Rejected, Rebirth, and Second Chance

My Brother's Girlfriend

|ROWAN’S POV|

“Is she okay?” Damien asked the moment I stepped out of my room. I shouldn’t want to smile. It sickens me that I was mated to his girlfriend. I buried that secret, and I have no intention of being anything but her friend. But days like this, when she clings to me leaves both my demon and wolf side thinking she might want me.

I ran a hand roughly through my hair and exhaled. She doesn’t want me though, she loves my brother. I’ll take what I can get.

“She is. She’s bathing now, and once she’s done she’ll eat and I’ll bring her out. What happened?”

he shook his head like he didn’t know if he could tell me or if he didn’t know the answer. Seeing the murder of her parents has left Adeline with this fear that one day those wolves will return to kill her. It took Damien, me, and our father years to get her to even come out of the house or talk to us. She trusted Yevgeny first, Damien next- though their friendship turned to love, and she trusted me at the same time she trusted him.

I had no problem being her friend. Everything was fine until I turned eighteen and felt the tug in my chest. Suddenly her smile was the highlight of my day. Suddenly everything about her made my chest warmer, suddenly she wasn’t just a friend. I was falling for her, and I hated myself.

Damien is my best friend. When his father found me, Damien accepted me as his younger brother right away. He made sure I felt welcomed. To betray him would be like spitting on the hand that fed me. I can’t give in to these urges.

But when she held me tightly, sobbing into my arms.... ugh, get over yourself, Rowan. She’s going to feel better soon and jump right back into his arms. They do share a bed. They share everything.

I walked forward, patting Damien on the shoulder.

“It’s alright, dude. She’s gonna be fine. Sometimes these nightmares are worse than others.” He looked up, nodding at me and sighing with exasperation. Poor guy. The poor guy who has my mate head over heels for him. Poor poor guy.

I felt the bitterness, but I shoved it back. I’m not an asshole.

“Can you stay with her?” he asked.

My immediate response was to say yes, but that won’t do me any good right now. Couldn’t I have been mated to someone else? Someone not close, someone who isn’t as cute, shy, pretty, sexy as Adeline?

Or at least couldn’t she have been single?

“I can’t. You know I got selected for the elite team-”

“What the f**k? Why didn’t you say anything?” his face morphed into one of glee. He was proud and so was I. But I was also feeling nervous because we both applied, and we both went for the physical test. And I know he got rejected... I don’t want this to feel like I’m rubbing it in his face.

“Yeah, I got the letter last night. Haven’t even told Dad.”

“Too f*****g modest. Go tell him, and I get it. You gotta be there for the first briefing. Before you know it, you’ll be captain, and that’s what makes you amazing.” he smacked my hand playfully and we shared a laugh.

“I’ll wait until she has eaten, then tell Dad to keep an eye on her. You should go to the meeting the elder counsel is having today. It might improve their views on you.”

he shook his head. “those meetings are boring as hell.”

“Yeah, but if you keep ditching em the elders will think you’re disrespectful and they play a role in you being alpha.” Unless something happens to Yevgeny, and for a man who’s sixty-one, he’s as tough and as healthy as ever.

“Ugh, why are you always right?”

“Me? Always right? Oh damn.”

“Jerk. Alright, I’ll go. It should distract me, or at least put me to sleep.” he glances towards my bedroom door, then he turns to leave.

I returned to the room and found Adeline poking her head out of the bathroom door. A minute late and I’d have seen her nude body. Yeah, no way am I keeping an eye on her. She spots me, and her cheeks turn pink.

“Um, I don’t have any clothes here-”

“I’ll get you some,” I said quickly. I tried not to run out of the room, and I felt even worse going into their shared bedroom. Her scent was everywhere, f**k me. Gods, who did I hurt in the past life? I swear I’m a good person. The worst I’ve done is jack off to thoughts of having my mate.

Is that so wrong? She drives me crazy. Damien was collecting his back from the room when I entered.

“You need something?”

“She needs clothes. Could you give me some?”

He shrugs. “You’ve got the fashion sense, just pick something out. She’ll like it.” are you stupid? I nodded with a terse smile as he walked past me. f*****g i***t. That’s just one of the many signs that he trusts me, and I’m the one with the problem.

But seriously, I wouldn’t let my stepbrother pick out clothes for my girl... which is why I don’t have one.

You can do this, I said to myself. I made quick work, picking out a lovely sundress, and a pair of panties that had this cute bow in the front. I stared at it, questioning my entire life in this one minute.

I snapped myself out of it and returned to my room. It was across the hall from theirs. She was out, tied in one of my big brown towels. f**k she looks like mine- I forced that thought away. Being a hybrid isn’t easy. Especially half-demon.

While my wolf side wants its mate but he can understand why I can’t claim her, my demon side doesn’t. He can’t seem to get that I cannot betray Damien like that.

I handed her the pieces of clothes, and she thanked me. That blush coating her face made my heart squeeze.

“Thank you, Rowan.” she sounded unsure and skeptical. I think she’s had a tough day. I glanced around the room and went to the bedside drawer.

“No need for that. Warm the food once you’re done. And here, you told me to hold it for you.” I picked up the small black velvet box and my bag that I’d pre-prepared for today. I have to leave now so the elite team doesn’t think I’m a loser, and so I don’t do something stupid.

“What is it?”

I frowned, how could she not remember this? Oh right, it’s in a box.

“Your mom’s necklace.” I pulled the box open and her jaw dropped.

“What? Where... how?” she shakily collected it from the box. I silently prayed for her towel to not fall and fall at the same time.

I’m going to hell.. and not only because I’m a demon.

“Uh, you had it with you when Damien found you.” I lied. When we became friends, she was still broken up having found nothing of her parents. She was sixteen at the time, only four years after Damien found her wondering on his way back from a camping trip with his father.

I followed her description of her small town and found the place. Her parents' home was destroyed. Blood and raw flesh still painted the streets. But I was able to find a pretty heart-shaped necklace with a bright pink jewel on the inside, wrapped around the metallic vines that formed the heart.

I placed it in the pocket of the pajamas she wore, and when she checked it, the night she planned to burn it... she found it. She doesn’t have to know. No one does.

It’s better if she thinks it was always there. Imagine how Damien would feel if he found out the trouble I went to to find that. And I wasn’t even mated to her then. It was a month before I turned eighteen. That should have been the sign that I was already into her.

I shook my head and cleared that memory. She looked at me with tears-filled eyes.

“Thank you for keeping it.”

“Yeah. I’ve gotta go.” I said, and I took her stunned silence as a chance to leave. Stopping by my father’s door to tell him my good news, and that Adeline needs someone to watch her. He was happy to oblige.

We all love her. He loves her like a daughter, Damien and I are in love with her. And only one of us has her.... and it isn’t me.

‘Whose fault is that? Claim her. He doesn’t deserve her. aura eius perturbans est. eam vindica, protege eam. nostra est.’Michal hollers in my head as I make my way out of the house.

[Translation: his aura is unnerving. claim her, protect her. She is ours!]

Yeah, being a hybrid is annoying sometimes.

‘Ему не хочется быть подонком, Михаил. Оставь его в покое.’ Josiah scolds.

[Translation: He doesn't want to be a scumbag, Michal. Leave him alone.]

I have two alpha beasts always talking in my head. They’re stubborn. Thick headed, and so frustrating. But Michal is the worst. Because he doesn’t have a moral compass. Kill someone who acts hateful towards me for being an alpha? Yeah, he’ll give me that advice.

Mark my brother’s girlfriend regardless of trust and dignity? Yeah, he’ll give me that advice.

He’s always on the other side of the moral scale. But Josiah is sensible. He has an older tone, and he listens to my reasons before giving me advice or any sort of solution.

He’s also the aura of my wolf when I shift, he’s stronger and his skills help me navigate being a wolf better. But when I’m in my demon form, Michal is stronger there. His thoughts are stronger, and I’m more inclined to kill people then.

Which is why I don’t shift into that form. In this base form, I have a mix of their abilities,

I spotted the large building made for the elite team training and meetings. The elite team in the Rowdy Vipers Pack is for the best set of alphas, and betas who are capable of protecting the pack from rogue wolves, rival packs, or other dangerous species.

Being a part of the team is a sign of strength. Every alpha that has ruled this pack has been a member of the elite team, excluding Damien.

I felt guilt fill me. He’s not going to live this one down. He had to try again. This was my first time applying, and I’m shocked that I got in. From my knowledge, the pack is still iffy about me being yeah. Although I’m well-liked and very popular.

I stepped through the building and shut my thoughts. Clearing away Adeline, Damien, and my two beasts and focusing on taking some notes.

If I’m lucky, I could be captain someday. And that’s just the kind of responsibility I need to put some distance between me and my mate.