Alle Kapitel von Mated To My Beta Stepbrother: Kapitel 1 – Kapitel 10

I shouldn’t have been at the club that night, but Sarah had practically dragged me out of our dorm room insisting that I needed to stop hiding behind textbooks and actually experience college life before senior year ended.The bass was so loud I could feel it vibrating through my chest as I squeezed through the crowd of dancing bodies, and the air was stuffy with the smell of sweat and cheap perfume mixed with something that I couldn’t quite identify.“Come on Adele, loosen up,” Sarah shouted over the music while thrusting a drink into my hand that was some toxic-looking blue color, “You’ve been moping around ever since winter break and I refuse to let you waste another perfectly good Friday night studying for exams that are still two months away.”She wasn’t wrong about the moping because going home for the holidays had been more uncomfortable than usual now that my father had remarried and I was supposed to pretend like everything was normal in our newly blended family. Killian, my

Killian didn’t look at me when he answered and just kept his eyes focused on the road ahead of us as he said, “Somewhere we can talk without being interrupted or overheard by anyone who might recognize us.”His words sent a chill down my spine because they made it sound like he was planning something secretive and possibly dangerous, but I didn’t dare ask him what he meant. I was afraid of what his answer might be.We drove for what felt like forever through streets that became increasingly less familiar to me until we were completely outside the city limits and heading into an area that was mostly industrial warehouses and abandoned buildings.The few streetlights that existed out here were dim and radiated an orange glow over everything, and I started to feel genuinely scared about where he was taking me and what he might do once we got there.Finally, he pulled the car into an empty parking lot next to what looked like an old factory that had been shut down years ago, and he turned

I felt tears starting to burn behind my eyes because this was too much information to process all at once and I couldn’t figure out if I was more upset about the fact that Killian had been lying to me this whole time or about the revelation that supernatural creatures apparently existed in the real world. Tyler was watching our interaction with an expression that seemed almost sympathetic now, but he still hadn’t moved from his position near the door like he was guarding it to make sure I couldn’t escape.“I need to get out of here,” I said as I started backing toward the exit even though Tyler was blocking my path, “I need to go home and forget that any of this ever happened.”Killian moved quickly to intercept me and grabbed both of my arms to stop me from going anywhere as he said urgently, “You can’t leave yet, we need to figure out what to do about this situation, and if you go running off in a panic you could end up putting yourself in even more danger.”I tried to pull away fr

“She can be trusted,” Killian said immediately and his voice was firm with conviction, “And she has more strength than you might think based on appearances.”Daemon held up a hand to silence Killian and said, “That’s not for you to decide because the final judgment must come from me as Alpha, and I have no intention of making that decision based solely on your biased opinion.”He turned to address me directly for the first time and asked, “What is your name girl and do you understand the gravity of what you’ve become involved in?”I swallowed hard and forced myself to meet his gaze even though every instinct was telling me to look away, and I said in a voice that was steadier than I expected, “My name is Adele and I honestly don’t understand most of what’s happening right now because up until about twenty minutes ago I didn’t know that werewolves were real, but I do understand that Killian seems to think I’m in danger because of what I’ve learned.”Daemon studied me for a long moment

Killian’s words made my heart flutter in a way that was both wonderful and terrifying, but I forced myself to stay focused on the practical matters that needed to be addressed before I could let myself get swept up in romantic feelings. “Tell me about these tests that Alpha Daemon mentioned,” I said while squeezing his hand, “What exactly am I going to have to do and what happens if I fail them?”His expression became grim and he was quiet for a long moment before answering, “The tests are designed to evaluate whether a human has the mental and physical strength necessary to survive the transformation process and become a full member of the pack. There are three main components including a test of courage where you’ll be required to face your deepest fears without breaking, a test of loyalty where you’ll have to prove that you can keep pack secrets even under extreme pressure, and a test of endurance where your body will be pushed to its absolute limits to see if you have the stamina