. I didn't account for the possibility that Sonya was actually Reign's true mate, not just someone compatible enough to break the curse.If it had been any other omega with Moon Goddess bloodline, the bond wouldn't have anchored properly. The curse would have remained unstable, and I could have seized it in the chaos.But no. It had to be a true mate bond. It had to snap into place perfectly, givin

SONYA'S POVI should tell him to stop. Should maintain some distance while we figure out this forced mate bond situation.But I don't want distance.I want him. I want to feel something other than the crushing betrayal Derek left behind. Want to remember what it's like to be desired by someone who actually sees me."Don't stop," I breathe.He captures my mouth in a searing kiss, his hand sliding between my thighs. But instead of touching me where I need him most, he traces lazy patterns on my inner thighs, deliberately avoiding my aching core."Reign," I whimper against his lips. "Please...""Please what?" His fingers dance closer, then retreat again. "Use your words, little omega.""Touch me. I need you to touch me.""Where?" He's torturing me now, his fingers stroking everywhere except where I'm desperate for him. "Here?" He brushes my outer lips through the growing wetness, making me buck against his hand."Yes, fuck, yes...""So impatient." But his fingers finally slide through my