Mated To My Stepbrother のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 1 - チャプター 9

"Lena, stop staring at the gate like that. You look like you're about to run.""I'm not running, Mom." Lena Hart tightened her grip on the strap of her bag. It was the same bag she had carried through six towns, and she had never once unpacked it completely. "I'm just counting the ways out."Her mother laughed, but it came out thin. "There's only one way in, sweetheart. And you're going to like it here."The iron gates opened slowly, and the car rolled up a long road lined with pine trees so tall they blocked the sky. At the end of it stood a mansion of dark stone and glass, so big that Lena forgot to breathe."Mom," she whispered. "You married a king?""I married a kind man," Naomi said, a little too quickly. "Remember that. Kind."A tall man waited at the top of the steps with his hands in his pockets. Silver streaks ran through his black hair, and he had the calm face of someone who had never needed to raise his voice. Beside him stood a gray-haired woman in a black dress."Naomi."

"Lena? You look like you saw a ghost.""I'm fine." Lena crushed the note in her fist and shoved it deep into her pocket. "Just tired."Poppy narrowed her eyes. "Tired people don't go that pale. Do you want me to walk you home?""No!" It came out too fast. Lena forced a smile. "No. I'm fine. I'll see you tomorrow."She left the library without another word. Her pulse was pounding in her ears, and with every step she felt the stranger's smile on her skin. We know what you are, Silver. She had been called a lot of things in six different schools, but never that.She hurried along the covered walkway toward the parking lot, then stopped. Kane was leaning against a stone pillar with his arms crossed, as if he had been waiting for an hour."Rule one," she said. "We don't know each other.""Nobody's looking." He pushed off the pillar and walked straight toward her. "Who touched your bag?""What?""Your bag. Someone touched it today. I can smell them on it."Lena's stomach dropped. "That's a

"You buried him?" Lena's voice cracked. "My father is dead?""Not here," Victor said. "Come inside. All of you."The study smelled of old books and woodsmoke. Lena sat stiffly in a leather chair, wrapped in a blanket Mrs. Bell had pushed into her hands. Kane stood by the fireplace with his shoulder freshly bandaged. Theo had been sent home, though he had gone with a look that said he would be back in the morning with questions.Naomi sat on the arm of Lena's chair, gripping her hand like she was afraid she would disappear."His name was Adrian," Victor said quietly. "He was my closest friend."Lena had waited nineteen years to hear that name. Hearing it felt like being hit."Adrian," she repeated. "What was he like?"Naomi's eyes filled. "Brave. Funny. He laughed with his whole body. You have his stubborn chin.""And he died the night I was born.""In a fire," Victor said. "I carried him out myself. It was too late.""The man in the woods said you killed him.""The man in the woods wo

Every muscle in Lena's body screamed at her to run. She had been hunted by this man two nights ago. He had set wolves on her. He had stood in the dark and called her Silver. And now he was standing in her living room, smiling like a guest at a tea party."Have we met?" she heard herself say.The smile widened. "I don't believe so."He's daring me, she realized. He wants me to say it.If she accused him, what would happen? She had no proof. The note was gone, burned in the fireplace that morning on Kane's orders. The only witnesses were wolves who would swear on their lives that he had never left the council hall. And the whole room would see a nineteen-year-old girl accusing a respected elder of attacking her, the same girl who had just been caught in a scandal with the heir.Kane's fingers brushed hers, a tiny warning. Don't."I'm sorry," Lena said sweetly. "You just remind me of someone.""I get that often." Corvin's pale eyes glittered. "I have that kind of face.""Corvin." Victor

"Don't," Kane said. "Whatever you're about to do, don't."Lena was already pulling on her boots. Her hands were shaking so badly she had to try three times to tie the laces."She's my mother.""I know.""She went alone. In the middle of the night. With a button from Corvin's coat stuck to her note.""I know, Lena. We'll find her." He stepped in front of the door. "But not like this.""Then how?""With a plan.""I don't have time for a plan!" Her voice cracked. "Every minute I stand here, she's further away. Move, Kane.""No.""Move!""No." His eyes were gold at the edges, but his voice stayed soft. "Look at me. If you walk out that door, Corvin gets exactly what he wants. A scared girl running into the dark, with no pack and no protection."Lena's chest heaved. She wanted to scream at him, to shove him out of the way, and she hated that some small part of her knew he was right."Then think," she said. "Fast."Victor stepped into the doorway, already dressed in a dark coat. Mrs. Bell s