MATED TO OUR STEPSISTER

FOUR

Nolan’s POV

My vision swam, the air thick with the smell of blood as my father lashed my brothers and me in the courtyard. Each ragged breath sent a fresh spike of pain through my back, a relentless drumming that overshadowed the sting of the wounds themselves. I squeezed my eyes shut, focusing on a single crack in the stone wall, willing myself to disappear.

We would heal from this. We were werewolves after all, and had received punishments several times but this time, the guilt chewed at me worse than any lash ever could.

Leaving Avery alone in that barn, terrified and helpless...the memory of her tear-streaked face played on repeat behind my closed eyelids, a constant torment.

Despite my concerns that we’d left Avery to rot, I’d continued with the party like the others and had even gone to bed, even though sleep had refused to take me. That was why I was awake when it happened.

A sudden yank, a pull deep within my gut, had ripped me from the suffocating darkness of my own thoughts. It was a primal urge, undeniable and unfamiliar. Without a second thought, I'd followed the pull to find my brothers, Tristan and Julian already waiting outside, their gazes mirroring my bewilderment.

That pull had led us to the very barn where we’d locked Avery inside.

Avery was our mate. I couldn’t believe it.

A fresh lash cracked through the air, followed by a groan that pulled me from my thoughts and back to the present.

Across from me, Tristan and Julian mirrored my misery. Gone was the usual cockiness that they wore like a second skin, their faces scrunched up in pain from the lashings. The sting of the whip, the humiliation of being at our father's mercy – it was a bitter pill to swallow. His rage had been palpable when he'd discovered not only our lie about Avery's whereabouts but the even greater transgression that we were the masterminds behind her captivity.

The image of him entering the barn, confusion clouding his features, flashed in my mind. It had morphed into horror as his gaze fell upon Avery–bound and helpless.

The memory of Marcella's scream, as she scrambled to reach her daughter, Avery’s unconscious form cradled in her arms, would haunt me for a very long time.

“So, tell me now, whose idea was it to tie up and bully your sister like that?” Father roared, his voice echoing off the stone walls of the courtyard.

The whistle of the whip tore through the silence, landing with a sickening crack on Tristan’s back. A strangled cry escaped his lips, cut short as he remembered that making a sound would only aggravate Father even more. Shame burned in my cheeks, a familiar heat that rivaled the sting across my own back.

"Pathetic. All three of you," Father snapped, disappointment dripping from each word and a glance at my brothers confirmed my suspicion; our little prank with Avery must have landed us in deeper trouble than anticipated.

"Eighteenth birthday," Father continued, his voice dropping to a dangerous low. "I thought it meant you were finally ready to grow up, and focus on finding your mates. Seems I was wrong." He paused, letting the weight of his words settle heavily in the air.

The word mate made me hold my breath.

"Do you even have any idea of the evil that's looming in the pack right now?" He quipped and my brows furrowed in confusion. Evil? What evil? My gaze flicked to his face, searching for any clue, any hint of what this lurking darkness might be.

A flicker of something…worry? crossed his features before it was quickly masked by renewed anger. "Of course you don't," he spat. "Too busy bullying those weaker than yourselves."

Looking at my brothers from the corner of my eyes, I saw that I wasn’t the only one whose attention was caught by our Father’s last words.

“Father,” Tristan croaked, keeping his eyes respectfully downcast, “what sort of evil is looming around the pack?”

I held my breath, waiting for the answer. His jaw clenched, and for a terrifying moment, I thought he wouldn't answer. But then, a ragged breath escaped his lips.

"Grounded," he finally declared, his voice heavy with authority. "All of you. Spend that time thinking about how to change your ways and focus on finding your mates. One month. You have one month. If you don't…" he trailed off, letting the threat hang in the air like a rotten egg.

"And since you three seem to enjoy bullying," he continued, a harsh glint in his eyes that sent shivers down my spine, "then I'll show you what it means to be bullied if something like this ever happens again.”

With that final word, he turned and walked out of the courtyard, leaving behind a deep silence that seemed to echo the weight of his displeasure in us.

Tristan was the one who broke the oppressive silence.

"Look," he began, his voice rough with barely contained anger, "as much as I hate to admit it, we have a serious problem here. How the hell is Avery our mate? What the actual…" he trailed off, the rest of his question hanging in the air thick with disbelief.

Julian rose to his feet with a wince. "For a moment, I thought we were dreaming," he muttered, rubbing a sore spot on his arm and flinched when he attempted to stretch, a sharp reminder of the lashes across his back that mirrored ours. "But did anyone else hear her voice in their head? Surely, I can't be the only one, right?"

Tristan's face paled slightly. "I heard it too," he mumbled, his anger slightly fading. He and Julian exchanged a worried glance before turning to me, their brows raised in unison.

"Yeah," I finally managed, my voice hoarse. "I heard it too."

Tristan offered a curt nod, but Julian sank back down onto the ground, burying his head in his hands. A frustrated groan escaped him.

The silence returned, heavier this time, laced with a strange tension. Unable to hold back any longer, I blurted out, "What's so wrong with Avery being our mate?", already knowing I'd regret it the moment the words left my lips. My brothers both fixed me with identical stares, a mix of anger and disgust.

"Are you serious, Nolan?" Tristan snapped. "What the hell do you mean by that? Is your head so far up your ass you can't see how messed up this is?"

"She's our stepsister, you i***t, in case you've forgotten!" Julian added, his voice tight with barely suppressed rage.

Before I could form a reply, they both stormed out of the courtyard, leaving me alone with the echo of their harsh words.

Letting out a defeated sigh, I ran a hand through my hair and headed out of the courtyard. My gaze drifted towards the stairs leading to my room, but my feet carried me in the opposite direction, finding myself drawn to the infirmary, where I knew Avery would be recovering.

Politely declining the healer’s offer to rub salve on my back because the wounds were already beginning to heal, I entered Avery’s room and stood awkwardly by the door, watching the rise and fall of her chest as she slept. Her face, usually etched with annoyance whenever my brothers and I were around, was soft and peaceful in slumber.

My heart skipped a beat and I looked away like I'd been caught stealing a snack.

Was I being a complete fool for even considering this bond? My heart hammered a frantic rhythm against my ribs. Why did the moon goddess have to play such a cruel trick? Tying us to the one person we never wanted anything to do with?

Why did it have to be Avery?

Maybe my brothers were right. Maybe I was letting my attraction cloud my judgment. What good could come out of accepting a bond with Avery? It was a recipe for disaster.

Nothing good could come out of accepting this bond with Avery.

With a final, longing glance at her sleeping form, I forced myself to turn away. Stepping out of the room, I closed the door with a soft click. Avery was off-limits. She was the enemy.

But a tiny, traitorous voice whispered in the back of my mind. Was she truly the enemy, or was I simply trying to convince myself of something I didn't quite believe? The answer, for now, was shrouded in uncertainty.