My Stepbrother’s Secret Mate Chapter 02

My Stepbrother’s Secret Mate Chapter 02

I finished reading the text and looked up at him.

But he avoided my eyes and kept chatting with Ivan as if nothing had happened, one arm slung casually over his shoulder.

The girl beside Xander greeted us with a bright smile. She looked at me, then turned to Xander. “So this is Valencia, the one you’re always calling ‘Fat Tail’?”

Then she shot him a mock-annoyed look. “I think Valencia’s really pretty. You always remember the worst things about her.”

Xander’s gaze flickered, and he answered stiffly, “Yeah. That’s her.”

Then he hurried to add, “When she first shifted, her tail was huge. I’d never seen a wolf with a tail like that. And when she was little, she wasn’t exactly bright either. She was always trailing after us, begging to play. If I refused, she’d just sit on the ground and cry. Back then, we did plenty of mean things just to keep her from following us.”

Pallavi smiled sweetly. “You two are funny. I wish I’d known you both sooner.”

With a tender look on his face, Xander said, “Not meeting you earlier is my biggest regret.”

I lowered my head and fought desperately to keep my tears from falling.

The nickname “Fat Tail” had always been a thorn in my heart. My classmates had used it to publicly mock my figure, and for a time, I even developed anorexia because of it.

And yet Xander tossed the nickname out so lightly, as if he were telling a joke.

So in Xander’s eyes, I had always been nothing more than “Fat Tail.”

Before Xander and I ever started dating, I had never once imagined he might like me.

His parents died in the Night War, and mine adopted him.

Back then, he was withdrawn and distant, with grief always shadowing his eyes. But I thought he was the coolest person I’d ever seen, and all I wanted was to play with him.

He used to scream at me from inside his room and throw toys at me, ordering me never to come in. I used to climb in through the window anyway and share my favorite barbecue with him.

Later, he went away to boarding school, and I used to wait eagerly for letters from him. But every letter he sent home failed to mention me even once, so I assumed he still didn’t like me, and eventually I stopped reaching out.

Then, two years ago, we ended up getting into the same college. I was stunned when I saw him at the campus entrance.

He had changed completely. He was taller, more handsome, his hair gleaming, and his blue eyes looked like a perfect summer sky. The moment he stood there, countless girls were already squealing over him.

One of his friends noticed him stop and stare at me. “Do you know her?”

I was about to say something, but Xander shook his head first.

“No.”

And yet that very night, he showed up outside my dorm window and tapped lightly on the glass. I opened it in shock, and he looked straight at me and said in a low, husky voice, “Long time no see, Valencia.”

I blushed and slammed the window shut in a panic. A friend came by my room to hang out, and I hurried to pull the curtains closed so she wouldn’t see him.

After she left, I nervously opened the curtains again, only to find that Xander was already gone.

The loss I felt in that moment sat heavy in my chest.

After that, I had no idea how he got my number, but he started asking me out deliberately and constantly.

Whenever I said no, he would pretend Ivan had invited me instead.

One day I was standing by the river, staring at him in disbelief. “Weren’t we supposed to be hanging out with Ivan? Where is he?”

Xander said, “Why are you so worried about your brother when you’re ignoring the brother standing right in front of you?”

I stammered, “Because… we’re not blood-related…”

“Sometimes I envy Ivan, because he can hug you in the open,” Xander said, and the words hit me like a shock. “And sometimes I wish I wasn’t part of the Hale family… because then I could claim you as my mate.”

He said I was his mate, but what was he talking about?

Was he insane?

He was my brother.

My mind was screaming as I turned and ran.

But Xander didn’t give up. He kept sending me gifts.

He sent pretty clothes, plush toys, and luxury gifts.

They were the kind of things girls my age had to save up forever to buy, and he gave me one after another.

Every time I returned them, he found some new way to put them right back in front of me.

Then one night, I was out at a bar with friends. I’d had too much to drink, and I barely had any strength left in me.

That was when a stranger wrapped his arms around me and whispered in my ear, “Baby, you look exhausted. Let’s get a room for the night.”

I didn’t know him, so I punched him.

He got angry and raised his fist to hit me back.

But I never felt the blow, because someone familiar stepped in front of me first.

It was Xander.

He took the man harassing me down in seconds, then scooped me up into a bridal carry and carried me away.

I caught the scent of cedar on him, something mysterious and almost holy, and I couldn’t stop breathing it in.

He brought me back to his dorm and laid me down on his bed. I was surrounded completely by the scent of cedar.

He stared at me with naked hunger in his eyes, one hand brushing through my hair. I thought he wanted to sleep with me. Even through the haze of alcohol, I knew that much. I was too drunk to decide whether any of this was right or wrong. I just wanted to know what this man, who called himself my brother, actually wanted from me.

His throat bobbed, but instead of kissing me, he brought me a cup of warm water.

“What do you want from me?” I asked.

He said, “I can feel it… you’re my mate.”

“I don’t believe you,” I said flatly, my mind clearer than it had ever been. “When we were kids, you used to make fun of my body and call me ‘Fat Tail.’ I hated that.”

“And one time, you locked me in a closet. I pounded on the door forever, and you still wouldn’t let me out. That’s why I ended up claustrophobic.”

“Back then, I didn’t know you hated me, so I kept following you around anyway. But then I grew up. I got older, I got some sense, and I stayed away from you. And now you’re acting like you like me. What exactly are you trying to do?”

“Back then, I didn’t understand what those chaotic feelings meant whenever I saw you,” Xander said. “No one ever taught me that it was the instinct you felt when you met your mate.”

“And when we were kids… I was jealous of you.”

“Jealous that you had parents. Jealous that you were always happy. Jealous that you never had nightmares. I wanted to stay with you forever, but I also couldn’t stop myself from hurting you, from dimming your light. But when I got older, I finally understood what a mate really meant. I wanted you to be happy when you were with me, far away from the shadows of that war. I wanted you so badly that I would even cast off the darkness in my own soul for you.”

“I’m sorry for everything I did wrong. From now on, I never want to hurt you again. I just want to protect you.”

He reached for my hand carefully and gave it the gentlest squeeze.

“So do you want to sleep with me right now?” I have to repeat that I was drunk at the time.

“My wolf wants to claim you, but I told him no.” Xander stared straight at me, never once hiding his desire. “I swear, from now on, I will never, ever hurt you again.”

I smiled, and then I kissed him first.

I stayed in his bed all night. My whole body felt unbelievably comfortable. Every time I said his name, his body trembled. It was like sleeping on a cloud.

And now the man who once promised he would love me for the rest of his life was holding a napkin and gently wiping another woman’s mouth.

It felt like a thousand arrows had pierced straight through my heart.