Scandal! My Ex-Mate Brother Does It Better!

Chapter 2

ELARA

I woke up naked in bed, except that I wasn’t alone! Turning on my side, I was shocked to see Kaiden awake and staring down at me to which made me sit up, clutching the bedsheets around my body. I hadn’t had the time to recover yet when the door shoved open and Thane stood there, shocked at the scene he had just walked into.

“The f**k?!” He growled, his rage sending shivers of fear down my body. What the hell have I done?

Kaiden slowly stood up, bearing his naked form and not bothering to hide what might have inspired between us. “You could have at least knocked.” He said casually, as if the situation was normal. He went into the bathroom and then came out later.

By now, more family members were making their way into the room having heard Thane’s growl. Judging from the background music drifting into the room from outside, I could tell the party was still on. Feeling too stunned to speak, I slowly dragged myself out of bed, tears making their way down my face.

"Thane—" I hadn't even finished uttering his name before he pounced on me, his hands around my neck and squeezing the heck out of me. A couple of seconds later, he was thrown off me by Kaiden, who immediately started wrapping the blanket around me before it unraveled.

“You w***e!” Abigail hissed at me. “Didn’t I warn you about getting mated to some classless street rat from the slums? They are nothing but gold diggers, I warned you!”

“Please Thane, listen to me…I…” I have no idea what I was going to say, that I couldn’t do anything when he started kissing me? I couldn’t stop him? That I didn’t want to because at that moment I was able to forget the imagination of him and Willow? Even to myself, that sounded like a poor weak ass excuse.

“The nerve of you!” Thane growled again, shaking with rage. “You slept with my f*****g brother, and you still have the nerve to call my name? I dare you, Elara! Say my name one more time and I vow you won’t have a tongue again!”

“Kaiden, will you get away from that slut!” Abigail hissed, trying to pull her oldest son away from me.

He snatched his hand back from his mother. “She didn’t seduce me, it was actually the other way round.” He declared, looking at his family, while I couldn’t bring myself to. “If you want to blame anyone, then blame me! I seduced her, and I’ll do it again!” That set Thane off, and he pounced on his brother and the two started fighting. Abigail looked at me with a look filled with disgust and resentment as she dragged me out of the bedroom.

“Please stop! I’m begging you.” I begged, as she pushed me out of the house, where the guests were gathered. “Let me talk to Thane, please.”

“Haven’t you done more than enough!? You seduce his brother! What kind of woman are you? Oh yeah! A poverty-stricken gold digger looking to sleep her way to the top!” To conclude her sentence, she hit me across the face and snatched the blanket from my body.

The guests gasped as they began to whisper among themselves. I quickly covered my body, even my eyes were getting tired from crying so much. “No! Please, No! I love Thane, I really do…” She hit me again.

“Love? What do you know about love? By the time I’m done with you, I’ll make sure your life is completely ruined—“ Her statement ended abruptly as Kaiden reappeared and snatched the blanket from her, securing it around my body before turning to the guests.

“Leave right now before I f*****g pluck out your eyes!” He growled, causing them to all run out. “And as for you Mom, you do not talk to her that way! Are you telling me you aren’t aware that Thane has been cheating on her with Willow for months?”

What? I froze at the statement, not quite believing what I was hearing.

Abigail cast a death stare in my direction before replying to him. “I can’t believe you are choosing to side with a w***e over your own family! She slept with you! Therefore, hurting your brother and you stand here and defend her? Do you even consider his reputation? No! I will not allow you or this freaking slut to destroy the legacy your father and I worked hard to secure.” She hissed, reaching for me, but once again, Kaiden stopped her.

“She’s mine now,” he declared.

“Yours?” A bruised Thane showed up, his father holding him back in case he tried to pounce on his brother. “Elara, come right here!” He growled at me, expecting him to go to him at once.

My feet refused to move, which caused an angry growl to escape him. Ignoring his family, he picked me up and carried me back into the house like nothing had happened. Once his bedroom door closed behind us, I slowly slid down the floor, breaking down uncontrollably.

Kaiden approached me, his hand reaching out to probably comfort me, but I flared up, knocking his hand away. “Don’t touch me! “ I screamed, my whole body shaking. “You ruined my life! How could you do this to me!” Thane was right about him. After all, he was a monster.

“Ruined?” He chuckled. “I believe it's quite the opposite.”

“No! I love Thane, he’s my mate! You knew this! You know and yet…have I done something wrong? Is this your way of punishing me!” I searched his face, weakly.

“Punish you? Hell no! Please calm down, we should talk about what happened.” He pleaded, his voice strained.

“Stay the hell away from me!” I hissed, grabbing my discarded clothes on the floor and running out of the house. I didn’t care who stopped to look at me, I wanted to get the hell away from the family.

From Thane, who assured me there was nothing going on between him and Willow and to Kaiden, who I can’t even blame. I’m madder at myself than I was at him. I could have stopped him, I shouldn’t have followed him to his room, and yet I did. The image of what happened flashes across my mind, making me feel sick to my stomach.

Recalling the words Abigail had flung at me, made me even sicker and as soon as I entered my apartment, I collapsed on the bed, crying my heart out onto my pillow. I had no idea how long I stayed in that position crying until a knock at the door forced me to stand up. I answered and relief flooded through me as the person turned out to be Thane.

My Thane

My soul-mate.

“Thane?” I was so happy, I bursted into another round of tears. “I didn’t mean for it to happen, I swear, I love you.” I cried.

He scoffed. “Love? Did I cross your mind when you were f*****g my brother? You know the painful part? My family was right about you! You’re a gold digger who decided to sleep with my brother after finding out he’s the Nightshade heir, how could you do this to me, Elara!” He sneered, grabbing my shoulders and baring his fangs at me.

“No… I swear Thane, I was upset about you and Willow and things got out of control. I should have tried harder to stop him…please…” he cuts me off by shaking me.

“So this is my fault?” He burst into bitter laughter as he let go of my shoulder. “So you're telling me I made you cheat on me? You are so insecure about my friendship with Willow that you invented some ideas in your head—“ I interrupted him.

“Was I wrong, Thane? You cheated on me with her for months! And tonight you just looked at her like I wasn’t there! How did you think that made me feel? You had your arms around her all night! You stare at her like she’s your mate! Your brother looked at me in a way I’ve never seen you look at me Thane…” I flinched as he slammed me back against the wall.

“Do you want to die? Have you got a f*****g death wish? If you mention him one more time, Elara, I swear I’ll kill you myself.” My heart skipped in fear.

“No!” I shoved him away. “Don’t shift the blame or topic! You cheated on me for months, Thane! How could you do that to me? I loved you! You made me believe everything I saw between you two was all in my mind! You gaslighted me while cheating on me the entire time!” I pounced my fist on his chest.

“And you decided to cheat on me back? Is that what your thing with my brother was about? Revenge?” His smile turned cruel as he pushed me away. “Then the battle line has been drawn, Elara Wolfclaw, by the time I’m done with you, you will regret ever…” I cut him off.

“Stay away from me Thane.” I withdrew my claws. “Last time I checked, you’re the omega between us, and I’ll not hesitate to use my claws on you if you threaten me one more time!” At my words, he backed away from me, his eyes growing darker.

After he was gone, I collapsed on the floor, burying my face in my knees as water streamed down my face. I looked up, startled when another knock sounded on the door, fearing who it might be, I withdrew my claws ready to defend myself.

Kaiden pushed through the door, ignoring the defensive stance. “We need to talk.”

“No!” I hissed. “Stay the hell away from me!” I pounced on him, ready to scratch him with my claws, but he held my wrists after a claw scratched the side of his face. No matter how much I struggled, he waited, holding me still until the fight died down. “Just leave me alone, please.” I cried, pulling away from him.

“Don’t you get it, Elara? I’m f*****g in love with you… no! Obsessed with you ever since Thane introduced you to the family as his mate. I couldn’t stand by and watch him treat you like that. You deserve better, Elara, please… let me prove it.” I shook my head, turning my back on him.

“Just stop! I want nothing to do with you or your family. I mean it Kaiden. You rich people are nothing but assholes, jerks and monsters! I want no part of your world, okay? I’m done, just leave me the hell alone.”

“Then let me be part of your world… don’t come to me, I’ll come to you, just give me a chance, I can’t stand seeing you like this.” And for whatever reason, I felt my defense slowly crumbling… there’s something about him…about us that feels so very confusing…