Desired By My Alpha Stepfather

School is hell

Nina

Standing in front of my school, I swallowed with a heavy heart. I really didn't want to be here. I didn't want to face those two after what had transpired between us yesterday, but my house wasn’t better after all. I was stuck in my misery.

Taking a deep breath, I tightened my hold on the strap of my backpack and braced myself for another horrible day of school. I threw the hood over my face to hide my blotchy face, I didn't want to draw any attention to myself today.

Walking into the school's narrow hallway, I dropped my head and navigated my way through the sea of teenagers, paying no heed to their whispers. It wasn't anything new to me, the bullying was something I had grown accustomed to but something about today was different.

“... Did you hear that she tried to seduce Mr Lars for an extra grade?” I heard a girl whisper to a blonde standing close to her while both of them eyed me in disgust.

Huh? That wasn't true.

“... I heard she literally seduced Kai to have s*x with her and when he tried to break things off, tried to blackmail him.” Another girl added.

What?

“She's such a cheap slut.” I heard another voice chip in.

“I bet I can hit that in less than a day…” a guy's whisper came, followed by cruel laughter.

“She's not even that pretty. Ew, she looks so sickly. Have you seen her nude photo that's been circulating? Sue showed It to me. I don't even know how she endured being friends with that creep.” A girl said.

What? What photo? What the hell was going on? My racing thoughts slowed when I recalled that girl mention Sue. So she's the one behind the nasty rumors… but why? Wasn't it enough that she had stolen Kai? Why was she tarnishing my image? What have I ever done to her?

I bit on my quivering bottom lip, trying my hardest not to let the cries slip. Wasn't highschool miserable enough for me? Why was she so bent on ruining me?

I made my way to my locker, very much aware of the ridiculing eyes boring holes in the back of my head. I opened my locker and gasped at the slimy green liquid that had splashed on me. I gagged at the horrible smell it emitted. What the hell was this and who had set it up?

Laughter roared and immediately, I ran away with the bathroom in mind. I shrieked when something powdery fell on me, caking my hair and sticking to the green liquid. I blinked rapidly to force away what I had guessed to be flour from my eyes and gently looked down. Someone had set a tiny string at the entrance to the bathroom and tracing the string upwards, it had been connected to a bucket of flour.

My sharp gasp resounded as I stood in shock, staring at my stained body. I heard dry tongue clicks and my body stilled as I perceived that overly familiar perfume. Against my will, I looked up to find Kai staring at me with feigned pity. He dragged his eyes down my miserable frame and my heart shattered even more when I saw the corner of his lips tilt upwards.

He approached me with hands delved in his pocket and dragged a finger down my stained cheeks, “now you look so much like the filth that you are. Hope you loved my surprise.”

I fought my tears, refusing to give him the utter satisfaction of letting my tears drop. He grinned at me before fishing out what I recognised to be my phone from his pocket. I wanted to run away but every cell in my body remained rooted to the spot because I still couldn't believe this was the same person I had spent three years of my life with.

Where did the sweet, charming and caring Kai go? What the hell happened to him? Why was he treating me like this?

“Smile for the camera, love.” He rasped.

I barely had time to comprehend what he had said because the next thing I knew, I was shielding myself from a bright flash of light. I immediately looked up, blinking at him in utter bewilderment as he brought the screen of my phone to my face.

“Pathetic, don't you think so?” He scoffed at me then handed me my phone.

The second I collected it with trembling hands, he walked away with a smug aura encasing him.

Hot tears ran down my cheeks as the laughter echoed. I could hear the shutter of cameras as people took pictures of me, singing insults on me. I crossed over the rope and shut myself in the toilet. This must all be Sue's handiwork. She was responsible for this.

After a prolonged minute of trying to clean myself the best I could I sighed when I looked into the mirror. I hadn't brought a change of clothes so I had no choice but to endure these soiled clothes throughout today. I could only wish that time would fly today.

I dragged myself into class, sucking in my breath at the quizzical brow Mr Lars shot me upon my appearance.

“Freak.” Someone called out in-between a fake cough, making everyone laugh.

Mr Lars shot me an understanding look and gently signaled for me to walk into his class and take a seat. I nodded at him and began on my way and I wished I saw that extended foot on time to evade it because I ended up getting tripped and falling nose first to the ground.

I cried out and cradled my bleeding nose, looking up to find Kai smirking at me. He turned to whisper something to the guy seated behind him and their snicker haunted me.

“Oops.” He had said in the most nonchalant tone he could muster and it boiled my blood. I wanted to scratch that smug smile out of his face.

“Slut.” Sue chipped in and Kai laughed.

I never knew Sue could be so freaking evil. I gently ripped myself off the floor and climbed into my seat, ignoring Mr Lars when he asked if I wanted to go to the infirmary.

“I'm fine… it's just a little nosebleed.” I quietly said.

It wasn't that I enjoyed getting bullied, hell, it was the major reason why I had developed anorexia in the first place. I hated confrontations because it spiked my anxiety and it paved the way to a horrendous turn of events. Everyday was usually full of harsh words and insults but today was off the chart. The most heartbreaking thing was the fact that Kai was engineering the whole thing today, along with his plaything Sue.

I had realized that I more than despised them. I hated them and I hated myself too. I had turned eighteen last year, a few months after Sue and it angered me that she had already met her wolf and she was big and grey, just like her father's; whereas I was yet to meet mine.

The first three periods were a blur and the whole time I had to ignore pieces of paper thrown at me. Most had s*x requests while others were just more insults and threats. I couldn't believe I had been reduced to this.

Once I heard the bell for lunch break I dashed out of my seat. I didn't feel like eating, I just wanted to isolate myself and weep to my heart's content. I felt so pathetic, used and broken. I hurried my steps, occasionally wiping away stray tears while mentally cursing Kai and Sue.

Approaching my locker, my brows furrowed because taped to my locker door was a picture of me… freaking naked? What? My eyes widened as I quickly plucked the picture and stared harder at it. I couldn't believe the length those two were willing to go just to bring to rock bottom. The picture of me lying in Kai's bed with my hair sprawled all over his sheets, had been neatly photoshopped to make me appear naked.

Anger ran through my veins as I ripped the picture to shreds, gritting my teeth as more tears fell. Wasn't I bullied enough? Did they have to make things worse for me?

It was funny how one moment you'd believed you knew someone so well till the next minute you're staring mouth-agape at the complete change of character. And humans were the monsters? For all I knew, wolves were even worse.

They were mean and brutal, lacking emotional regard. I should never have trusted them, I was better off a lousy loner. At least then, my problems weren't as horrible and overwhelming as this.

I grabbed my books and threw them in my bag, a bit relieved that there weren't any more locker traps set for me. I threw my bag over my shoulder and hurled myself over to the school’s main door. I had lost every interest in completing the period and just craved a quiet place to just sit and cry till I felt nothing any more.

I had the local swimming pool in mind. I loved the sight of clear blue water, the quiet atmosphere always calmed me down and right now, it was all I needed. I couldn't head back home, I wasn’t ready to meet my evil mother.

Once I arrived at the swim center, I gently pushed past the small gate. With gradual steps, I briefly waved at the pool-guard I was acquainted with and moved to fix myself at the end of the pool.

I took off my shoes and ended up tossing my feet into the water, letting my memories stir. I cried so much that my eyes began to hurt by the time I was done; I had no tears left to shed.

Wiping my eyes dry, I pulled my feet away from the water and hugged my knee to my chest, pulling on a sad smile as I stared into the water, humming a tune to myself. I just wanted to kill time till it was late enough for me to go home and just lock myself in my room.

I had no clue on how long I had remained like that, zoned away, lost in my world of thoughts till a gentle tap on my shoulder jolted me out of my thoughts. I looked up to find the young pool-guard staring at me with concerned eyes.

“It's closing hours. Don't you want to go home?”

I gawked at him, “what's the time?”

“8:05pm.”

Crap! I was overly late.

My appearance had sparked questions which he chose not to inquire about and for that, I was grateful. I glanced up at the dark sky and immediately sprang to my feet. I hadn't checked my phone since Kai had condescendingly returned it to me and I feared I'd have lost of messages and missed calls from my mum.

I hoped she would spare me this time, even though such wish felt like I was grasping at straws, I couldn’t help it. Things weren’t always Black and White with mum. You get punished for your mistakes, your reasons for making them were irrelevant.

Dashing down the long-stretching road, I took a shortcut through a path of trees, hoping it wouldn't be too late before I got home. Mum wouldn’t forgive me for missing dinner, even if I claimed it was because of a school project.

By the time I had arrived in front of my porch, I was sweating and panting crazily. I hoped I wasn't dirty enough to pique her interest. She had demanded that I didn’t embarrass her, which was exactly what I was about to do.

I was well aware that explaining to her was futile, nevertheless, I stood by the door, pondering on what to say to her.

I knocked on the door, only because it would be rude to barge in, knowing she had a guest around.

Before letting myself in, I ended up blinking at the warm setting of my home, which somehow felt wintry because of mum’s presence.

Mum had really outdone herself. She had gotten a few modern sitting room designs and the scented candles she had lit really added a fragile touch to the room. I carefully closed the door and nearly had a heart attack when my mother stood right before me with folded arms.

There you go, Nina. If you had a nickel for every time you got hurt because of your own stupid mistakes, you would have an ocean of nickels.

Glancing at her wristwatch, she spoke in hushed tones, I assumed she didn’t want her guest to hear. “What time did I ask you to come home?”

Squeezing the hem of my dress firmly, afraid that it might tear, I managed to speak “mum, I-“

“You’re nothing but a useless, wolf-less creature.” She snarled. “You had one job to do it and you couldn’t even do it. I was forced to give birth to you, and I still did it effortlessly, but I asked you to arrive home on time for dinner, and you just couldn’t do it. Tell me, Nina, what exactly can you do than be a complete waste?”

I stared awkwardly at her, swallowing at the pointed look she threw my way. “I had a lot on my plate, I couldn’t just leave school.” I explained, as my voice quivered.

“That’s because you’re slow. If you were as smart as everyone else, you wouldn’t have to be spending extra time at school.”

My jaw widened in shock as I stared at her. It wasn’t the first time she was hurling such insults at me, but this time, it felt like she was just spitting venom and I had no choice but to swallow it even though I knew it was deadly.

“What? You seem shocked, you think you are just like those other kids? Don’t fool yourself, Nina, they don’t bring back luck to their parents, like you do.”

“I’m sorry,” was the only thing I could say. It took a lot of willpower and fear for my safety, not to say anything else to her.

She sighed before reaching her hand to tuck loose strands behind my ear. I was almost shocked by the gesture when she held my chin roughly and spoke in the same low tone. “You are an embarrassment to me and everyone else that has ever come across you. There’s no need to apologize, it’s just who you are. You were born for the sole purpose of being a disgrace to the world.”

She gently moved away from me and headed towards the dinning room. I took it as my cue to follow, quietly walking behind her while catching a whiff of a very masculine yet lovely scent.

I presumed the guest was already gone but there was no harm in asking. “He has left already?”

“You thought you were important enough that he would wait for you?” She rolled her eyes at me.

“I just thought—“

“I spoke in hushed tones because he was still around?” She burst into laughter. Shaking her head, she continued “I only chose not to raise my voice at you, because talking to you is like talking to a piece of furniture. And I had one of the best moments of my life tonight, I wasn’t going to let you ruin it.”

“I’m sorry,” I said once more, as I took in her appearance. Despite how awful she treated me, I still loved her and wanted her to be happy.

She looked beautiful in her elegant black dress and stilettos, her hair a lustrous and fiery red, unlike mine. Her beautiful green eyes glowed under the bright lights of the dinning room. She always told me I was a replica of my father, but it was obvious I looked like her, although, I never shared any excitement because perhaps, I was a lower version.

She gesticulated at the table and my brows lifted above my forehead because sprawled on the table were wrapped gift boxes. My jaw dropped as I moped at the wide arrangement of boxes. I turned to her with widened eyes and she giggled.

“Since you weren't able to make it to dinner, he figured he'll leave you presents. What a kind man, too bad he was wasting it on you.”

“Thank him for the gifts, please, I will—”

“However,” she cut me, “I see no reason why you should have them as you have no use in the wedding, you’re only going to be there because he is aware of your existence.”

I stood there, not knowing what else to say, I waited for her to speak, to ask me to go to my room, or to hit me as usual, so I could go to my room afterwards.

“You know what? You can keep the gifts, I don’t care.” She said nonchalantly.

I took rigid steps towards the boxes and picked up the nearest one my hands could easily reach. I silently examined the box, occasionally glancing at the filled table with surprised eyes. Judging from the amount, I figured the man must be extremely rich. Wow, mum really hit a jackpot.

I tried to hide my excitement, as I knew it would only upset her.

“Also, I forgot to tell you something.” She drew a seat and elegantly perched on it.

“We will be moving in with him after the wedding, and just like I mentioned earlier, he has a son…”

The box dropped from my hands at the suddenness of her revelation. We were moving in with him. I found this new family thing to be moving along too fast. For starters, I was yet to meet this man and now I was finding out we were moving in with him and his son.

What did you think, Nina? That after they get married, they’ll live separately?

Taking a minute to glance at my mother, I swallowed my distress because she looked so happy and I wouldn't want to be a reason for her smile to fade.

Besides, if the man was this generous then I should expect that his son would be as nice as him. The idea of having someone standup for me and protect me was something to look forward to. Though I wondered if he'd be entirely accepting of my unimpressive self. What if he was younger? Was I elder sister material?

“Trust me, if I could dump you somewhere, after I get married, I would have. But unfortunately, you’re a burden I have to take care of.”

“Thanks for letting me move in with you both,” I whispered.

“You don’t need to thank me, we might need a maid,” she grinned wickedly.

“... His son attends your school, perhaps you do know him.”

My head spun at her next line of words and I froze at the spot with my eyes snapping up to stare at her worriedly. He attends my high school?

I suddenly felt sick to my stomach and quietly excused myself. Does that mean he has heard the rumors?

“I don’t think so,” I replied.

The rest of the dinner went on in silence, As soon as I was done eating, I stood up to clear the table when she made one last announcement. “The wedding is in a week, so get ready to be our maid in a week’s time.”