In love with my StepSon

Melissa

I have loved Kelan since I was a five-year-old girl who stood crying at the ice cream booth, as the vendor had just sold the last vanilla cone to the Alpha's son. I remembered looking at the boy with envy until he walked over and handed the cone to me without a second thought. That was the moment we became inseparable, and our parents began teasing about a wedding that would unite our families and secure the pack's future.

Those plans were the only thing that kept me going after the fatal accident that took my parents' lives during my junior year of school. I went from being a socialite daughter of the pack to living hand to mouth with my Aunt Leyla, who was married to the pack's omega.

I had to learn how to survive without the luxury I was born into, but I blended in nicely because I had my best friend Kelan by my side.

Today was June sixteenth, and it marked my eighteenth birthday, the day I might finally find out if Kelan felt the same way I always had. I tried not to let my hopes get too high, but every little thing felt like a sign.

"Wear the blue one, Melissa. Blue suits you very well," Cindy suggested through the video call as she inspected the options I held up to the camera.

"Oh no, girl! I prefer the red one," I countered as I tossed the blue dress onto the bed and held the silk red dress against my body. "With red nail polish and red lipstick, it is going to make me look hot."

Cindy laughed over the phone as I slipped into the red dress and turned to show her the fit.

As I twirled in front of the camera, I thought I heard Cindy murmur something under her breath, almost too quiet to catch.

"What did you just say?" I asked, tilting my head, unsure if I imagined it. She smiled and shrugged. "You... look gorgeous," she said louder, like it was nothing.

"What do you think? These heels?" I asked her as I smoothed the fabric down my hips.

"You look amazing, but you should use black heels and a black purse," she advised me while applying her own makeup on the other side of the screen. "A pair of stilettos would be better."

"No, not the stilettos. I don't want to wear anything that Kelan bought me," I rejected the idea as I moved to my shoe rack. "I don't want him to think he bought my whole wardrobe, and especially not on this day."

"Well suit yourself," Cindy sighed as she went back to blending her foundation.

My phone began to ring again, and I saw Kelan's name flashing on the screen.

"I will call you back," I told Cindy and immediately ended the call so I could answer him.

"Hey babe," Kelan greeted me the moment the connection clicked.

"Hey boo," I replied with a smile that I couldn't suppress.

"Happy birthday to you," he began to sing loudly and off-key. "Happy birthday to you!"

"Don't even block my ears with your horrible voice," I laughed as I pressed the phone closer to my ear.

"I can't wait to see you, Mel. I have a special surprise for you," he told me with excitement in his tone. "You know you will always be by my side, and we would always be buddies even when I become Alpha."

I listened to him and felt my hopes rising as I knew what this meant.

"I have a secret I have been hiding, and today makes it the right day to show you," he added.

"I can't wait," I whispered.

"I will send my driver to get you," he promised before hanging up.

I dropped the phone on the bed and ran out to the living room, where my aunt was sitting. This certainly had to be it...the day Kelan would choose me as his mate.

"I just got off the phone with Kelan, and it seems today he is going to mark me as his mate!" I screamed.

Aunt Leyla jumped up and pulled me into a tight hug.

"I can't wait, Mel. We will finally be out of this poverty," she cheered as she squeezed my shoulders. "Go and finish getting ready."

I rushed back to dress up, and my aunt came in to arrange my hair until she declared that I looked perfect.

The driver arrived ten minutes later, and the car took me straight to the event center where Kelan had rented out the entire hall.

Kelan was waiting at the door when I arrived, and he took my hand before handing me a massive bouquet of flowers.

"Happy birthday, my love," he said as he looked at me with appreciation.

"Thank you," I smiled as he led me inside.

Our friends began to sing the happy birthday song as we walked in, and everyone laughed and brought their gifts to our table. I spent the next hour enjoying the moment, having some cake and taking selfies with everyone who came to wish me well.

The music suddenly went low, and I looked up to see Kelan standing on the small stage with a microphone.

He used a fork to clink his glass to get everyone's attention.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he announced.

The room went quiet, and he began to speak.

"I want to thank everyone for coming to celebrate Melissa," he started as he gestured toward me. "Melissa has always been a very big part of my life from childhood days to high school, and now we are already even becoming adults."

I smiled and felt the heat rising in my cheeks.

"On this great day, I have finally decided to state who my mate is," he declared. "Who I truly choose."

I blushed harder, and I heard the crowd go 'awwwn' around me.

"For this reason and to honor Melissa," he cleared his throat and looked straight into my eyes.

I blushed, blowing him a kiss. My heart swelled, and I held my breath. This was it....He would finally choose me. Right?

"Today, I would be mating Cindy," he smiled and looked toward the side of the stage.

The whole room tilted as I froze in my seat. The crowd looked at him in shock as he reached out and took Cindy's hand.

He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it before he bent down to her neck.

I watched in horror as he marked her with his teeth, and she did the same to him before they began to kiss passionately in front of everyone.

The shocked crowd began to clap hesitantly, but I couldn't move.

Tears rolled down my eyes, and I didn't know what to say. I just opened my mouth in shock. Wasn't this the same Cindy who had helped me get ready this morning? How could she do this to me? How could she take my man?

I stood up and immediately rushed to the bathroom to avoid causing a scene, but I heard footsteps behind me. Kelan was following.

"Melissa, wait!" Kelan called out as he followed me into the hallway.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he grabbed my arm. "Why did you just dash off like that?"

I pulled my arm away and faced him.

"Just this morning, you told me how you wanted us to be together," I questioned him as the tears fell faster. "How you wanted me to be your mate."

"Mate?" Kelan looked at me with genuine confusion. "I didn't say mate."

"What do you mean you didn't say mate? When you were calling me babe and telling me the I love yous?" I demanded.

"So you were with Cindy all this while?" I asked as the realization hit me. "Both of you were having a thing?"

"Come on, Melissa," Kelan sighed and rolled his eyes. "Don't be a child."

I looked at him and realized I didn't know this person at all.

How could I have ever thought he would choose me? Everything I believed, everything I hoped, was a lie. The boy I loved, the friend I trusted, he was gone, replaced by someone I didn't even know. What was I going to tell Aunt Leyla?

"Melissa!" Kelan shouted as he followed me. "Melissa!"

I didn't answer him as I ran into the night. I passed through cars and buses that honked loudly as I walked in front of them, and the sky began to pour.

"Get off the road, you silly bitch!" one driver cursed.

But I couldn't. The betrayal tore through me, and my wolf Mia took over and forced the shift. I ran into the woods on four legs, unsure of what my life would become.

Melissa

I walked into the house with my clothes torn and dirty from the shift the night before, but the silence I hoped for was instantly shattered by my aunt's voice.

"Where the hell are you coming from?" Aunt Leyla screamed as she looked up from the small plastic bowl she was holding.

She was trying to feed my three-year-old cousin Zara, but the toddler was pushing the spoon away and refusing to eat the tasteless mixture her mother had prepared.

I didn't answer her as I just wanted to get to my room and forget that the last twenty-four hours had happened. I tried to walk past them, but Aunt Leyla stood up and blocked my path with a scowl that twisted her face.

"Oh, so you just ignore me now?" she sneered as she shoved the spoon into the bowl. "You ran off to hide your face in shame after Kelan blatantly chose your friend over you, and now you come back here looking like a stray dog."

The mention of his name made the tears threaten to fall again, so I pushed past her and rushed into my room before she could see me break down.

I slammed the door and locked it before I stripped off the ruined red dress. I rushed into the shower and scrubbed my skin raw, wanting to wash away the feeling of Kelan's betrayal and the memory of everyone laughing at me.

I sank into the bed after I dried off, and sleep took me immediately as my body was exhausted from the worst experience of my life.

It felt like I had only closed my eyes for a minute when a loud banging on the door jolted me awake.

"Melissa, come out for dinner now!" my aunt screamed from the other side of the wood.

I groaned and threw the duvet off my legs before I picked up my phone to check the time. I saw twenty missed calls from Kelan, but I ignored them and walked out to the dining room.

Zara was crying in her high chair while holding a toy, so I picked her up and bounced her on my hip to soothe her as I walked toward the table.

"Good evening," I greeted my aunt and her husband as I took my seat.

My uncle reached out and took Zara from my arms, so I could eat, and that was when I noticed we weren't alone.

I stopped when my eyes met an aged man in his forties who was sitting at the head of the table where Uncle Zarek used to sit. He looked at me with a happiness that made my stomach turn, and he didn't look away even when I frowned.

"Meet Alpha Draven," Aunt Leyla introduced him with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "He is the Alpha of Dark Moon Valley, and he is a widower who has a son about your age."

"Good evening," I greeted him stiffly as I settled down to eat the meager portion of food on my plate.

Alpha Draven nodded at me and continued eating, but his eyes kept darting toward me every few seconds.

My aunt began to speak about the pack and how it flourished under the current leadership, but my attention wasn't there as my phone had started vibrating in my pocket again.

It was Kelan calling nonstop.

I reached into my pocket and silenced the device because I didn't want to hear his voice or his lies ever again.

"So we have come to an agreement," Aunt Leyla announced loudly to pull my attention back to the table. "Alpha Draven has bought you as his wife and property."

I froze with the spoon halfway to my mouth.

"So you will be going to his pack with him tonight," she added casually as if she were talking about the weather.

The words hit me so hard that I inhaled sharply and began to cough as the air got stuck in my throat. I choked and grabbed the glass of water to clear my airway while I looked at her in disbelief.

"What do you mean?" I asked her when I could finally speak. "What do you mean he bought me?"

"I mean exactly what I said," Aunt Leyla replied as she cut her meat. "You will have to marry Draven, and in fact, you are already married to him as he has paid us already."

I looked at the old man who was smiling at me like I was a prize he had just won at a carnival.

"How could you sell me to a man who is more than twice my age?" I questioned her as I stood up from the table. "He is old enough to be my father!"

I began to cry as this nightmare just wouldn't end.

"What would you have us do, Melissa?" Aunt Leyla slammed her fork down and glared at me. "You were supposed to become the mate of the Alpha heir Kelan, and that was our ticket out of this misery."

"I didn't choose for him to reject me," I defended myself.

"But you sabotaged it somehow because he chose that girl Cindy instead of you," she countered with venom in her tone. "Now you just want to keep incurring debts for us while we feed you, but I won't allow it."

"I won't do it," I stated as I wiped my face.

"I am not going anywhere with him!" I screamed and turned to walk out of the dining room.

I heard her chair scrape against the floor as she followed me into the hallway.

"You can't just walk away from this!" she yelled.

"I can and I will!" I screamed back as I turned to face her. "I can't marry him!"

Aunt Leyla didn't speak. She just raised her hand and gave me a resounding slap that echoed through the small house.

I held my cheek and looked at her in shock. She had never hit me before.

"You have an hour to pack your bags and meet us in the living room. You leave with him tonight," she ordered me as she pointed a shaking finger at my face. "Do not test me, Melissa."

She turned around and walked back to the dining room where the men were waiting.

I ran to my room and collapsed on the floor as I began to cry. I thought of running away, but I realized there was no way I could leave the house without them seeing me.

My uncle had thought it was economical to have just one door in the house and many passageways, so the only exit was the front door right next to the living room where they were sitting.

I had no money, no car, and nowhere to go.

I grabbed my suitcase and threw my few belongings inside with aggressive movements. I packed everything I owned in less than thirty minutes because I didn't have much left to take.

I dragged the bag out to the living room where Alpha Draven was standing by the door with my aunt.

"She is ready," Aunt Leyla announced as she took my arm and shoved me toward the old man.

"Excellent," Draven smiled as he took my bag from my hand. "My convoy is waiting outside."

I didn't say goodbye to my aunt or my uncle as I followed the stranger out to the line of black SUVs waiting in the driveway.

Draven opened the back door for me, and I slid onto the leather seat without a word.

The car engine roared to life, and we began to move away from the only home I had known for the last few years.

I looked out the window at the passing trees, and a cold rage began to settle in my chest where my heart used to be. This was all Kelan's fault. If he hadn't humiliated me and rejected me for Cindy, I would be safe right now.

"I will make you pay, Kelan," I vowed to the darkness as we sped toward my new prison. "I swear I will make you pay."

Melissa

The convoy of black SUVs screeched to a halt in front of a sprawling stone fortress that looked more like a prison than a home. I barely had time to process the sheer size of the structure before the door was yanked open. Alpha Draven reached in and gripped my arm with fingers that felt like steel bands. He pulled me out onto the paved driveway without hesitation. I stumbled slightly in my heels but regained my balance as I looked up at the group of men waiting for us.

They stood in a rigid line at the bottom of the grand staircase, wearing expensive suits that screamed wealth and power. Draven dragged me forward, and the men bowed their heads in a synchronized motion that made my stomach churn.

"Welcome home, Alpha Draven, and welcome to our new Luna," the man standing at the front announced, stepping forward with a practiced grin. "I am Beta Luther, and on behalf of the council and the elders, we are honored to meet the woman who will stand by our Alpha's side."

I looked at Beta Luther and the line of elders behind him, keeping my lips pressed together. They stared at me with eager eyes that expected a gracious smile or kind words, but I refused to give them the satisfaction. Draven tightened his grip on my elbow until the pain shot up my arm.

"Smile, Melissa, you are embarrassing me," Draven whispered harshly in my ear while he waved at his council with his free hand. "You should be happy that you are now the Luna of Dark Moon Valley, this pack is far more advanced and powerful than that little patch of dirt you dreamed of ruling with that boy."

I turned to him, feeling a surge of hatred that made me want to scream. I wanted to tell him I didn't care about his power or his advanced pack, but I held my tongue, knowing it would only make things worse. I let him guide me up the stairs while Beta Luther and the elders trailed behind us like obedient soldiers. We walked through the massive double doors into a foyer large enough to fit my Aunt's entire house inside it.

Two lines of servants stood on either side of the entrance and bowed at the waist when we stepped onto the marble floor. Draven stopped in the center of the room and released my arm to address the staff.

"This is Melissa, the new Luna of this pack," Draven announced while gesturing toward me. "You will answer to her as you do to me, and you will show her the respect she deserves as my wife. I expect every single one of you to bow to her right now."

The head servant stepped forward and bowed lower than the others.

"We welcome you, Luna Melissa, and we are at your service," she stated with her head lowered.

I nodded stiffly, unsure of what else to do in this ridiculous situation. I wanted to disappear into the floor, but Draven placed his hand on the small of my back to keep me rooted.

The footsteps on the balcony above caught my eye, and I looked up to see a young man walking past the railing without glancing down.

"Briston, get down here," Draven commanded.

The boy stopped and leaned over the railing, looking at his father and then at me with visible annoyance.

"Didn't you see us arrive, or did you just decide to ignore the fact that your father has brought his new wife home to meet the pack? You should have been outside with the elders; this is your duty."

Briston pushed off the railing and slowly descended the curved staircase, his eyes locked on mine.

"Is this it?" Briston asked, circling us slowly.

"What are you talking about?" Draven frowned.

"Is this what you call a wife, Father?" Briston mocked, stopping in front of us. "I knew you were desperate, but I didn't think you would stoop this low just to try and save yourself."

"Watch your mouth," Draven snapped, clenching his jaw.

"You're actually buying a teenager to play house with you as your Luna just to break your curse," Briston laughed, lacking any humor. "You're dragging a child into this mess because you're afraid to face the consequences of your actions, thinking money can fix everything."

Draven stepped forward and swung his hand in a wide arc, connecting with Briston's face. The sound of the slap was loud enough to make the servants flinch, and the room fell silent.

I gasped and took a step back as the violence unfolded before me. My wolf, Mia, growled bitterly at the darkness surrounding this place, knowing we were trapped in a nightmare.

Draven breathed heavily, lowering his hand to glare at his son. "Never speak to me that way again, Briston. I am still your father."

Briston touched his reddening cheek, looking at his father with pure hatred. He said nothing more as he turned and walked toward the front door, slamming it behind him.

"Come with me," Draven ordered, grabbing my wrist and dragging me toward the stairs.

I stumbled after him, pulled up the steps and down a long hallway lined with closed doors. He didn't stop until we reached the end of the corridor, where he threw open a set of double doors and shoved me inside. I caught my balance just as I turned to face him, and he locked the door behind us.

"Why did you buy me?" I asked.

Draven ignored me, pouring himself a drink from a crystal decanter.

"You are a cursed Alpha. Why did you want me specifically?" I pressed, taking a brave step toward him. "What is your motive for ruining my life when you could have had anyone else?"

Draven sipped his drink, looking at me over the rim with cold eyes. "The curse is none of your business, Melissa. You would do well to remember that you are my property now, so you will do as I say."

A fire ignited in my chest, burning hotter than my fear. I walked right up to him and looked him in the eye before spitting in his face.

"You lose if you think I will ever bow to you or accept this as my life," I said, with venom in my voice.

Draven set the glass down slowly, wiping his face with the back of his hand. I tried to back away to the side of the room, but he moved faster than I expected. He grabbed a handful of my hair, yanking my head back painfully, causing me to scream.

"You are mine," he hissed, pulling my face inches from his. "You'll learn to obey me, or I will make your life a living hell."

My body shook uncontrollably as his angry tone terrified me. "Please let me go," I begged, as tears threatened to fall.

"Take off your clothes now!" he ordered.

I slowly began to peel off the second skin I was wearing as he pressed his lips against mine, shutting my eyes to suppress the irritation.