THE MEETING

KAYLA

I was shivering at this point, just as I shifted my gaze to each of the boys. They appeared to be quite startled as well, even if they concealed it with a fierce look.

A meeting never happens in such manner, except if it was something bothersome or serious.

“What has happened, father?” Ethan asked as he turned to look at me. He quickly darted his eyes the moment our eyes met, but that almost gave him away.

“Does he know that we are mates?” I asked myself as I went ahead to study him.

Ethan was the quietest of the quad. He loved reading anything he laid his hands on it, and most times, his brothers used that to taunt him. They would always say that he got bad eyes because he always wanted to read a book.

He had brown eyes, was tall, muscular, with well-built strong arms. Furthermore, he was handsome, with a pointy nose and short black hair.

I blinked my eyes immediately and took in a deep breath, silently scolding myself for getting distracted by his features.

“Yes, father. You sounded so urgent. What exactly happened?” That question came from Jason, who was, no doubt, the worst of them all.

He was the thorn in my flesh and each day I recall that we lived in the same house, I feel a wave of despair.

Also, he turned to look at me, but ended up rolling his eyes after throwing a dead glare.

Jason was handsome, with gray eyes and shoulder-length dusty brown hair. He never smiled…or should I say that he never smiled at me.

He was cruel and blunt…not willing to believe in anything he was against.

“It’s about Kayla!” The alpha suddenly said, making me jerk out of my silent thoughts.

“What?” I mouthed as I looked at him and shivered.

Did he really find out?

My heart was racing at this point as different thoughts clouded my mind. I knew the alpha, and I was certain that he would kill me if such a thing comes to light.

He loved his reputation and that of his family. Once he knew that such an abomination had happened, he would kill me without mercy.

“What have she done, father?” Mason asked with a cracked and slightly tensed voice.

For the first time since my mother died, it felt as though the boys were on my side.

“Did she so something wrong?” Ethan added and so did Jake.

The Alpha sighed deeply and returned his gaze to me.

“Today, she entered the forbidden compartment and even if I punished her already, I decided to talk about it here”, the alpha said and stood to his feet.

He started walking around and this heightened the fear I felt. Each time he behaved this way, it was simply an indication that it was a trivial matter.

“The next time you go into that room, I would ensure I cut off every finger in your left hand!” He threatened and for a second, my heart stopped.

I froze and stared at him again.

“But father…”, I was saying, when he slammed his fist on the table.

“Another word from you and you will get that punishment now!” He declared and hissed in frustration.

I nodded and blinked off the tears that welled up in my eyes. This was not a family. This was terror!

“That is all I have to say for now”, he said, and gestured for us to leave.

I was glad that he didn’t have anything to say, in relation to the fact that my mates were my stepbrothers.

They all walked out of the room…except Ethan, who remained. I could tell that he had a lot of going through his mind, but was blank on how to put it out.

“Do I have the permission to apologize?” He asked calmly as he walked over to me, his broad shoulders taking all of my attention.

I gulped down hard and looked into his eyes. For the first time, I saw someone different.

“Why? You want to apologize?” I asked in shocked while he nodded in affirmation.

It was hard to believe my ears and so, I took a step backwards. I wasn’t ready for any of their games and at this, the best thing was going to be heading over to my room.

“I haven’t been the best person and I haven’t been the worst too”, he started.

He was right to some extent. He wasn’t really like the others, who would look for the slightest reason to trample on me. Ethan was the most reserved and matured. Most times, he just looked at them or focused on his book whenever I got tormented.

“Can we be friends?” He asked and stretched out his hands for a handshake.

I squinted my eyes in shock as my heart raced. My wolf was excited, but I was not ready to succumb to his strange and new attitude.

“Did something happen? Did you observe anything earlier today. I mean, about us…”, I trailed off when I figured out that I had no idea of the best way to put out my question.

I wanted to ask him if he knew that we were mates, but I would rather not sound so direct.

“Between us?” He asked and wore a quick frown.

After a while, he nodded his head negatively.

“Nothing happened! Why? Did anything happen to you?” He asked calmly, searching my eyes as though the answer laid there.

I took in a deep breath and sighed in disappointment. It would have been much easier if they were aware that I was their mate.

“Friends?” He asked again and stretched out his hands for a second time.

“Friends are not what I need now. But thanks for the gesture!” I said and quickly walked away.

I was going to confront the others and ask if they knew that something had happened. This was a serious situation, and I was not ready to take care of it alone.

Ethan made to stop me, but when he saw that I was not ready to hear any talk from him, he went another way.

I needed to know if they knew but tried to hide it. And if that turned out to be the case, I won’t spare any of them!