Rejected by My Alpha, Claimed by His Ruthless Brother

Chapter 4 The Shirt on My Skin

I woke up in a stranger’s bed wearing his shirt.

That should have been the first thing I thought.

It should have been the only thing.

Instead, for one soft, dangerous second, all I noticed was warmth.

Heavy blankets.

Cool morning air at the edges of the room.

The faint smell of cedar, smoke, and something darker that had settled into the sheets and the pillow and the shirt against my skin.

Kade.

My eyes opened slowly.

Gray morning light spilled through the curtains, soft and clean and completely undeserved after a night like that. The room was quiet. Too quiet. The kind of quiet that only existed in houses built far enough away from other people to keep their noise out.

Then memory came back.

The ceremony.

Liam.

I reject you.

The forest.

Kade carrying me.

The hallway.

She stays.

My stomach tightened so hard I rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling.

God.

It had all really happened.

I sat up too fast and instantly regretted it. My body reminded me of every stumble through the woods, every trembling moment of the night before. My feet were bandaged. My hands stung where the cuts had been cleaned. My head felt heavy, not from sleep, but from humiliation that had survived into morning.

I looked down at the shirt I wore.

Dark cotton.

Too big.

The sleeves rolled once. The hem brushing my thighs.

The sight of myself in it sent an entirely inappropriate wave of heat through me.

Absolutely not.

I kicked that thought out of my head with the force of panic.

This was not romantic.

This was not cute.

This was the aftermath of public rejection, emotional collapse, and one dangerously silent man deciding for reasons I still did not understand that I would be safer in his house than in my own pack.

The bedroom door opened.

I nearly jumped out of my skin.

Mara stepped in carrying a tray.

She looked me over once and nodded, as if she had personally ordered the morning to behave.

“You’re awake.”

I blinked. “You knock like a woman with secrets.”

“I knock like a woman in a hurry.” She set the tray on the bedside table. “Tea. Bread. Fruit. And before you ask, yes, you need all of it.”

I looked at the tray, then at her. “Do you also read minds?”

“No.” Mara adjusted the cup on the saucer. “But I’ve spent enough time around broken wolves to recognize the face.”

That should not have made my throat tighten.

I looked away.

Mara pretended not to notice.

Again.

I was beginning to understand that her kindness arrived dressed as bluntness because that was the only shape this house trusted.

“What time is it?” I asked.

“Late enough.”

My head turned sharply. “Late enough for what?”

Her brows lifted. “For the pack to be chewing on last night like dogs with a bone.”

Right.

Of course.

The gossip.

The whispers.

The retelling of my humiliation in prettier, uglier, and probably more entertaining versions than the real thing.

I pressed my fingers against my forehead. “Wonderful.”

Mara folded her arms. “Eat first. Collapse later.”

I almost smiled.

Almost.

Then another thought hit me.

My mother.

I looked up at once. “Has anyone spoken to my mother?”

Mara’s expression softened by half a shade. “She sent word early this morning.”

My pulse kicked.

“And?”

“She knows you’re safe.”

The breath left me in one long exhale.

Thank God.

Mara added, “She also asked whether Liam was dead.”

I stared at her.

Then laughed.

A real laugh this time.

Short, startled, but real.

Mara’s mouth moved at the corner. “That was my reaction too.”

I reached for the tea. “What did you tell her?”

“That Kade was considering her request.”

I nearly choked.

Mara looked far too satisfied with herself.

That woman was dangerous.

I took a sip of tea and let the warmth settle through me.

Then I frowned. “Where is he?”

Mara picked a piece of invisible lint off the tray. “Outside.”

“Doing what?”

“Scaring men.”

That was not as comforting as it should have been.

I set the tea down. “Mara.”

She sighed as if I were the difficult one in this situation. “Pack members have been circling the property since dawn. Liam’s sent two messages. Beta Darius sent one. Selene sent flowers.”

My whole face twisted. “What?”

Mara nodded grimly. “They’re in the trash.”

I felt a rush of vicious satisfaction.

Good.

Very good.

“She sent flowers?”

“White ones.”

Of course she did.

I leaned back against the headboard. “I hate her.”

“That’s healthy.”

I looked at Mara. “You say that like there’s a guidebook.”

“There is.” She moved toward the window. “Rule one: never trust a woman who sends flowers after participating in your public humiliation.”

That startled another laugh out of me.

Then her expression shifted slightly as she glanced outside.

“What?”

Mara looked back at me. “You should probably get dressed.”

A pause.

Then:

“She’s here.”

My whole body went still.

“Selene?”

Mara nodded once.

Rage arrived before fear.

Of course it did.

The woman humiliates me by existing beside Liam under moonlight, then shows up at the house where I’m hiding in his brother’s shirt?

No.

Absolutely not.

I threw off the blanket.

Mara held up a hand. “Before you do something dramatic—”

“Too late.”

My feet hit the floor and pain shot up both legs at once.

I hissed.

Mara crossed her arms. “This is what I meant.”

I ignored her and limped toward the wardrobe.

There were fresh clothes folded neatly on the chair by the door. Leggings. A soft sweater. Thick socks.

I looked at them, then at Mara.

She gave nothing away.

“Who put those there?”

She adjusted a curtain that didn’t need adjusting. “The house has functioning hands.”

Liar.

I narrowed my eyes, but the sound of a raised female voice downstairs killed the question before it could fully form.

Selene.

Sharp. Furious. Controlled enough to sound elegant if you didn’t listen carefully.

Unfortunately, I was listening very carefully.

I changed fast.

As fast as sore feet and shaking hands allowed.

By the time I got downstairs, the entire house felt charged.

The foyer doors were open. Morning light poured across the floor in long gold stripes. Kade stood just inside the threshold, broad shoulders blocking half the entrance, every line of him cut from threat and control. Across from him stood Selene in cream, beautiful and furious, her perfect hair untouched by wind or conscience.

She looked up the second she heard me.

And there it was.

The pause.

The tiny, ugly flicker in her expression as she took in the fact that I was not crying in a ditch somewhere but standing in Kade Blackthorne’s house, wearing clean clothes, alive enough to walk, and not nearly ashamed enough for her taste.

Good.

Let her choke on it.

“Ariana,” she said smoothly, too smoothly. “I’m glad to see you’re recovering.”

I stopped halfway down the stairs.

“Recovering,” I repeated. “Did I have surgery I forgot about?”

Selene’s smile tightened.

Kade did not move, but something in the angle of his shoulders changed.

Not relaxed.

Interested.

Mara appeared behind me with the energy of a woman who had specifically timed her tea tray collection to witness violence.

“Nice to see you too, Selene,” I said.

She looked me over, and I saw the moment she recognized Kade’s house all over me.

The clothes.

The fact that I was inside.

The fact that he had let me come downstairs while she stood on the edge of the threshold like a tolerated infection.

Her gaze cut toward Kade. “This is inappropriate.”

Kade’s answer came flat. “Your presence here is inappropriate.”

I could have kissed him for that.

I did not.

Obviously.

Selene lifted her chin. “I came to speak to Ariana.”

“I don’t recall asking for that.”

Her eyes snapped back to me. “There are things you need to understand.”

I folded my arms. “You mean the part where you enjoyed my rejection in silver silk?”

Her face changed by a fraction.

Not shame.

Just irritation that I was refusing to be delicate.

“I understand you’re upset,” she said.

Mara made a quiet choking sound that might have been a laugh if one were charitable.

Selene ignored her.

“I know last night was painful.”

I stared.

Painful?

Painful was stepping on broken glass.

Painful was a headache.

What happened last night was a public execution of dignity.

And she stood there in cream trying to frame it like a scheduling problem.

My voice came out colder than I felt. “You should leave.”

Her smile returned. “Not until I say what I came to say.”

Kade took one step forward.

It was enough.

Not because it was dramatic.

Because Selene stopped breathing for half a second.

The whole house felt it.

“That,” he said quietly, “was not a request.”

Selene’s eyes flashed. “You’re making this worse.”

Kade looked at her like she had accidentally become furniture.

“No,” he said. “That was Liam.”

For the first time since I’d met her, Selene’s polish slipped.

Tiny c***k.

Visible.

She turned to me quickly, as if Kade was too dangerous a direction to keep facing. “Ariana, Liam regrets how it happened.”

My laugh came sharp and immediate. “How generous of him.”

“He was under pressure.”

There it was again.

Pressure.

The holy excuse of weak people.

“From what?” I asked. “His own lack of a backbone?”

Selene’s jaw tightened. “The pack needs strength.”

I felt something inside me go very still.

Not broken.

Clear.

Because there it was in plain daylight now: she did not just think she had won. She thought the rejection had been justified.

That I had been weighed, measured, and publicly discarded for the good of everyone important.

Interesting.

Very useful.

I stepped down the last stair.

Kade’s head turned slightly toward me, just enough to let me know he was aware of every inch I moved.

I came to stand beside him.

Not behind him.

Beside him.

Selene noticed.

Of course she noticed.

“I see,” I said softly. “You think you’re the stronger choice.”

Her chin lifted another degree. “I think the pack deserves the best Luna possible.”

The arrogance of it actually impressed me.

For one second.

Then disgust buried it.

“So this was never about love,” I said. “Not for him. Not for you. Just status.”

Something smug flickered in her face.

And there it was.

Confirmation.

Oh, Liam, you i***t.

“You should be careful,” she said. “There are things you don’t understand about why this happened.”

My pulse shifted.

Kade’s did too, if the slight hardening in his posture meant anything.

I narrowed my eyes. “Then explain it.”

Selene hesitated.

Only one second.

But in rooms like these, hesitation was confession.

“Liam was trying to protect the future of the pack,” she said.

I took one step closer.

“From me?”

Her silence was answer enough.

My stomach dropped.

Not because I believed her.

Because she believed herself.

She actually thought I was dangerous to the future of the pack.

I looked at Kade.

He was already watching her with a face that promised very creative destruction later.

“Leave,” he said.

Selene’s attention snapped back to him. “You have no idea what you’re involving yourself in.”

The corner of his mouth moved.

Not a smile.

A threat learning elegance.

“That would matter,” he said, “if I were asking.”

The air cracked.

Selene stared at him for one long second.

Then something colder entered her expression. Less wounded rival. More strategist.

Fine.

There you are.

She looked at me one last time.

“You should ask why the Elders didn’t stop him sooner.”

The words landed like ice.

My heartbeat stumbled.

“What?”

But she was already stepping back through the door.

Kade moved and shut it before she could say another word.

The latch clicked into place with brutal finality.

The house went still.

No one breathed for one, two, three painful seconds.

Then I turned.

Kade was already looking at me.

And the question in my face must have matched the one in his because Mara, from somewhere near the hall table, said quietly, “Well. That sounds horrible.”

I looked at Kade. “What did she mean?”

His jaw tightened.

Not enough.

Too much.

My stomach dropped harder.

“You know something.”

His answer came too quickly. “Not enough.”

“That is not the same as nothing.”

His gaze held mine. “No.”

I folded my arms tighter to stop my hands from shaking. “Start talking.”

Something dark moved in his face.

Thought.

Decision.

Reluctance, maybe, though reluctance on Kade looked exactly like the calm before structural damage.

Before he could answer, the front door rattled again.

Not a knock this time.

The handle shook once, then twice.

Like whoever was outside had forgotten the difference between doors and obstacles.

Mara muttered something impolite.

Kade turned toward the entrance.

One hard look.

Then to me:

“Upstairs.”

I blinked. “Excuse me?”

“Now.”

“No.”

His head turned back slowly.

Dangerously.

I lifted my chin. “You do not get to keep ordering me around every time someone says something inconvenient.”

His expression did not move. “And you do not get to stand in a doorway when I haven’t yet decided who I need to break.”

The line hit.

Hard.

My entire body reacted like it had been waiting for exactly that tone and resented itself for it.

I hated this house.

I hated him.

I hated most that none of that was entirely true.

The handle rattled again.

A male voice shouted from outside this time. Older. Sharper. Authority wrapped in age.

Beta Darius.

Wonderful.

Absolutely wonderful.

Kade’s face changed at the sound.

Something colder now.

More official.

He stepped toward the door and said, without looking at me, “Mara.”

She was already moving.

“Take her upstairs.”

I looked between them in disbelief. “Are the two of you running a prison?”

Mara took my elbow. “No, dear. This is what good protection looks like when men are being stupid.”

Before I could fight her properly, Kade glanced back at me.

One look.

That was all.

But it held enough command, warning, and something far more dangerous underneath that I stopped resisting for one irrational second.

Mara used it.

Of course she did.

She guided me toward the stairs while Kade opened the door just enough to block entry.

Beta Darius stood on the porch in formal dark clothes, face lined with annoyance and old power. Two warriors waited behind him. Not aggressive exactly.

Worse.

Official.

I heard his voice just as Mara steered me around the turn of the staircase.

“This has gone far enough.”

Kade’s answer came like a closed fist.

“It started that way.”

I should have kept going.

I didn’t.

At the bend in the stairs, just hidden enough to be stupid, I stopped and listened.

Darius’s voice lowered. “The Elders request the girl’s presence.”

The girl.

I went cold.

Kade did too.

I could hear it.

Feel it.

Every inch of him tightening at once.

“Request?” he said.

Darius did not flinch. “The matter of the broken bond must be formally reviewed.”

My pulse slammed.

The broken bond.

So this was bigger than gossip already.

Way bigger.

And Selene’s words came back like a blade under the ribs.

You should ask why the Elders didn’t stop him sooner.

Something was wrong.

Deeper wrong.

Mara must have felt me go still because her hand tightened on my arm.

Downstairs, Kade said, very quietly, “She’s not leaving this house with you.”

The warriors behind Darius shifted.

The sound was small.

It still made my skin go cold.

Darius’s voice sharpened. “You are challenging the council over a rejected mate?”

Silence.

Then Kade answered:

“No.”

A pause.

Then, lower:

“I’m challenging anyone who thinks they still have the right to handle her.”

The hallway spun for half a second.

Not from fear.

From the force of that sentence.

Mara looked at me.

I looked at her.

Neither of us said a word.

Because downstairs, after one terrible beat of silence, Darius asked the question that changed everything:

“What exactly has your wolf sensed, Kade?”

I stopped breathing.

So did Mara.

And below us, for the first time since I met him, Kade Blackthorne said nothing at all.