Claimed by my stepbrother

Chapter 13: Stay in the Room

I locked the door the second Kai left.

My hands were shaking as I stepped back, staring at the dark wood like it could actually protect me. Outside, the night had gone unnaturally quiet. No more distant howls. No wind. Just a heavy silence that made every second feel longer than the last.

I pressed my ear against the door, listening.

For a while, there was nothing.

Then I heard it.

A low, dangerous growl—Kai’s—followed by the sound of something heavy hitting the ground. Another snarl. A sharp crack. The fight had started.

My heart slammed against my ribs. Every instinct told me to stay where I was, exactly like he ordered. But the mate bond was pulling hard in my chest, reacting to his anger and the violence outside. It felt like an invisible string was being yanked with every hit he took or gave.

I moved to the window instead.

Carefully, I pulled the curtain aside just enough to look down into the backyard.

What I saw made my blood freeze.

There were more of them this time. At least six figures moved in the shadows near the tree line. Kai stood in the middle of the open grass, his posture low and ready. Even from this distance, I could see the gold burning in his eyes. He looked bigger somehow—more dangerous—like the last of his restraint had been stripped away.

One of the wolves lunged at him.

Kai met him halfway.

The impact was brutal. They crashed into each other hard enough that I heard it through the glass. Kai moved with terrifying speed, slamming the first attacker into the ground before turning to face the next. Another wolf tried to circle behind him, but Kai spun and caught him by the throat, throwing him across the yard like he weighed nothing.

He was winning.

But there were too many.

I gripped the curtain tightly, unable to look away. Every time one of them got close to landing a real hit, the bond in my chest twisted painfully, as if it was punishing me for being this far from him.

Then one of the wolves broke away from the fight.

He wasn’t going after Kai.

He was running toward the house.

Toward my window.

Panic shot through me. I stumbled back from the glass just as a dark shape launched upward. Claws scraped against the wall outside. A heavy body hit the side of the house hard enough to rattle the window frame.

I clamped a hand over my mouth to keep from screaming.

A low, wet growl sounded right outside.

Then Kai’s roar tore through the night—louder and more furious than anything I had heard from him before.

The presence outside my window vanished suddenly, ripped away with a violent sound. I rushed back to the curtain and looked down in time to see Kai slam the wolf into the ground directly below my room. His eyes were pure gold now, no trace of human left in them. He didn’t just fight the wolf.

He made an example of him.

When it was over, the remaining attackers were already retreating into the trees, dragging their injured with them. Kai stood alone in the backyard, chest heaving, blood on his hands and arms. He slowly lifted his head and looked straight up at my window.

Our eyes met.

Even from that distance, the force of his gaze hit me through the bond hard enough to make my knees weak.

He pointed at me once—clear order—then turned and disappeared into the darkness after the fleeing wolves.

I don’t know how long I waited after that.

It felt like hours.

I sat on the edge of the bed, arms wrapped around myself, listening for any sound that meant he was coming back. The house remained quiet. No one came upstairs. Either my mother and Richard were still unaware… or they knew better than to interfere.

Finally, I heard the back door open downstairs.

Footsteps.

Heavy. Controlled. Familiar.

I stood up just as those footsteps reached my door. There was a pause, then a soft knock.

“Lila.” Kai’s voice was rough. “Open the door.”

My fingers felt clumsy as I unlocked it.

The moment the door opened, Kai stepped inside and closed it behind him. He looked worse than last time. There was a cut along his collarbone, blood smeared across one forearm, and his shirt was torn near the ribs. But his eyes—still faintly glowing—were fixed only on me.

He reached out and cupped the side of my face, checking me like he needed proof I was unharmed.

“Are you hurt?” he asked.

“No. You are.”

Kai ignored that. His thumb brushed over my cheekbone as his eyes searched mine. The bond between us was roaring now, louder than before, as if the fight had fed it.

“I told you not to look,” he said quietly.

“I couldn’t just sit here.”

“Yes. You could have.” His voice was calm, but there was an edge underneath it. “One of them tried to reach you. If I had been even a second slower…”

He didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t need to.

Kai’s hand slid from my face down to my neck, resting there like he needed the contact to stay grounded. His palm was warm, slightly trembling.

“They’re getting bolder,” he said. “Tonight was a test. Next time they won’t run so easily.”

“What happens next then?”

Kai’s eyes locked onto mine. The gold in them brightened for a moment.

“I take you somewhere safer,” he answered. “And I stop giving them chances.”

He leaned in closer, forehead nearly touching mine. The scent of blood, night air, and something wild clung to him. The mate bond pulled so hard it almost hurt again.

“You felt it during the fight, didn’t you?” he murmured. “The way the bond reacted.”

I nodded once, unable to lie.

Kai’s hand tightened gently on my neck. “That’s because you’re already tied to me deeper than before. Every time I’m in danger, you’ll feel it. Every time you’re threatened, I’ll lose more control.”

His gaze dropped to my lips, then back up.

“I can’t keep doing this halfway, Lila,” he said, voice low and rough. “Not if I want to keep you alive.”

My pulse jumped under his fingers.

“What are you saying?”

Kai held my stare without blinking.

“I’m saying the next time they come…” His eyes glowed brighter. “I won’t just fight them off. I’ll end this. And before that happens, I need you to decide how far you’re willing to let this bond go.”

He slowly pulled his hand away, like it took real effort, and stepped back toward the door.

“Get some rest,” he said. “Tomorrow everything changes.”

Then he left, leaving me alone with the weight of his words and the still-burning pull of the mate bond in my chest.

Outside, the night had gone quiet again.

But I already knew the quiet wouldn’t last.