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Chapter 16: "No."
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
Four months with my Stepson and the Twin Alphas. Chapter 17: "I'll be down in five minutes."
Layla’s pov.For the next four days, I see nothing of Ryan.I don’t know if I'm happy or sad at that, but I know it brings a reaction out of me. A reaction I wish I didn't have at all.There’s an itch that runs down all the skin of my body….There’s a terrible urge to scratch that’s just below the surface of my consciousness, and for the first two days, I resist it and do other things.Hearing Ryan leave early in the morning left me with relief on the first day.His men were around, to accompany me as I knew they would. They didn’t bother me so much.The first day I make breakfast myself, make lunch myself, the maids avoid me but Breanne comes around.She tells me there’s a bit of pie in the fridge if I want it.On the second day, she doesn’t come to me at all.Whispers follow me around the hall again this time but I don't care about them. The mansion is empty, and unlike the past five years of my life that I'd been asked to stay in my room, I explored.Ryan’s father was a proper bast
Four months with my Stepson and the Twin Alphas. Chapter 18: "Mate."
Ryan’s pov.My heart thumped like it’d collapsed in on itself when I saw the quirk that manifests itself at the side of Layla’s cheek.I’m all the happier because that quirk on her face might have been because of my smile. I saw the smile on her face when she saw mine.She didn’t let it out, but I saw it.Doubt casts a heavy cloak on me as I make my way back downstairs. There’s a shroud of melancholy sadness over me because I can tell she has no idea they are around yet.She can’t feel their presence, and I don't know what she’d have done if she could. There’s a part of their mate bond I don't understand yet.For the past four days, I've been making findings of my own.I watched Layla sleep and I watched her have nightmares the day I brought her back home. I still don’t know why she’s trying to kill herself, I initially thought it’s maybe she’s regretful of the fact that she was sleeping with some of my father’s friends.But I realized that nah, that couldn’t be it. She’s a young wo
Four months with my Stepson and the Twin Alphas. Chapter 19: "You."
Layla’s pov.My mind locks me in, and despair takes control of me.I can’t think past the pain. I can’t think past the fear. I can’t think past the mind-numbing and brain-shattering disbelief, so I do the only thing I can do.I cling to whoever’s closest to me and I cry. I cry from the depths of my soul, because no.There’s no way this is happening. Not after what they did to me.Not after what they could have saved me from.I… I was their mate!I was the one destined for them. They were never meant to reject me. They were meant to be my peace, my future,... they were meant to be my hope.Yet they rejected me.Damien took one look at me and said he didn’t want me. So did Alek, the one who I thought would even if everyone else didn’t. The one who I thought would give me the benefit of the doubt.More furious tears drip down my cheeks and pour from my eyes. There’s an ache in my heart, an ache I can't quell.It’s like a cloak of sorrow has been draped over me.My mind registers slowly,
Four months with my Stepson and the Twin Alphas. Chapter 20: "I hate you."
Ryan stares at me with a bewildered expression on his face. Almost comically he points to himself and asks,“Me?”I feel my anger flare up immediately because yes him.Yes, him.He’s the one who started all this. He’s the one who asked them to come into his home.He’s the one who’s now exposed me to them. All because he couldn’t get what he wanted in the first place.The more I think of it the more my anger rises until I can feel my face hot and red with the force of my repressed emotions. This IS all because of him.Because of his inability to do the simplest thing and keep me safe!“Am I doing something, or did I do something?”Ryan sounds confused and that only sets me rolling.“I hate you, Ryan Earl.” The words feel like venom as they coat my tongue but I feel a trickle of joy at the expression that crosses Ryan’s face. I go on undeterred.“I hate you.I hate this house. I hate everything and everyone you are related to.From your horrible father, to this horrible house, to those
Four months with my Stepson and the Twin Alphas. Chapter 21: "You came."
Ryan’s pov.One of the Rawthorne meatheads slams the door open as he stalks into my father’s office.“She’s dying in there.”My office. It’s now my office.I raise my head from the stack of documents I am examining and I take a deep breath before I face him.He’s the older brother. The more advanced problem. He’s standing there, in my office, fuming because I ignore him the same way I have ignored him for the past two days now, and unlike his brother, he gets angry quickly.Having them in my home is bad enough, but having them come pester me every four hours is a headache.“My mate is dying, Ryan Earl!”I nod at that though my heart tells me it’s selfish of me, and to be even more selfish I give a response, “Let her.”I don’t think I ever imagined the day would come when I would say Layla should be given the free rein to die, but it seems that’s what she wants most right now.We can hold a lavish funeral for her, with all the fittings.~You’re being bitter, Ryan. It’s been two days
Four months with my Stepson and the Twin Alphas. Chapter 22: "Deal."
Ryan's pov.“She has a fever that should break soon, and she looks malnourished. Has the lady been eating anything lately, Mr Ryan?”I take a glance at the doctor before looking away again and shaking my head.“No, she hasn’t.”The doctor nods and there’s a dead silence that reigns in the room again.Layla passed out shortly after she came out of the room and into my arms….MThere’s a strangeness to that, and there’s a strangeness to her. Why would she say she'd been waiting for me when she has her mates right outside her door?“She seemed really disoriented and hot when she came out of her room this morning. Is there any reason for that?”I don’t know why the question pops into my head, it just does. But I follow it. I follow it and I wait for the doctor’s response. His reply is simple.“Is her mate around by any chance?”I incline my head lightly to glance at the two men resting against the wall by the far corner of the room. I asked them not to come near because of Layla. They loo
Four months with my Stepson and the Twin Alphas. Chapter 23: "The one thing i'd want from you is the truth."
Layla’s pov.I wake up with a clear head and a lucid mind, and almost immediately I can tell that I have done something stupid.Not just stupid, but something that is such a blatant betrayal of all I have been trying to do ever since Damien and Alek were brought in by Ryan.I ran over to them. Instead of away.The scene plays back in my mind like a tape and I lie here, watching it like someone who’s been spellbound to and cursing under my breath at the reality of all this.I try to get up, but then the mate bond flares almost immediately and Damien and Alek barge into the room. My walls are up immediately.I feel the look on my face go cold, ice cold, and then Ryan comes in, looking more calm and composed than the other two, but also equal parts worried.Ryan walks past them and stops a few feet away from me, a good distance away that he’s not too far, but he’s also not too close.“How are you feeling Layla?” Ryan’s voice is cold.Almost on cue, I remember the words I had said to him
Four months with my Stepson and the Twin Alphas. Chapter 24: "Are you okay, Layla?"
I do not give Ryan a direct answer and he does not press me for one.He tells me he can wait. He WIll wait, until I decide to let the truth of it come out.He leaves and so do Damien and Alek. I am left with myself, and my thoughts, and the worst thing is that I find myself thinking of a lot of things. Things that for once are not related to plans of escape, or ending it all.I think of what Ryan has just said now and what that could mean for me. He says they’ve changed.But how true can that be? How can they have changed? And why now? Why at this moment?Alek’s statement about the moon goddess having her reasons for reopening our mate bond comes back to me and I scoff at it because where was she when all the horrible things were happening?Where was she when I was here, suffering horrors more than I could say, more than I could bear.?Where was she?A blaring silence is my only response.I can’t hear anything else except for the silence. Even Fey keeps quiet.Lunch and dinner ar
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Four months with my Stepson and the Twin Alphas. Chapter 38: "Layla."
38: Alek doesn’t ask me weird questions anymore and I feel thankful for that. There would have been a limit to my answers and once I passed that limit, I’m not sure I wouldn’t have snapped at him.Right now though, there’s something else on my mind, something more pressing.How do I…deal with all this?I know that sounds incredibly vague but it’s still what’s on my mind. Today is the first day of 120 days I need to be around Damien and Alek.Alek just said he and Damien came into the city to track down someone who’s been giving the pack trouble, and even though I have no idea who that might be, I want to assume that it will take up most of their time.This trial we’re having is for them to see if they can get me to come over to them, but for me, it’s a way to fulfill a simple formality. I don’t think Damien and Alek can ever change.Sure. I might have thought that yesterday, but today, I feel differently.The images of Damien I caught while in his wolf form as he hunted still flash p
Four months with my Stepson and the Twin Alphas. Chapter 37: "Jennie."
“Is Ryan being rude to you?”I find that I haven't really forgotten how to ride. It just feels like it’s a memory I locked up for a while, and which is now taking some time to come back open. I try to keep my hands to myself, and not in my hair aiming to get out the twigs and leaves that have taken root in it.My horse shot me right into the copse of trees on the Earl mansion grounds.Alek dangles the reins in his hands lightly so I can return my attention to him and I do. He’s helping me lead the horse now, so I have to pay him some attention at least, I respond to his unanswered question,“Why should that be any of your concerns?”I sound like I just got told my favorite cat died.“Because there was tension between you two earlier today?”And in response to that, I look up to meet Alek’s eyes in a gesture that I hope shows I do not appreciate whatever it is he’s doing right now, and he looks away, shrugging and clearing his throat. The air between us grows awkward even before he sp
Four months with my Stepson and the Twin Alphas. Chapter 36: "Trouble in Paradise?"
Alek’s voice is an annoying presence when it enters my head,“Trouble in paradise?”But I ignore him. He sidles up closer to me, and this time he asks verbally, clearly seeing I don’t like how he speaks into my mind,“Trouble in paradise Layla?”Alek’s voice is a husky soft thing and I take it in, letting myself breathe a bit before shaking my head and responding to him calmly,“What paradise?”Alek chuckles and out of instinct, a smile lines my lips. I wipe that smile away immediately because it’s obvious I'm letting their joint effect influence me too much. The task in front of me is what I should focus on right now, and I do, trying to clear my head as I look at the stables.Ryan is gone like I asked.Damien is somewhere behind, and I don't know if he’s behind trying to talk to Ryan, or if he’s behind because he’s trying to figure out where he can get what we’ll need for hunting. Absentmindedly I ask,“Is Damien still…”I catch myself before I can complete the statement but Alek
Four months with my Stepson and the Twin Alphas. Chapter 35: "I can hear whatever you have to say later."
Layla’s pov.Alek and Damien are waiting for me by the time I get back to my room and something in me squirms at the sight of them. I did not think they’d be here so I was not ready for them. I still am not, and for some reason, I feel it’s because of what happened just now with Ryan.I frown because what even happened with Ryan?The confusion that question brings to my heart is brief, and yet it plagues me in an odd way. Damien’s voice interrupts my thoughts and I snap my head to him as he asks in his deep baritone again,“Are you okay, Layla?”Ryan’s voice echoes in my mind as he asks me that same question and I shake my head just to get it out. That felt like deja vu just now, and there’s no need for anything like that.I feel Damien’s and Alek’s gazes fixed on me and I decide I have to take some deep breaths, just to get this choking feeling out of my heart.They watch me close my eyes and take those deep breaths.They watch me as I try to stabilize this strange pounding in my hea
Four months with my Stepson and the Twin Alphas. Chapter 34: "I took care of it."
Ryan’s pov. Layla is standing outside my door when I open it and I can see it in her eyes. She’s caught me.She caught me red-handed, And while I don't want to let her know if that affects me, I know it does.There’s a stilted kind of hurt in her green eyes, and then it seems she gathers herself rapidly, pulling on a brave face and giving me the kind of look that tells me she understands this game, she’s brought herself to understand it for a while now and she’s done all that for a reason. Her eyes tell me if I want to screw half the population of the help in the mansion, then I can. If I want to have more girlfriends that she can count on the fingers of her hand, then I can too. She’s not going to stop me. It’s not like we had an agreement that I wouldn't take my fun where I could find it.Somehow that makes the reality of all this even more depressing, because as much as I can, I’d like her to know it’s not like that. This was just a one-time thing, but before I can even formulate
Four months with my Stepson and the Twin Alphas. Chapter 33: "You remember."
Damien is the first to show up at my door the next day.I feel surprise run through me when I open the door to meet his face, and he also looks surprised when he sees me, all dressed up, all ready for whatever the day might bring. He swallows awkwardly, and then he drops a statement,“You forgot this outside yesterday.”I frown, lost at first as to what he might mean, then I look at what’s in his hands and I see it’s a bracelet. My bracelet.How…I snatch it back almost selfishly, because this is one of those things I do not joke with. How did it even get outside?Damien huffs, a sound that I think is laced with amusement, and I recollect myself immediately because this isn’t what I'm meant to be doing. I’m not meant to be grabbing things so greedily. I should show them I am as in control of myself as I need to be.“Thank you.” The words, thankfully come out sincere, and also aloof at the same time. I clear my throat and go on, “I didn’t know I'd taken it out yesterday.I must have fo
Four months with my Stepson and the Twin Alphas. Chapter 32.
Layla’s pov.I am left alone and the moment I get to my room, I close the door and crumple right behind it - my heart pounding in my chest and my breath coming in decidedly short bursts.I don’t know why I feel like this. Or why this even affects me, yet I can't get the image of their faces out of my head, and I wonder if I'm not in over my head.Ryan and Damien seem to have made up, and if they have then I'm guessing he’s going to be helping them in… wooing me, or getting me to trust them. I suspect he’s doing that already, and I know Ryan.Ryan does not do anything that does not benefit him first, and this is a game we’re all playing - a sly game, and to succeed, I have to be as smart as they are. If not smarter.I go through all Breanne said to me earlier again and I recount the points in my head.Men do not like an easy woman, or sometimes they do, depending on the type of man, but to be on the safer side, be the difficult type.I tuck that away in my mind and move on to the next
Four months with my Stepson and the Twin Alphas. Chapter 31: The line has been drawn.
Ryan’s pov.Layla leaves and we are plunged into silence again.Damien sits to my far right, by the window and nursing an astrology book, Alek sits to my far left, nursing a book on music and musical chords.I am also with a book, because I couldn't bear to sit here without anything to do when they came in, yet when I look at the book in my hands, I see that it isn’t one I like.I never really liked books.My father never really liked them either. My mother did, and she almost taught me to, but when she died, my father killed it.Alek and Damien seem like people who like to read, genuinely like to read, and I guess with reading comes silence, and so they have been silent.They have been silent ever since we came here, but right now I can feel the tension in the air. Layla is gone now, probably back to her room.She’s announced that she has agreed to stay for four months, the way I had asked her to agree to it, yet something feels bitter in me at the fact that she is actually giving th
Four months with my Stepson and the Twin Alphas. Chapter 30: "Ryan gets the truth."
I go back into the manor to look for them.The strangeness of this action feels like ice on my skin, because two days ago, if anyone had asked me what I would be doing at this moment, I'd have said I'd still be in my room, not doing anything and waiting to die from hunger or lack of sunlight.Yet here I am, looking for the same three people I consider the current punishment the world is dealing to me.Their scent fills the whole place….It’s almost like everywhere I step foot, there’s a slight fragrance that tells me Damien has been here, Alek has been there,Ryan has been… literally everywhere in this house.I find them in one of the relaxation rooms, and the moment I come in, all three of them snap their heads to me. It’s an eerie sight, but it becomes less eerie when I feel the mate bond pulsing. Damien and Alek must have sensed me, and Ryan… must have heard my footsteps.They’re reading books.They each have a book in hand, and the sight of it makes me feel something squirm in me
