Mated To My Supposed Brother

Taboo

The village was already awake, the aftermath of the festival creating a chaotic energy that Aria tried to use as a shield.

She found Sarah and a group of other females near the storage sheds, their voices a constant hum of gossip and laughter.

Aria grabbed a heavy crate of supplies and began moving it toward the kitchen, her movements jerky and forced.

"Easy there, Aria, you look like you’re trying to lift the whole world," Sarah teased, coming over to help. .

She stopped suddenly, her nose twitching as she leaned closer to Aria. "What is that scent? You smell like... pine and cold rain. It’s familiar, but I can't put my finger on it."

Aria’s heart stopped. She forced a bright, fake smile and stepped back, creating distance between them.

"It’s just some new soap I tried this morning. I wanted to get the smell of the bonfire off my skin."

"It’s a strong soap," Sarah mused, though she didn't seem to suspect anything more.

"Anyway, did you see the training schedule? The Alpha wants the warriors in the pits for an exhibition match. Liam is already down there.

He looked like a god this morning, Aria. I don't know how you manage to keep a straight face living with him."

"He’s just my brother," Aria said, the lie tasting like ash in her mouth.

She spent the rest of the morning in a daze of manual labor, her eyes constantly drifting toward the training pits in the distance.

She could see Liam from where she worked.

He was a dark, lethal blur of motion, taking down opponents with a terrifying efficiency.

Every time a girl walked past him and lingered, every time someone giggled and pointed at the way his muscles rippled in the sun, Aria felt a hot, jagged spike of jealousy pierce her heart.

She hated herself for it.

She had pushed him away. She had told him to find someone else.

But the thought of another woman touching him, of another female smelling the scent that belonged to her, made her want to growl and show her teeth.

By noon, the heat was becoming unbearable.

Aria went to the well to fetch water, her head down, trying to avoid the gaze of anyone who might look too closely.

She was hauling the bucket up when a shadow fell over her.

Her heart leaped, thinking it was Liam coming to find her, but when she looked up, she saw Caleb.

"You look like you're carrying the weight of the whole pack on your shoulders, Aria," Caleb said, his voice kind and steady.

He reached for the bucket, his hand covering hers as he helped her lift it. "Let me help you with that."

Normally, Aria would have welcomed his help, but today, his touch felt wrong.

It felt like a violation. Her wolf snarled deep in her mind, rejecting the scent of a male that wasn't Liam.

"I’ve got it, Caleb, thank you," she said, pulling her hand away a bit too quickly.

Caleb frowned, his eyes searching hers. "Is everything okay?

You've been jumpy all morning. If Liam is giving you a hard time, you can come over to our house for a bit.

My sister was just saying she hasn't seen you all day."

"I'm fine, really," Aria lied, her voice tight. "Just tired."

She looked past Caleb and saw Liam standing at the edge of the training pit.

He wasn't moving. He was just standing there, his sapphire eyes locked onto her and Caleb with a cold, predatory focus.

He didn't growl, and he didn't make a scene, but the air between them was so thick with tension that Aria could barely breathe.

Liam turned then, his movements slow and deliberate, and walked back toward a group of females who were waiting to offer him water.

He didn't look back at her. He didn't have to.

Aria stood by the well, the cold water splashing over her boots, realizing that her plan to avoid him was already failing.

She was a woman trapped between a taboo she couldn't break and a bond she couldn't escape, and as she watched Liam disappear into a crowd of admiring women, she realized that the "safety" of being his sister was a prison she had built for herself, and the keys were currently in the hands of a man who was no longer playing by her rules.