Claimed By Her Step Brothers; Theirs To Own

Episode7

CHAPTER SEVEN

~~FREYA ASHWOOD~~

The room they gave me was larger than the broom closet I’d occupied at Aunt Beatrice’s, but to me,. It felt less like a bedroom and more like a waiting room for a funeral.

"If you aren't satisfied, I could show you the other vacant rooms in this wing," the maid whispered. Her voice was shaky, her eyes darting to the door as if she expected the Alpha to burst in and strike us both down.

"No. This is fine."

She moved toward my battered suitcase, her hands reaching for the latches. I stepped in her way immediately. I couldn't let her see the gray, threadbare shirts and the socks with holes in the heels.

"I’ll do that myself."

"Lord Xavier ordered that I see to your settlement," she protested weakly.

"I am perfectly settled," I insisted quietly.

She flinched, gave a forced little nod, and hurried out.

I collapsed onto the bed, the silence of the manor pressing against my eardrums. I was finally back. The girl who killed the Alpha’s beloved Luna.

Suddenly, The door was kicked open with a violence that sent me bolting upright. A guard stood there, his face a mask of bored cruelty.

"The Alpha wishes to see you."

My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird. "For what reason?"

"You'll find out when you're in the chair. Move."

I shook my head, my hands gripping the duvet. "No. I... I don't want to."

I expected him to drag me. I expected the violence I’d grown used to. But he simply stared at me for a long beat, gave a curt nod, and left. The silence that followed was even more terrifying. What was the Alpha planning if he didn't even care to force my obedience?

A different maid arrived minutes later, carrying a silver tray. The aroma of roasted chicken and warm, buttered bread filled the room, making my stomach cramp with sudden, agonizing hunger. I hadn't eaten in thirty-six hours.

I ate with a desperation that was embarrassing, tearing at the bread, swallowing the water in great, lung-burning gulps. For a moment, the warmth of the food made the world feel safe.

Then, the throb started.

It began as a dull ache behind my eyes. Then, the taste of blood flooded my mouth. I tried to stand, to reach for the door, but my legs could not move. I looked down, and my heart stopped.

I was coughing, and the floor was suddenly splattered with dark, visceral red.

The room tilted. My lungs tightened as if an invisible hand were squeezing the life out of them. I slumped to the floor, the cold marble the last thing I felt before the darkness claimed me.

~~XAVIER ASHWOOD~~

I’d been watching her since the woods. I’d watched her fight the Rogue, watched her stumble through the banquet, and watched the way her soul seemed to wither when she looked at Damien.

Interfering was a mistake. I knew that. My logic told me she was a liability, a figure from a past we were better off forgetting. But my beast, Luka, was pacing the cage of my mind, baring his teeth at every mention of the dungeon.

I was in my room, trying to find a moment of peace, when I found my brothers waiting for me. Ryker was tossing a silver dagger into the air with a casual, lethal grace. Quinn was at the window, staring at the storm clouds as if he could command them.

"I don't remember sending invitations," I muttered.

"We don't need invitations for family, Xav," Ryker said, pointing the tip of the dagger at my chest. "The Academy? Really? It’s an all-boys training ground for the elite. You’re going to drop a wolfless girl into a pit of a thousand hungry Alphas? Are you trying to get her killed, or just humiliated?"

I ignored, in no mood to entertain any more questions from him.

In that moment, Quinn swiveled around to look at me. "Why did you do it?"

"I owe you no explanation, Quinn. Now, get out of here while I'm still being nice." I pivoted in Ryker's direction. "You aren't exempted"

"I have every right to know, Xavier. Father was right. You never intervene in family situations. Why her? Why an All boy academy? Aren't there better options?"

Ryker nodded, tossing the dagger at me, I caught it instinctively. "Father is downstairs nursing a bruised ego, and the pack will be howling for her head by sunrise once they get to know she's back here. The Dungeon would have been the perfect place for her to be. Not the Academy."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "Why? You didn't sound concerned earlier whether she lives or dies"

"Xavier!" Quinn's voice cut through the momentary silence.

"Leave," I spat. "Now."

When they finally filtered out, I bolted the door. I sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing my temples.

“I know, Luka,” I whispered to the growl in my head.

Something had triggered the moment I saw her in the dirt. She felt... familiar for someone I'd never seen before. I'd think it was because she's the infamous hated step sister but the deeper I thought about it, the more I realized it was beyond that.

I was drifting into a fitful sleep when the pounding started.

I mutter a cuss word underneath my breath.

I rolled off the bed, my bare feet hitting the floor with a thud.

The rapping continued, my patience was thinning with each knock.

I swung the door open, ready to tear Ryker’s throat out, but it was the maid. Her face was the color of ash.

"Lord Xavier... the girl. Freya. She’s collapsed. There's... there's blood everywhere."

What do you mean, collapsed?" I demanded

"I don't know what went wrong" she uttered.

I didn't wait for the rest. I pushed past her, my heart racing with a fear I didn't want to acknowledge.