Filed to story: Claimed by My Ex’s Alpha Brother
I’d promised her I wouldn’t be gone long, a couple of days at most. I fully intended to keep that promise by taking advantage of the leverage I had over Stephen. Just as he would have already handed a pre-approved report to Magnus detailing how I had spent the weekend in Philadelphia with my friend, I’d get him to tell the same story later this week.
As I exited the elevator and walked toward our office, my heart raced-an anxious countdown echoing in my chest with each step. A heady mix of anticipation and anxiety coiled inside me at the thought of seeing Stephen again. I’d told myself I wouldn’t be affected by him. I’d spent so much time with him this weekend that I reasoned I was immune, but as I stepped into our office and caught sight of him behind his desk, my resolve shattered.
His jet-black hair, the strong cut of his jaw, and the way he filled that clean-cut shirt made my pulse quicken.
“Stephen.” I greeted him, striving for indifference as I settled into my chair.
“Lina,” his voice layered with an intimacy that made me freeze mid-task. I couldn’t control the flush stealing across my cheeks.
My gaze charged to him, anger clouding my expression. I saw that his green stare had a heat that matched his tone.
What the fuck is he doing?
We were at work. Dozens of colleagues roamed the shared office space beyond our door. I suddenly didn’t know if I wanted to shout at him or straddle him, either of which would decimate the careful fa?ade I’d crafted the last month. The memory of his mouth on my body flashed through my mind, igniting a desire that threatened to steal my reason.
Just as the tension escalated, Etta, our assistant, knocked on the door. Relief and annoyance mingled within me.
“The Alpha wants to see you, Lina,” Etta greeted me.
“I’ll be right there.”
As soon as the door clicked shut, my gaze shot to Stephen. “What did you tell Magnus?”
“Only that you spent the night with a female friend in Philly,” he replied, his gaze protective, an undercurrent of something deeper simmering just beneath the surface.
Something my wolf wanted to trust.
“I’m coming with you,” he asserted, rising.
“He didn’t summon you,” I bit out. “Don’t disrupt my plan-“
He opened his mouth to argue, but I cut across him.”Or yours.” I savored the brief satisfaction as he sank back into his chair, tension radiating off him like heat while he cast a murderous look at the door.
But my satisfaction was replaced by icy dread the instant I knocked on Magnus’s door, and he called for me to enter.
Magnus regarded me with a cool, piercing gaze that set my instincts on edge. The tick in his jaw suggested his displeasure, a reminder of the severity that lay beneath his calm facade.
He didn’t ask me to sit down. “You weren’t home this weekend,” he began, leaning back in his desk chair, his brown eyes boring into me, a fierceness in them I hadn’t yet witnessed. In contrast, his tone was calm. “We planned to finalize a date for our mate ceremony.”
I feigned forgetfulness, smacking my brow. “I’m sorry, Alpha. I forgot. A friend from Philly wanted to catch up.”
“No matter,” he replied, his slight smile only seeming to amplify the menace lurking beneath. “I took the liberty of sending out invitations. Our union will take place this Saturday.”
The coolness with which he informed me of it sounded as if he were talking about a deal Blackthorn was entering into. To be fair, he’d likely have shown more excitement about a lucrative deal.
A wave of panic tore through me despite this having always been my plan.
“I trust you have no meet-ups that will conflict with this date?” His tone dared me to oppose him.
“No, Alpha,” I murmured, the authority in his voice telling me not to try to sugar-coat my answer.
The silence stretched, heavy, and I fought the urge to squirm under his gaze. Submissiveness was all he desired. Dread curdled in my stomach the longer the quiet wound on for. I fought the urge to look away or fidget with my clammy hands.
“Let me say this only once,” he continued, the gravity of his words sinking into my bones. “The union your parents brokered with me will be honored. But any hint of deceit, and you will regret crossing me.”
I nodded, dread coiling within me. Magnus didn’t want me. He wanted absolute control over me.
“Before you return to work,” he added, a glint in his eyes suggesting something sinister, “I remember your mother had a pendant, a family heirloom she wore during your parents’ mate ceremony. It must be in your parents’ lockbox. Do you remember where she kept her lockbox?”
A frown tugged at my lips as I pretended to search my memories. The realization struck me like ice water. That was why he kept my mother alive.
“I don’t recall a lockbox, unfortunately,” I replied, affecting confusion while frustration darkened his brow.
“Very well,” he growled, dismissing me with a wave. “You best be getting on.”
Relief flooded me as I escaped his unsettling presence, my instincts still reviled by his scrutiny.
As soon as I shut the door to our office behind me, Stephen’s tense frame came into focus. “What did he want?” he growled.
“To set a date for our mate ceremony,” I said, refusing to meet his gaze, knowing it would fill with a mix of anger and hurt.
“And when is that happy event?” he demanded, his voice tight.
“This Saturday,” I stated flatly, withholding Magnus’s inquiry about the lockbox.
We don’t share our secrets.
The day passed in a painful silence, and every short exchange was reduced to work-related messages via our internal chat. I told myself the distance between us was what I wanted, yet it was the absence of connection that ate at me, gnawing away at my thoughts.
In the relative silence of the office, the mystery of the lockbox loomed large in my mind. What did Magnus want inside it, and why did he keep my mother alive? More importantly, had my mom ever mentioned it to me?
That evening, as the workday drew to a close, I remained seated at my desk, thankful to have finally reached the last page of the dry medical study I had been reading, when a flicker of memory teased at the edges of my thoughts: a sun-drenched day in Central Park, the vibrant fall colors around me like flame.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?