My fated mate rejected me in front of the entire pack and they cheered while he did it.
Moving to Nightshade Pack was supposed to be my escape. Instead, I got two step-brothers who looked at me like I was something they wanted to destroy.
Dante Blackwell: brutal, possessive, with eyes that burned through me every time we were in the same room.
Mateo Blackwell: all charm and cruelty, with a smile that shouldn’t make my heart race but does.
They made my life hell. Every day was a new way to remind me I didn’t belong.
But one incident changed it all.
What happens when the step-brothers you’re supposed to hate become the ones you can’t stop craving? When the mate who destroyed you comes crawling back? When the broken girl they underestimated discovers she’s something they should fear?
Sometimes the prey becomes the predator.
My Step-Brothers’ Forbidden Addiction Chapter 1
Delilah’s POV
“After graduation, you’re mine. Publicly. No more hiding.”
Jaxon’s lips brushed against my neck as he whispered the promise. We were tucked behind the library in our usual spot where no one could see us. His hand slid under my shirt, fingers tracing patterns on my bare skin that made me shiver.
“You promise?” I breathed out. “After three years of this, you’ll really claim me in front of everyone?”
“I swear it.” His ice blue eyes locked onto mine. “Three more days until graduation. Then I become Alpha and no one will ever hurt you again. You’ll be my Luna and they’ll have to respect you.”
I wanted to believe him so badly it hurt. For three years at Riverbend University, I endured hell. Male wolves grabbed my ass in hallways and called me easy. Female wolves spread rumors that I slept with professors for grades. They called me whore’s daughter every single day because Mom dared to date again five years after Dad died.
But Jaxon made it bearable. My fated mate, the future Alpha who loved me in secret and promised salvation was coming.
His hand moved lower, slipping beneath the waistband of my jeans. I gasped when his fingers found me already wet for him. He groaned against my throat.
“You’re always so ready for me, baby.” His fingers circled slowly, making my knees weak. “I can’t wait to have all of you. To fill you up and mark you as mine.”
My hand found the bulge straining against his pants. I stroked him through the fabric and felt him grow harder under my touch. He bucked into my palm with a low growl.
“Delilah.” His voice was rough with need. “Three more days. Just three more days and I’ll take every inch of you after I claim you publicly. I’ll make you scream my name where everyone can hear.”
His fingers worked faster and I bit my lip to keep quiet. The pleasure built and built until I shattered against his hand, trembling in his arms. He held me through it, whispering promises about our future together.
“I have to get to class,” I whispered when I could breathe again.
He kissed me softly. “Tonight. Meet me here tonight and I’ll make you come on my tongue.”
I nodded and slipped away from him, straightening my clothes as I headed back toward the main campus. My body still hummed with pleasure and my heart felt light for the first time in weeks. Three more days. Just three more days until everything changed.
The lightness died the moment I walked into my healing arts lecture.
“Look who finally decided to show up.” Sarah’s voice rang out across the classroom. “Probably late because she was on her knees somewhere earning her grade.”
The class erupted in laughter. I kept my head down and moved toward my usual seat in the back.
“I heard Professor Davis failed her last exam,” another girl added loudly. “Guess she’ll have to work extra hard to convince him to pass her. On her back, probably.”
More laughter. I sank into my seat and pulled out my notebook, ignoring the whispers and pointed looks. This was normal. This was every single day of my life at Riverbend University.
A male wolf named Kyle walked past my desk and deliberately knocked my books to the floor. “Oops. Maybe if you weren’t such a clumsy whore like your mother, you’d be able to hold onto things.”
I bent down to pick up my books, biting my tongue to keep from responding. Fighting back only made it worse. I learned that lesson in my first year.
The lecture dragged on forever. Professor Davis called on me twice just to watch me stumble through answers while the class snickered. By the time it ended, I was exhausted and Storm was whimpering in my head.
Just three more days, I reminded myself as I gathered my things. Three more days and Jaxon claims me and this all stops.
I headed toward the bathroom before my next class. The hallway was mostly empty since everyone was either in lectures or at lunch. I pushed open the bathroom door and froze.
Sarah stood by the sinks with three other girls. They all turned to look at me with cruel smiles on their faces.
“Well, well.” Sarah crossed her arms. “If it isn’t the whore’s daughter. We were just talking about you.”
I tried to back toward the door but one of the girls, Michelle, moved to block it.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Michelle asked. “We’re not done with you.”
My heart started pounding. This felt different from the usual taunts. More dangerous.
“Your mother is a disgrace,” Sarah said as she walked closer. “Spreading her legs for another man before your father’s body was even cold. What kind of woman does that?”
“A slut,” one of the other girls answered. “Just like her daughter.”
“My mom waited five years,” I said quietly, hating how my voice shook. “She mourned Dad. She’s allowed to love again.”
“Love?” Sarah laughed. “Is that what you call it? She fucked her way into a new relationship because she couldn’t stand being alone. Just like you’re trying to fuck your way through university.”
“That’s not true.”
“Everyone knows you’re sleeping with professors for grades,” Michelle added. “Like mother, like daughter. Both of you will spread your legs for anyone who gives you attention.”
“Stop talking about my mother like that.” Anger flared hot in my chest. “You don’t know anything about her.”
“We know she’s a faithless whore,” Sarah said. She was right in front of me now. “And we know her daughter is just as pathetic and desperate.”
“Take it back.” My hands clenched into fists.
“Or what?” Sarah shoved me hard. I stumbled backward and hit the wall. “You going to fight me? The weak little reject who can’t even defend herself?”
The other girls closed in around me. I was surrounded with my back against the wall.
“Your mother dishonored your father’s memory,” Sarah continued. “She spat on his grave by dating that Beta from Nightshade Pack. The whole pack knows what she is. A disgusting slut who couldn’t keep her legs closed.”
“Shut up!” I shoved Sarah back.
The moment I saw Sarah’s eyes flash with rage, I knew that was a big mistake.
My Step-Brothers’ Forbidden Addiction Chapter 2
Delilah’s POV
She grabbed my hair and slammed my head against the wall. Pain exploded through my skull. Before I could recover, Michelle punched me in the stomach and I doubled over gasping for air.
“You think you can touch me?” Sarah yanked my hair harder, forcing my head back. “You’re nothing. Your mother is nothing. Just trash that should have been thrown out years ago.”
Another girl kicked my legs out from under me. I fell hard on the tile floor and Sarah didn’t let go of my hair. I felt strands ripping from my scalp.
“This is what happens when you forget your place,” Sarah hissed as she slammed my head against the floor. Stars exploded across my vision. “You’re beneath us. Your whore mother is beneath us. You don’t deserve to be in this pack.”
Michelle kicked me in the ribs. I heard something crack and pain shot through my side. I tried to curl into a ball but Sarah still had my hair.
“Maybe if we beat some sense into you, you’ll finally leave,” one of the other girls said. She stomped on my hand and I screamed as bones crunched under her foot.
“Your mother should have left years ago,” Sarah said. She finally let go of my hair and kicked me in the back. “Both of you are parasites feeding off this pack’s generosity. Well, we’re done being generous.”
They kicked me again and again. My ribs, my back, my legs. I tasted blood in my mouth. Storm was howling in my head but she couldn’t help me. I was too weak to shift and even if I could, they outnumbered me.
“Remember this,” Sarah said as she crouched down next to my bleeding face. “You don’t belong here. Your slut mother doesn’t belong here. And in three days when you graduate, you better take her and leave. Because if you don’t, next time will be worse.”
They left me lying on the bathroom floor in a pool of my own blood.
I don’t know how long I lay there. Everything hurt. My head throbbed, my ribs screamed with every breath, my hand was swelling purple. Blood dripped from my split lip and nose.
Finally, I forced myself to move. I pulled myself up using the sink and my reflection made me want to cry. Blood covered half my face, my left eye was swollen nearly shut, my lip was split open.
I cleaned myself up as best I could with wet paper towels but the bleeding wouldn’t stop completely. I grabbed my bag and stumbled out of the bathroom, keeping my head down as I moved toward the exit.
Every step sent pain shooting through my body but I kept walking. I had to get home.
The twenty-minute walk through the forest felt like hours. I had to stop several times when the pain in my ribs got too bad. By the time I reached our cottage, I was barely standing.
I opened the door and stepped inside.
Mom stood in the kitchen with her back to me. The cottage was decorated with streamers and balloons. A birthday cake sat on the table with unlit candles.
“Delilah?” Mom turned around with a smile, her copper-red hair swept up in a loose bun and her warm hazel eyes bright with excitement. The smile vanished the moment she saw me. “Oh my goddess. Delilah! What happened? Who did this to you?”
I opened my mouth to answer but the Alpha’s voice boomed through the mindlink before I could speak.
“All pack members report to the ceremonial grounds immediately. The future Alpha will participate in his mating ceremony tonight.”
Mom and I froze, staring at each other.
My mating ceremony. Tonight. Not in three days like Jaxon said, but tonight.
Blood dripped from my face onto the floor but suddenly none of that mattered. This was it. Jaxon was going to claim me publicly and once he marked me as his mate and future Luna, Sarah and those girls would never touch me again. The bullying would finally stop.
“Delilah.” Mom’s voice shook as she looked between my bleeding face and the determination in my eyes. “You can’t go like this. You’re hurt and we need to get you to a healer first.”
“There’s no time.” I limped toward my room, each step sending fire through my ribs. “I need to clean up and get dressed. This is what I’ve been waiting for, Mom. Three years of hell, and it’s finally ending tonight.”
Mom followed me and helped me out of my blood-stained clothes. She held me steady while I washed the blood from my face and hair, the water turning pink then red in the sink. My hands shook as I tried to cover the worst bruises with makeup but nothing could hide the swelling around my eye or my split lip.
“Let me,” Mom whispered. Her hands were gentler than mine as she carefully applied foundation over the bruises, tears streaming down her face as she worked.
She pulled the white mating dress from my closet, the one she’d spent three months sewing with love and hope. Her fingers trembled as she helped me step into it, careful of my injured ribs.
The dress was beautiful with pure white fabric and delicate silver embroidery. It fit perfectly, flowing around me like a dream. Mom braided my copper hair with silver ribbons and mountain flowers, working around the tender spots where Sarah had ripped out chunks of my hair.
When she finished, I looked in the mirror. The dress was stunning and my hair looked perfect, but my face told a different story. Even with makeup, the bruises were visible and my left eye was still half-swollen.
“You look beautiful, sweetheart,” Mom said softly, though her voice broke on the last word.
I did look beautiful. Broken and bloody, but beautiful.
Mom kissed my forehead. “I’ll be here when you get back.”
She never attended pack gatherings anymore. The less they saw of her, the less they could judge me.
I walked out of the cottage alone as the sun set, painting the sky in shades of orange and gold. In the distance, I could see pack members heading toward the ceremonial grounds.
My heart pounded with hope and fear and desperate longing. Three years of torture and three years of waiting. Finally, it was happening.
Jaxon was going to claim me. He was going to stand in front of the entire pack and tell them I was his, that I belonged to him, that I was worthy.
I touched my split lip and tasted blood. The pain in my ribs made each step agony but I kept walking toward the ceremonial grounds with my head held high.
The ceremonial grounds were packed with hundreds of wolves gathered in a massive circle around the Alpha’s throne. Torches burned bright against the darkening sky. Everyone was dressed in their finest clothes.
I walked through the crowd alone. Every eye turned toward us and whispers rippled through the pack.
“The whore’s daughter actually showed up.”
“Look at her face. Someone finally gave her what she deserved.”
I ignored them and kept my head high. Nothing they said mattered anymore because in a few minutes, Jaxon would claim me and they’d have to respect me.
Alpha Sterling stood beside his throne, massive and imposing. Jaxon stood at his side wearing ceremonial dress that made him look like a prince. His golden hair caught the torchlight and he looked perfect.
But he wouldn’t look at me.
“Stand in the center,” Alpha Sterling commanded.
I walked forward on shaking legs as the white dress flowed around me. I stood alone in the center of the circle while hundreds of wolves surrounded me.
Something felt wrong. The ceremony should feel joyful but instead, the air felt thick with tension like everyone was waiting for something terrible to happen.
Alpha Sterling rose to his full height and the pack fell silent.
“We are gathered to witness the mating of my son Jaxon Sterling, future Alpha of Riverbend Pack, to his fated mate.”
My heart hammered so hard I thought it would burst through my cracked ribs. This was it. This was really happening.
Alpha Sterling’s expression hardened as he looked directly at me.
“However, the Sterling bloodline cannot be tainted by weakness and shame.”
My Step-Brothers’ Forbidden Addiction Chapter 3
Delilah’s POV
Alpha Sterling’s voice boomed across the ceremonial grounds. “My son will not bind himself to the daughter of a faithless whore who dishonored her mate’s memory.”
The world tilted and I looked at Jaxon, waiting for him to defend me. To fight for us the way he promised this morning when his fingers were inside me and he swore I was his forever.
He finally looked at me with ice blue eyes that were cold and empty.
“Jaxon Sterling, do you accept this female as your mate?”
“No.” His voice was flat. “I, Jaxon Sterling, reject Delilah Calloway as my mate and sever our bond before the Moon Goddess and this pack.”
The pain dropped me to my knees. The mate bond that had glowed warm inside me for two years suddenly ripped apart and it felt like someone tore out my still-beating heart. The white dress pooled around me in the dirt as I screamed. Storm howled in pure agony inside my head and her pain mixed with mine until I couldn’t tell where hers ended and mine began.
The pack erupted in laughter.
“The whore’s daughter got what she deserved!”
“Did you really think a Sterling would want trash like you?”
Jaxon walked toward me and I looked up at him through tears, still desperate for some sign that this was a mistake. His face was disgusted as he stared down at me.
“You made it so easy,” he said loud enough for everyone to hear. “Just like your slut mother, spreading your legs and letting me touch you whenever I wanted.”
The words hit harder than Sarah’s fists had.
“You’re lucky I was too disgusted to actually fuck you. I was terrified I’d catch something from a whore like you. Your mother probably taught you all her tricks, didn’t she?”
Someone threw rotted fruit that hit my shoulder. Then mud, then garbage, then stones. The pack threw things at me like I was an animal while they jeered and laughed.
“You really thought I loved you?” Jaxon laughed. “You were entertainment, something to pass the time. Did you actually believe I’d claim you publicly and make you my Luna?”
The garbage kept coming and my beautiful white dress was covered in filth. The flowers fell from my hair one by one.
“You’re nothing but the daughter of a slut,” Jaxon said. “And you’ll never be anything more.”
“Get out of Riverbend territory before dawn,” Alpha Sterling commanded. “You and your whore mother. If I see either of you after sunrise, I’ll have you both whipped.”
I forced myself to stand even though my legs shook. The bond was gone and Storm had retreated so deep I could barely feel her. I turned to run but Jaxon’s voice stopped me.
“Finally,” he said, his voice suddenly warm and affectionate. “Now you can be my mate and we don’t have to hide anymore.”
I froze. Those were the exact words he’d said to me this morning.
I turned around slowly.
Jaxon stood with his arm around Sarah’s waist. The same Sarah who’d beaten me bloody hours ago. She wore a beautiful silver dress and smiled up at Jaxon like he hung the moon.
He was looking at her the way I’d always dreamed he’d look at me.
“Did you really think he wanted you?” Sarah’s voice rang out clear and mocking. “Goddess, you’re even more pathetic than I thought.”
Jaxon laughed and pulled her closer. “She was fun to play with though. All that desperate hope in her eyes every time I touched her.”
“I told her this morning to leave,” Sarah said loud enough for everyone to hear. “When I had her bleeding on the bathroom floor, I told her she didn’t belong here. Should have listened.”
The pack laughed. They all knew. They were all in on it.
“The bruises on her face really complete the look,” Jaxon added. “Trash covered in garbage. Fitting.”
Sarah pressed against him and he kissed her. Right there in front of everyone, his hand sliding up her back while the pack cheered.
This morning those hands were on me. All of it had been lies.
“You should go,” Sarah said, smirking. “Before we have to hurt you again.”
“Almost wish she’d stay,” Jaxon agreed. “Watching her finally realize how worthless she is? That’s the best part.”
They’d planned this. The beating, the ceremony, the rejection. I was never anything but a game.
“Run along now, reject,” Sarah said sweetly. “You’re ruining our mating ceremony.”
I ran. The white dress tore on branches as I sprinted through the crowd. People spat at me and someone tried to grab my hair, but I was moving too fast. I ran until the forest swallowed me and I couldn’t hear their laughter anymore.
My lungs burned and my ribs screamed but I didn’t stop until I reached our cottage and burst through the door.
Mom rushed toward me from the kitchen. The birthday cake still sat on the table with one slice missing. “Delilah! What happened?”
I couldn’t speak. I just stood there shaking in the ruined dress. My chest felt like it was caving in. The bond was gone and Storm had retreated so far I couldn’t reach her.
Mom pulled me into her arms and held me tight. “Talk to me, baby. What happened at the ceremony?”
I tried to answer but only sobs came out. Mom guided me to the couch and sat beside me, holding my hand while I fell apart. The pain in my chest kept getting worse.
It took several minutes before I could form words.
“He rejected me.” My voice was broken. “In front of everyone. His father said the Sterling bloodline wouldn’t be tainted by me. Jaxon rejected me and called me diseased. He said I was entertainment. The whole pack threw things at me and laughed.”
Mom’s face went pale and her hand tightened around mine.
“He was with Sarah,” I continued through sobs. “The girl who beat me this morning. He’s been with her the whole time. Everything was a lie.”
“Oh, sweetheart.” Mom’s voice cracked as tears rolled down her cheeks. She pulled me against her chest and held me while I cried.
A loud crash came from outside. Footsteps pounded on the porch.
Someone slammed their fist against the door so hard the whole cottage shook.
“Open up! By order of Alpha Sterling, you have until dawn to leave Riverbend territory!”
Mom’s eyes went wide with fear. She looked at me, then at the door shaking under another brutal hit.
“We need to leave,” she whispered urgently. “Right now.”
The pounding got louder and more violent.
“Come out now or we’re breaking this door down!”
Mom grabbed my arm and pulled me toward my room.
“Move, Delilah. We don’t have time.”