My Stepbrother’s Secret Mate Chapter 04

My Stepbrother’s Secret Mate Chapter 04

Xander sent me several texts.

Xander: [Pallavi’s a war orphan too. We’ve both lived through that kind of pain, so we ended up having more to talk about.]

Xander: [She’s fragile. If I reject her, she’ll fall apart.]

Xander: [Valencia, we were going to keep this from Ivan anyway, so for now, let’s just pretend we’re nothing more than ordinary siblings. Once I’ve dealt with things with Pallavi, we can tell Ivan the truth.]

Xander: [You’ll always be my family and my mate.]

I didn’t reply.

Xander glanced at me several times. When he realized I wouldn’t look at him, his eyes gradually darkened.

Then he pushed a slice of cake I used to love toward me.

“I remember this used to be your favorite.”

I finally looked up. “Thanks, but I don’t want it today. Why don’t you ask Pallavi what she likes instead?”

Xander blurted out, “Pallavi can’t eat that. She’s allergic to blueberries.” Then he clamped his mouth shut in frustration.

My grip tightened around my phone.

Suddenly, Pallavi said, “You keep looking at your phone. Are you texting your future boyfriend?”

Xander gave a stiff smile. “There’s no way she has a boyfriend. She’s just ‘Fat Tail.’”

Anger made me lie.

“Yes,” I said loudly. “I am seeing someone.”

“You’re seeing someone?” Ivan said in shock. “Valencia Hale, why didn’t you tell me?”

“You’re too controlling. Your reaction puts too much pressure on me,” I said with a tearful smile.

Ivan said ruefully, “That’s my fault, but I should at least know who he is.”

Xander let out a cold laugh. “Valencia’s lying.”

I answered coldly, “If you actually cared about me like family, you’d encourage me instead of mocking me.”

Xander fought to hold back his anger. “But I’m telling the truth. There’s no way you have a boyfriend. No one would ever like a spoiled, ill-mannered, rude werewolf like you. Stop lying.”

My heart dropped into an icy abyss. Despair, hurt, helplessness, all of it tangled together until in the end I felt nothing at all.

He had once told me he hurt me because he was jealous.

So what about now?

Was he hurting me because he had fallen for someone else?

Pallavi looped her arm through Xander’s and calmed him with a kiss. “Don’t be like that, Xander. Even if she is lying, she’s only upset because we got to her.”

In an instant, Xander’s anger vanished. Looking pleased with himself, he said, “Exactly. You’re just upset that I found my mate. Admit it. At least then you’d be honest before the Moon Goddess. Otherwise, why don’t you call your boyfriend? We don’t need to meet him. All we have to do is hear his voice.”

My whole body trembling, I opened my contacts.

Xander smiled smugly.

Most of my friends were women. I only had a few male contacts in my phone.

My hand shaking, I called the first number. All of them were watching me, so there was no way to cheat. The moment the call connected, I rushed out the first thing I could.

“Hey, Silas. My family wants to hear your voice.”

On the other end, Silas sounded confused. “What? Why? Is this some kind of prank?”

Xander raised his voice and said, “Because she says you’re her boyfriend.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’d never date a freak.” Silas hung up.

Pallavi let out a soft laugh. “If I were the one calling, even if I got rejected, nobody would say something that cruel.”

“Shut up,” Ivan snapped. Then he turned to me. “Okay, Valencia, I don’t need to know who it is anymore. You don’t have to keep calling people.”

But I insisted on dialing the second number.

“Valencia? Why do you even have my number? Wait, I remember now. You’re Xander’s sister. Sorry, I’m not interested in you. Xander is always complaining about how rude you are and how he has to get up early to bring you breakfast. I’m not going to wait on some princess.”

My tears almost fell, but this time I held them back.

I called the third number.

The guy said, “Could you stop bothering me? Just because you saved me once in riding class, does that mean I’m supposed to become your boyfriend to repay you? Get real. Go look in a mirror.”

The fourth call never connected.

With shaking fingers, I dialed the fifth number.

The voice on the other end said, “I heard what happened tonight. Everyone says you’ve lost it. You’re calling people all over the place trying to find a mate. But not every werewolf gets one. Some wolves just aren’t blessed like that. Do you want me to make you an appointment with a therapist?”

At the bonfire party, more and more wolves were turning to stare at me and whisper to one another.

I could barely breathe.

Next to me, Ivan kept saying, “Enough, enough. Stop calling.”

Then I saw another text from Xander.

Xander: [See? Other than Ivan and me, nobody in this world likes you.]

Xander: [You’ve humiliated yourself tonight. If you keep this up, then let’s break up.]

That line pierced me like a silver dagger.

Through a blur of tears, I dialed the sixth number.

I hadn’t even seen who it was.

A few seconds later, the call connected.

I didn’t have the strength to say anything. I was sobbing too hard to speak.

Then a gentle voice sounded from behind me.

“Valencia.”

“You finally decided to call me.”

I turned around in shock.

A tall man with silver hair was walking out of the woods. A scar ran across his face, but instead of ruining his looks, it only made him more striking. He looked a little like Xander. They both had those beautiful blue eyes.

It was Theodore Blackwood, the Alpha of Blackspine Pack, a man burdened with countless terrifying rumors.

Xander stared at him in disbelief.

“Uncle?”

Yes.

He was Xander’s uncle.

And now, he was about to pretend to be my mate.