My Brother My Mate

Classwork

Mariam's POV

I returned to my seat next to Melany, still trembling from what had happened. It wasn’t because Anthony hadn’t let me speak—I was used to that, to being ignored—but because he had mentioned that we came from a boarding school, that we were biological siblings, and also the natural children of the Alpha couple of the Green Valley pack. I would have to talk to him to clarify that matter, but the mere thought of approaching Anthony made my stomach turn.

“I don’t understand, Mariam,” Melany said. “Your brother just said you do come from a boarding school...”

“I know,” I interrupted her before anyone else could hear her, although with the noise that persisted in the classroom after Anthony's general invitation to our birthday party, I doubted anyone was paying attention to us. “But it's a lie,” I whispered. “We come from an orphanage, we are both orphans, father and mother, we’re not even real siblings, we were just adopted yesterday by the Alpha couple of this pack.”

Melany was still surprised, and I couldn’t blame her. It had to be difficult to understand that your Alphas were sustaining a lie.

“So, you’re not even blood siblings?”

I shook my head and responded in murmurs. “No. We have different parents, though by some coincidence we share the same birthdate, which is today. We are half-siblings, or something like that. I still can’t even figure out what the hell we are.”

“Adoptive siblings,” Melany clarified. “So you’re adoptive siblings.”

“Exactly that, yes. The only thing that binds us is that we were adopted by the same pair of parents.”

Mr. Donovan managed to restore order to the class after several calls for attention and assigned a partner work project. I felt relieved knowing I had Melany by my side and wouldn’t have to go through the agonizing process of finding someone to accept me. But then Mr. Donovan made a precision that threw me off balance.

“I want the St. Claire siblings to do this project together so I can get an idea of their academic level.”

My eyes immediately darted to Anthony, who also turned to meet my gaze. We both must have thought the same thing.

This can’t be happening!

Anthony's POV

Work with the nerd? Never! I had just met the most beautiful girl I had ever seen in my life, the one who would be the mother of my pups, and the opportunity of the class project would allow me to get closer to her and take her to the birthday party as my date. I protested, but Mr. Donovan seemed to be one of those who aren’t easily impressed and explained the strict necessity of working with my supposed sister.

I threw my backpack onto the seat next to Mariam.

“You’re the one who knows about science, so you’d better get us a good grade,” I warned the nerd.

“Excuse me?” Mariam exclaimed, visibly angry.

My eyes scanned her appearance. She was so poorly dressed, she looked so bad that, being my supposed sister, I’d have to do something about it, or soon she’d become the object of everyone’s jokes at school, which would affect my image.

“It’s a matter of convenience, ‘sis’,” I emphasized the word. “Mr. Donovan was clear. He wants to see how well prepared we are for his class, so we’d better impress him.”

“Then I’ll impress him, while you only show how bad you’ve been in all your years of study.”

Her response annoyed me. She was too arrogant for the nerd she was. In the orphanage, she would never have dared to respond to me like that. She must have felt more confident because she had teamed up with another nerd like her, or because she could now boast of being my sister. I had to knock her off that pedestal she was climbing onto, like I would have during dinner with our new parents.

“I can make your life here a living hell, even worse than it was in the orphanage,” I whispered, making sure no one else was listening. I noticed her eyes shrink with some fear. “Or, you could be a good girl, do an excellent job for both of us, and avoid getting on my bad side.”

I saw her swallow hard. “Alright, but it’s only for this project, and because we’re both involved, but I’m sure we’ll never be paired together again, then you’ll be on your own.”

I glared at her threateningly as I pressed her leg under the table with my hand, applying considerable force.

“Let’s get everything clear right now, nerd. You’ll do all the assignments I ask you to do, without protest, and only then will I let you have a peaceful life at this school,” I noticed my words and the pressure of my hand closing on her thigh had an effect. The poor thing was quite scared. Mr. Donovan passed by our table at that moment, and I gave him a smile that convinced him everything was fine. “I don’t care if we’re paired together again or not, you’ll do all my classwork, along with all my assignments, and maybe some for my new friends. Understand? Only then will I leave you alone.”

“You’re a miserable person. I’ll tell our parents.”

I smiled. The nerd could be very smart and diligent, but she was entirely naive.

“Oh, really? And what do you think they’ll say when they find out you’re letting your brother bully you? Didn’t you hear them yesterday during dinner? They want popular, strong kids, real Alphas to take over the pack when they step down. That’s why they brought us here.”

I released the pressure I had exerted on her thigh, surprised at how much I wanted to do it again.

“I’ll do your damn assignments, but only yours, no one else’s,” Mariam said with some resignation in her eyes but a deep spark that was unusual for her. “And I need you to tell me why you told everyone we came from a boarding school.”

“Didn’t you get it?” I asked while watching her write our names on the sheet for the class exercise. “Our parents told everyone...”

“That we came from a boarding school, yes.” Mariam interrupted me, in a low voice but with a determination I didn’t think she was capable of. “I know. Doesn’t that seem very strange to you?”

Our eyes met, and I suddenly had the urge to put my hand back on her thigh, as I had just done. Despite her disheveled appearance and the horrible clothes she wore, along with those creepy glasses that made her look like a lunatic, I saw that my new ‘sister’ could be quite attractive.

I had to close my eyes and shake my head.

“It’s strange, yes, but they’re our new parents, and we’ll have a life of luxury and wealth, plus inherit this pack if we play along. Don’t you think?”

Mariam looked at me with a slight, barely perceptible smile, as if something about me had caught her attention. I had never seen her smile, but then, despite how slight her gesture was, it managed to make me shiver again.

What the hell was going on?

“Do you think we should talk to them?” Mariam asked while starting to answer the exercises. I was surprised at how beautiful her hands were. “I mean, to our ‘parents’?”

“No, let’s not say anything. Let’s keep the story they made up and don’t tell anyone, listen to me, anyone about our true origin. Understand?”

Mariam looked at me nervously, bringing the pencil to her lips.

She looked so sexy at that moment that I had to rub my eyes again.

“I’m afraid someone already knows, ‘brother’.”

I didn’t pay attention to her last words and had to get up to go to the bathroom and splash water on my face.

What the hell was happening to me!

Was I starting to find my sister attractive?

Was I harboring any attraction to the nerd?

No, it couldn’t be.

I was just confused.

There was no possibility of any mate attraction because tonight we would just be turning seventeen. There was still a year to go before we would get our wolf, and then we could recognize our mate.

I splashed plenty of water on my face, and upon returning to the classroom, I saw her as I always had.

A creepy, poorly dressed nerd who, from now on, would do all my schoolwork.