3: Stepsister

Noah

“Oh shit!” I groan. “Why does my stepsister have to be the prettiest girl I have seen in…ever?”

“Man! You’re right but she’s your step sister! It’s not like you are actually related. We can check her out. We just need to not be assholes about it,” Ryder says as we plop on either end of my bed. 

“I don’t think she likes me very much,” I sigh.

“I don’t think she likes any of us very much. But think about it. The girl has been raised by a human, living with humans and never met her father or any of her own kind. This is a culture shock. Not to mention the obvious differences between California and New Hampshire or leaving the only mother she has ever known behind,” Ryder replies.

“I won’t be creeping on her, but I want to make sure she settles in here. I feel like shit that we have to meet under circumstances like this, but Dad didn’t even know she existed until two weeks ago,” I grumble as I fluff my pillow and then lean back.

“Yeah, she is a natural beauty, but you know my stance. I won’t mess around with pack members, especially pack members who I have close ties with, not unless they are my mate, even if I find them very attractive,” Ryder says.

We have been over this before. Ryder has someone or maybe more than one person, I don’t know, who he finds really attractive, but he won’t talk about who or go for them because they are a pack member and he doesn’t want to mess things up or complicate them.

“I wish you would just tell me about it. Get it off your chest and maybe you’ll feel better,” I sigh, knowing this is going nowhere as always, but the tension in the air is thick.

Ryder’s eyes flick up to mine and I swear they flick to my lips just briefly, but as always, I don’t dare read too much into it. Sure, I would like him to kiss me. I have been attracted to him since around the time we hit puberty, but he is my best friend and into girls, so I am not getting my hopes up. Besides he has that whole not messing around within the pack unless it’s his mate policy. It is why he has only had a couple of girlfriends and they were humans from neighboring towns.

“It will make more trouble, trust me,” he groans, leaning back and running his fingers through his hair which makes the hem of his shirt rise, revealing a sliver of flesh between his shirt and the top of his jeans.

I have seen him shirtless a million times, heck I have seen him naked dozens. But that thin sliver of flesh is taunting me. It teases me with the knowledge of his six pack abs and the hint of his treasure trail that leads to his…no! I can’t think that way! 

“We should offer to help her unpack,” Ryder says, sitting up suddenly and startling me out of my thoughts.

“Huh?”

It takes me a moment to pull my head together, “oh, did you mean we should offer to help Elena? But we already did and she didn’t seem too keen on it or on me, unfortunately.”

I feel my cheeks heat.

“You can admit you find her alluring. I do. She doesn’t have a wolf. She could be one or both of our mates,” Ryder says.

“Since when does the goddess mate someone to two men who aren’t related? If we were twin brothers then I could see that, but we aren’t brothers or mates, so she is not likely to be mated to both of us,” I argue, frustrated that as nice as that could be, it is not likely the case.

“It has happened before,” he whispers, leaning forward and rubbing his brow. Then almost too silently to hear he adds, “it is probably my only hope.”

Huh? What is he talking about? Women throw themselves at him all the time, even more than they do me, but he keeps them at bay with his policy. The same policy that makes me hold back from confessing that when I say “I love you, man.” It means so much more than being a best friend. 

We aren’t mates and barring a miracle will never be, so why am I so damned attracted to my best friend?

“Did you notice the amount of sadness there is in her heavenly blue eyes?” Ryder asks.

“Did you notice the firm set and tick in her jaw and the way she looked at me as if I were repulsive when I smirked at her?” I retort.

“Oh! So, you knew you were smirking and flirting with her, did you? And then you went and nicknamed her, calling her ‘Ellie’, which was sweet by the way,” Ryder shoots back. “You don’t always realize when you are flirting or the mixed signals you give off, bro.”

“Mixed signals?” I ask, confused and annoyed that he notices things I am unaware I am doing.

Sure, he’s my best friend and sometimes he seems to know me better than I know myself. But I am better off changing the subject.

I can hear Elena leave her room and pad down the hallway and ask about towels.

“She is about to shower. Maybe we should offer to give her a grand tour of the house, so she knows where everything is, not just the bedrooms, bathrooms and linen closet, after her shower,” I suggest.

“That is a wonderful idea,” Ryder says, looking at me with a grin. “Maybe we can show her the gym and private training room where your dad taught us advanced fighting moves before the rest of the trainees for the last few years.”

“The extra training has given us an edge and she will need to train even without a wolf. She will need to be able to fight,” I reply.

“I bet you want to see her in training clothes, all sweaty in a tight tank and little shorts,” Ryder teases.

“Well, now I know for certain you do, because I bet you are picturing her in your mind right now,” I snort.

Ryder hits me with a pillow and laughs, “shut up! You are just as bad!”

He isn’t wrong. As soon as he mentioned training clothes my mind went to exactly the same place. Of course, my mind takes it up a notch and I picture him sparring with her, teaching her to fight, sweaty, shirtless and glistening as they both grapple on the mats in our private training room. That image is not helping me keep my cool and I hear snickers from Ryder. My cheeks heat…if he only knew.

“You should get your head out of the gutter, Prince Charming,” he laughs. “She just finished her shower and we don’t want to scare her with your boner when we go offer her the tour.”

“Fine! Did you finish preparing for the chemistry lab tomorrow?” I ask about one of the two classes we have together at our college which is a few towns over from our pack territory.

“Yeah, I did the reading and took my notes, lab partner,” Ryder says, mocking a serious and studious student’s behaviors.

“Umm, hmm?” I question with my brow raised.

“Okay, you got me, I read your notes and copied most of them. I don’t really like that class or know why I took it. It isn’t relevant to my degree or being a Beta,” Ryder sighs.

“Then why are you taking it? Science lab is required, but no one said it has to be chemistry,” I ask.

“I needed a science lab class, that’s all,” Ryder says in a tone that sounds a bit on edge.

I drop the subject.

“Let’s go ask Elena if she wants a tour of the place,” I suggest.

“I’ll offer to give her a tour of the pack as well, maybe sometime in the next few days,” Ryder says.

The pair of us go and knock on Elena’s bedroom door and I hold my breath, hoping she will actually agree. When the door opens my breath hitches. How can anyone make slipper socks shorts, an oversized sweatshirt and damp hair look enticing? I don’t think anyone else can, yet she does.

“We were thinking that you might want the grand tour of the house. Could Ryder and I do that before you go to bed?” I ask, uncertainly.

She raises her brow at me and seems to be sizing me up and trying to figure me out. I never feel this nervous or jittery around girls, then again, they are usually throwing themselves at either me or Ryder or both of us.

“I’ll give you a tour of the entire pack sometime in the next few days,” Ryder says.

“Sure, I suppose I should get to know my new home a little,” she replies.

We make our way through the house with her between the two of us as we point things out and then we finally get to the best parts of the house.

“Through here is my favorite space,” I announce. “At least it’s my favorite besides my bedroom. This is the gym.”

We enter the well equipped home gym that has professional grade equipment throughout. She looks around and seems impressed.

“And through this door is the training room, where your father has given us extra training or we sometimes come to spar with one another outside of the usual training,” Ryder says, leading the way to the training room. “You will start training after your father or one of the two of us assess which group you should train with. Even without a wolf, or maybe especially since you don’t have one yet, you need to know how to fight and defend yourself.”

“I already know some fighting techniques,” Elena replies.

“Really?” I ask, in disbelief.

“Yup. I took some self defence classes at my old highschool, but also took Kung Fu and Judo classes for years,” she replies. “Do you want to try me?”

“Sure. Let’s spar. Ryder can watch and referee us,” I reply.

She pulls the hoodie off and the sight of her in the tight tank underneath is enough to distract me. She isn’t wearing a bra…Yeah, it is very noticeable. I pull my head together and square off with her. We circle one another looking for an opening. I notice her every movement. The way she shifts her weight before stepping to the side is the best opening she gives me, so I wait for the shift and aim for her legs, but she dodges and spins on me, surprising me with an elbow to my ribs, but I dodge her grip as she tries to get me into a hold.

It goes on for a while with one of us or the other advancing and the other blocking , dodging and returning the attack, but in the end I beat her and manage to knock her to the mat. I reach my hand out to pull her up, panting and give her a quick hug and pat on the back.

“You are good, really good. I didn’t expect that from someone without a wolf. I think even without a wolf you will be fine with the fifteen to eighteen year old group. We will need to give you some extra training on fighting against opponents who are in wolf form, but I think you will pick it up well enough and when your wolf finally manifests you will be just that much more powerful in a fight,” I admit. 

She really is impressive and surprised me. Why does she have to be my stepsister? I’d want her for a chosen mate if it wouldn’t cause a stir.

“Shit! Not many people make Noah pant like that, but I bet you make a lot of men pant like dogs when they need to face off against you and not just because of your impressive fighting skills,” Ryder says with a wink and smirk.

Elena snorts, laughs and shakes her head as she says, “good try, Ryder! You are such a flirt!”

I stare as she scoops up her sweatshirt and strides out with a lighter step than she entered the space.