Mated To My Obsessive Stepbrother

"I'll fix a date for your Luna coronation," he added, his voice suddenly turning colder, "Let them choke on their outrage. They'll have enough time to throw tantums and go fuck themselves before they accept the reality. You are their Luna, Kasmine."

My heart thudded in my chest like it wanted to escape.

1... I sincerely didn't know if this was what I wanted. I wanted him to get better first before we addressed the issue of us being mates. But everything was spiraling too fast and...

I blinked at him. "Kester, this... this wasn't the plan."

He turned his head slowly toward me with his brows drawn. "What plan?"

"You were meant to go for therapy first," I whispered. "We were supposed to deal with you first, before us... before all this."

"And risk my pack being stolen out from under me?" he snapped softly like the idea itself was insanity. "No, baby. We save the pack first. Then, everything else can follow. You want therapy? Fine. After I clean the house. If you still think I'm not fit for you after all

that, we'll end it. Reject each other and move on."

I stared at him, and he stared back.

But we both knew he was lying.

If Kester ever got the chance to name me his Luna publicly, under the banner of his leadership, there'd be no walking away from it. I had to tread carefully, or I'd be swallowed whole by his world before I even figured out where I stood in it.

"I saw Rex," I said, shifting gears before my panic became too visible "At the house. He and Dad were in a heated argument. He said something about a takeover. That nothing's going to stop Blaine."

Kester's jaw locked. His hand, which was resting on his knee, curled into a slow fist. I caught a flicker in his eyes, and it was dark and dangerous.

"It's time I showed Blaine who the fuck is in charge. He needs to learn the hard way."

Before I could caution him not to get his hands dirty with more blood since that was one of the easiest ways Kester resolves his issues, my phone rang, shattering the moment.

When I looked at the caller ID, it was June. I narrowed my brows.

Speak of the devil.

"Who is it?" Kester asked, already leaning closer. Before I could speak, he snatched the phone from my hand.

"Why the fuck is she calling you?"

"I don't know. I mean..." I shrugged.

His fingers clenched around the device, hard enough that I feared he might crush it. His eyes were dark,

flat, and stormy. I could feel the shift in him like a temperature drop. His whole body had gone tense and deadly still.

He answered the phone and placed it in his ear.

Why the fuck are you calling her phone?" He asked through clenched jaws.noveldrama

I would've paid blood to hear what June was saying on the other end because the change in Kester was instant. It was like a veil had dropped. His whole body turned to stone.

A deathly frown crept over his ce. The muscles in his jaw spasmed violently, and the vein near his temple began to pulse like it was trying to escape his skin. His breathing became shallow. His story eyes had turned black.

His palm flexed open and closed at his side as if trying to hold onto anything that would stop him from snapping.

"Kester. What's wrong?"

He didn't answer.

He just dropped the phone from his ear like it had burned him.

Footsteps approached us from the other wing that led to the ER, and my heart gave a loud thud before it began a marathon.

No. Please no-

The doctor emerged from the corner.

I shot to my feet like something had yanked me up, my legs nearly giving out beneath me.

"Doctor?" choked, taking a step

forward. How... how is she?" My voice trembled. For some reason, my hands wouldn't stop shaking. They twitched at my sides like they had a mind of their own

Kester stood beside me, wrapping his arm around my shoulder for support.

The doctor's eyes said everything before his mouth even moved.

He looked like a man dragging a mountain behind him.

His

gaze

hovered somewhere around my shoulder, like if he looked directly at me, he'd fall apart, too.

"Miss Kasmine... Alpha Kester."

I knew.

God, I knew.

The moment he didn't say, "She's stable" or "She's awake," I knew,

"No, I said, shaking my head, already stumbling back a step. "No. No. Please don't."

The world had tilted. The fluorescent lights above him blurred into lines. My heart felt like it had stammed

into a wall and then shattered on impact.

The doctor swallowed hard. "We

tried. We fought... We did everything

we could. But the bullet..." he

met

2 paused, it was laced with silver, and it dodged just beside her heart. The damage was catastrophic. Her body went into shock... and she.... she didn't make it out of surgery."

The words didn't land at once.

They floated around me. And I swear they were meaningless.

Didn't make it out of surgery...

Didn't make it...

Didn't...

Claire.

My Claire.

"I'm sorry," the doctor said, but I couldn't hear anything anymore. There was a roaring in my ears. A wave of something merciless slammed into my chest, cracking me in half.

“No, no, no, no, no," I was saying over and over, barely realizing I was sinking to

the floor. "She was just... she was just with me. We

were... I held her. I..."

My lungs seized, and my throat convulsed.

This had to be a nightmare, and I was more than willing to wake up already.

Because I might never be able to live with this guilt.

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