My Alpha Brother’s Regret Was Too Late Chapter 04

My Alpha Brother’s Regret Was Too Late Chapter 04

My brother stood in front of me, his face dark.

“Those hundred slaps still didn’t teach you anything?”

His voice was so cold it felt stripped of every trace of warmth.

“You dare bully Mira right in front of me,” he said. “No wonder you’re so vicious you could do something even worse than an animal would. Good thing it backfired on you, because otherwise killing you wouldn’t be enough to atone to Mira.”

I pressed a hand to my cheek, my eyes burning red, hatred so thick it nearly swallowed what little reason I had left.

“I hate you. If I could, I’d kill both of you.”

He went quiet for a few seconds, like he was finally making up his mind.

“Tessa, I’ve been too soft on you,” he said. “That’s why you got to spend three years in prison without any real trouble, and you still haven’t learned a damn thing.”

He pulled out his phone, his fingertip landing on the screen as his tone turned hard as steel.

“This is the last lesson I’ll ever teach you,” he said. “If you do something wrong, you pay the price.”

The moment the screen lit up, it felt like every drop of blood in my body rushed backward.

On the display was footage from three years ago of me being brutalized.

They’d filmed every angle for fun, turning my suffering into entertainment.

My body started shaking out of control, icy to the bone, my breathing turning thin and difficult.

“No… that’s not possible…”

I couldn’t make a sound. I could only stare at the screen.

Back then, my brother had sworn to me he’d destroyed everything.

I jerked my head up to look at him, my eyes stretched wide with the strain, and I all but fell to my knees as I lunged forward.

“Please,” I choked out. “Bro, don’t send it out. Please.”

The pain they’d carved into me wasn’t something that would vanish even if I left this world.

My brother’s expression stayed terrifyingly calm.

“Back then, at Mom and Dad’s graves, I swore I’d raise you right,” he said.

“This is my responsibility as your brother, and my discipline,” he added. “If Mom and Dad are watching, they’d agree.”

He didn’t hesitate.

He tapped the screen and hit send.

Then my brother came over and grabbed my wrist.

“Come here,” he ordered. “Apologize to Mira for what you just did.”

The instant his skin touched mine, fear from three years ago crashed over me like a tide and drowned me whole.

I stumbled backward, fighting with everything I had.

“Don’t touch me!”

I screamed as I struggled with nearly all the strength in my body.

“Please don’t touch me. Let me go!”

My brother’s temper flared at my reaction, his brows knotting hard.

“Tessa, you’re being ridiculous,” he snapped. “What are you pretending this time?”

“To make sure you remember,” he said coldly, “I’ll transfer the entire Shadowrune Pack’s holdings as Mira’s mate-bond settlement.”

My ears rang.

I couldn’t even make out the words anymore. All I could hear were those unrestrained laughs, echoing in my skull.

“Pack your things tonight,” he continued. “Tomorrow at the mating ceremony, you’ll get on that stage and publicly apologize to Mira yourself, and you’ll give her your sincerest blessing.”

“If you don’t,” he said, voice flat, “then don’t ever come back to this house again.”

The moment the door clicked shut, I couldn’t hold myself up anymore.

I crumpled to the floor.

My phone started vibrating like it had gone insane.

Unknown numbers called nonstop, messages popping up one after another, all of them insults, sick curiosity, and cruel, mocking jokes.

I wrapped myself tight in the blanket, wishing I could just die right here.

But I still couldn’t die yet.

The next day, giant digital billboards on the city’s high-rises broadcast the mating ceremony of the century.

I stood at the edge of a rooftop, watching my brother on the ceremony stage as his gaze swept through the crowd like he was searching for someone.

Mira noticed his distraction and tugged his arm, urging him to keep walking.

The scene in front of me suddenly overlapped with a memory.

Back when Elias and I were about to seal our mate bond, my brother’s eyes were red-rimmed as he said, “I’ll walk my beloved little sister into her next chapter of happiness.”

He did it.

Only the sister he sent off wasn’t me.

I stepped forward without hesitation.

Weightlessness hit in an instant.

Wind screamed past my ears.

As I fell, my eyes met my brother’s for the briefest second, and I smiled.

“Bro,” I said, “using three years of my life and the entire Shadowrune Pack still isn’t enough to atone to Mira.”

“So I’ll use my life,” I whispered. “Let it add a little color to Mira’s mating ceremony.”