All Chapters of Initiated by my Alpha Stepbrother's Mark: Chapter 171 - Chapter 178

Kaireen's Pov I sat down at the counter and started eating because what choice did I have, and I refused to look at him even though I could feel his eyes on me the entire time. The food was delicious and I ate until I was completely full, until my stomach was pleasantly satisfied and the anger had drained out of me leaving only exhaustion and confusion about what we were supposed to do next.When I finally finished and looked up, Ronan was leaning against the doorframe watching me with an expression I could not quite read, something between satisfaction and possessiveness and something softer that made my chest ache."Meet me in the office," he said. "We need to talk."He turned and walked down the hallway before I could respond, and after a moment I followed him because apparently I was incapable of not following this male wherever he led. The office was at the end of the hall, a masculine space with dark wood furniture and floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and a large

Kaireen's Pov The words were barely out of my mouth before my mother shot up from the couch like she had been struck by lightning, her face twisted in absolute fury, and she came at me with her hand raised high ready to slap me across the face the way she had done so many times when I was younger and could not fight back."How dare you call her name like that!" she screamed, her voice shrill and piercing. "You disrespectful little—"But I was not that scared little girl anymore, was not the broken adopted daughter who took every hit and insult without defending herself, and when her palm came swinging toward my face I caught her wrist mid-air and shoved it away hard enough that she stumbled backward."Don't," I said, my voice deadly calm. "Respect your old age and let me be. You don't get to hit me anymore."The shock on her face was almost worth everything else, like she could not believe I had actually dared to stop her, could not process that I was no longer under her control. But

Ronan's Pov I felt my wolf surge forward with a roar that nearly burst out of my throat and I had to grip the edge of the table to keep from shifting right there in the middle of the pack house hallway, had to use every ounce of control I possessed not to smash through the nearest window and run straight to wherever my mate was being held. I did not wait to hear anything else, did not bother responding or hanging up properly, I just dropped my phone and ran, shoving past pack members who scattered out of my way when they saw the expression on my face, taking the stairs down to the lower levels three at a time until I reached the heavy iron door that led to the dungeon levels we rarely used anymore. The dungeons were beneath the original pack house structure, ancient stone corridors lit by flickering torches that cast dancing shadows on damp walls, the air down here cold and stale and smelling of mold and old blood from decades of prisoners held in these cells. We only used them

Kaireen's Pov I woke up to bright light streaming through unfamiliar windows and the feeling of warm soft sheets wrapped around my body, so different from the cold damp stone floor of the dungeon that for a moment I thought I was dreaming, thought maybe I had died down there in that freezing cell and this was some kind of afterlife. This was not my bedroom in the pack house. This was somewhere else entirely, a cozy space with wood-paneled walls and rustic furniture and a stone fireplace in the corner that was crackling with a low fire. The bed I was lying in was massive and covered in thick blankets that smelled like pine and winter air and underneath it all was Rowan's scent, that familiar combination of cedar and rain that made my wolf purr with contentment.His private cabin. He had brought me to his private cabin.I tried to sit up and immediately regretted it as The door to the bedroom opened and I tensed expecting Rowan but instead Rhia walked in carrying a steaming mug of co