My Jealous Alpha Stepbrother

Chapter 5

Lydia

"Oh, John!"

Finally heard enough, I lift my arse from my bed and march out of my room. I've been trying to read for the past hour, but my mom and her soon-to-be husband won't shut up.

Despite having my music blasting at full volume, I can't shut out the sound. I'm blushing now, possibly scarred for life, knowing my mom still has a VERY active s*x life.

"Yes... John..."

Nope, not having more of this!

I open the door and run down the stairs.

Today was supposed to be a nice day. I've done all of my assignments, and my schedule is open. I was going to read, and it just happened that John and mom were using the room next to mine.

"You're in a rush."

I look up and find Avery following me down the stairs. I'm unsure which personality he has right now: the grumpy or the charming one?

"Uh-huh, no offense, but I hate the thin walls," I grumble. Avery has taller legs, so he is in front of me now. It's a little distracting to talk when he is watching me so intently. "What are we supposed to do all day when those two are going at it? Stare at each other?"

Avery stops in his tracks. I'm jogging down the stairs so fast I almost smash into him. But his hands reach out, landing on my shoulders to steady me while he searches my face.

"We?"

I roll my eyes, although I'm also blushing from the sheer intimacy of having him touching me. He might be younger than me, but nothing about his is boyish. Even his hands are large.

I wonder what else is big...

No, Lydia, stop it!

I clear my throat. "Yes, 'we' because I'm assuming you won't stick around to listen to—..." I pause for effect and grimace when I hear my mom again. "That."

A smirk plays over his lips. "Are you implying you want to spend the day with me, little sister?"

There he goes again, making fun of my stature. It's not fair. I can't do anything about my height, and even though he is two steps below me, Avery still towers over me. So irritating.

Wait.

Why are his eyes red?

I squint at him. "Were your eyes always red? I could have sworn they were more ocean-colored. A mix of blue and green..."

"Ah," Avery's hands fall down from his shoulders, and he nods at me to follow him down the stairs. He explains while walking. "As you may know, I'm a hybrid."

"Yes, that has come to my attention."

"And I have two personalities..." Avery explains. "One for the werewolf side and one for the vampire side of myself."

"Which is which?"

He smiles. "The charming one you're talking to right now with the red eyes is the vampire. My eyes weren't always this color, though... It's a recent development."

"Okay, this is a lot of information to take in. You, the vampire Avery, have red eyes. And the grumpy and mean one?"

"Is the werewolf with the ocean eyes you described."

"Oh," I stare at him. "So, wait... Do you just randomly switch between the two personalities? Is that how it works?"

He chuckles. "No, that won't happen anymore," those red eyes roam over my face, and he seems to bite back another laugh before he talks again. "Can you keep a secret, Lydia?"

"Uh, sure?"

I'm given another smile. A secretive yet charming one. "Come with me."

Avery pulls me out into the garden, and then after looking left and right, he pulls me into the bushes. I get leaves and s**t stuck in my hair, but Avery isn't slowing down.

"Where are you taking me?" I question, grimacing when a load of acorns drops onto my head.

Looking over his shoulder, Avery smiles at me. "You will see!"

I'm unsure if I should trust him so easily.

But even though my stomach is churning, I follow Avery, mostly because I can't resist him. My hand is tingling from where he is holding it, and my brain is already playing the wedding tune. Yes—I'm crushing hard on my alpha stepbrother, but who in their right mind wouldn't? He is so dark and handsome. Tall...

I'm so caught up in my fantasy of becoming Avery's wife that I don't notice that we have slowed down.

"We are here," Avery releases my hand.

A new voice grunts. "Took you long enough... Wait, why the f**k did you bring the omega here?!"

My eyes widen.

There are two of them!

Another Avery is sitting on a tree stump. He is scowling at me and shaking his head as if he doesn't like me being here. I have no idea what is going on. Is this the clone? It must be!

"What in the world... So you're the clone?" I ask, trying to put the puzzle pieces together. There can't be another explanation unless Avery has an evil twin or something.

"Clone?!" The grumpy Avery snorts before looking at the other version of himself. "Is that what you're telling people?"

The charming, red-eyed Avery shrugs. "What was I going to say? The truth: that you're so adamant about becoming normal that you pushed away your vampire self until there were two of us? Newsflash: I'm basically your clone."

"Okay, I get your point, but why drag the omega into this of all people? We don't need her to figure this out!"

"I dragged her here because she saved my life earlier. We can trust her," the charming Avery muses. "And then I also remembered how rude we treated her at the supermarket and thought we could make friends?" He turns to me with an apologetic smile. "Again, I'm sorry about the supermarket thing. Avery and I were still the same people back then."

"Wait a minute," Avery, the grumpy one, is staring at me now. "She, that little weakling, saved your life?"

"Yeah," the charming Avery shrugs. "I tried to master shape-shifting again and turned into a raven. It was nice—until instincts took over, and I forgot who I was. Had Lydia not been there, I would have been stuck as a raven forever."

The grumpy Avery releases a sigh and rubs his eyelids. "I'm going to have a f*****g headache..."

Laughter erupts from the charming Avery. "If you would just accept me as part of yourself, and drink human blood, then this would be but a bad memory. It's all you need to do."

"Yeah, well, I don't want to mix with you," the grumpy Avery glares at his other self and stifles a growl. "I'm happier being a pure werewolf and don't need my vampire genes. My pack already notices I'm not a normal werewolf. I don't have to make it worse by becoming a blood-addicted freak of nature."

The charming Avery looks sad. He opens his mouth to say something but then closes it, and that's when I've heard enough.

"Hey, that's uncalled for!" I growl at the grumpy Avery. "You don't have to be rude and call him a freak of nature!"

"Him?!" Avery laughs in bitterness, pointing at his other self. "He is another part of me, Lydia! I'm mean to myself!"

"He does have a point," the charming Avery smiles my way. "Our emotions are connected. I'm just mirroring whatever the 'real' Avery feels," he dries a tear on his fingertips. "Even though he doesn't show it, he is the one who is hurting right now."

"Quit explaining things to the omega," the grumpy Avery growls and averts his eyes to stare out into the forest. "She isn't our friend, and sharing this secret with her was a bad idea."

For some reason, I find his words insulting.

Why does he hate me?

I glare at the grumpy Avery, but strangely enough, the charming Avery stifles a laugh.

"He doesn't hate you, Lydia," the charming Avery says. "His bark is bigger than his bite, trust me."

"Even if that is true, he should quit being rude..." I mutter. I think I like the vampire version of Avery more. He is nice and charming, while the werewolf Avery is just plain mean. He might be sexy, but that doesn't matter since he is being a bully.

"That's true," the charming Avery agrees with me. "Because we need your help, Lydia."

"My help?" I blink. No one has ever needed my help before. "Why? What do you need me for?"

The grumpy Avery meets my eyes, and a shudder slips down my spine. He looks utterly pissed off. It makes me take a step back from him, and self-satisfaction shines in his eyes when he speaks.

"I need your blood, Lydia," his mood darkens, and he sighs deeply. "Well, the other me does... If my vampire self doesn't drink human blood, he will eventually die. He needs it daily," he turns to face his vampire self. "I'm assuming he already had human blood once, seeing his eyes have turned red, but he is going to need more. That's where you come in, Lydia."