My Alpha Stepbrother’s Obsession

Moon

The full moon rose red and heavy.

I felt it before I saw it. A pull under my skin, like the earth had tilted and everything inside me was sliding toward Draven.

He hadn't spoken all day. He'd locked himself in the training yard since dawn, running drills, sparring with Betas, pushing himself until he collapsed. Marcus told me to stay away.

"His control's gone," Marcus said quietly when I brought him water. "If he sees you now, he won't stop."

I dropped the water and left.

Night fell fast.

The first howl ripped through the packhouse at midnight. It wasn't Draven's voice. It was the wolves in the courtyard, answering the moon.

My wolf rose. Claws pricking at my fingertips. My vision sharpened. The air smelled like blood and pine and Draven.

The door to our room slammed open.

He stood there, shirt torn, eyes black. No grey left. No man left. Just wolf wearing his skin.

"Come," he said. His voice was broken, like he'd been screaming.

I didn't ask where. I followed.

We ran.

He shifted halfway across the courtyard, fur black as night, massive, shoulders rolling with power. I shifted too, my grey coat thin, smaller, but fast.

The pack parted for us. Wolves lowered their heads as their Alpha tore past.

We hit the trees at full speed.

The forest blurred around me. Branches whipped my face. My lungs burned. But underneath it all, the bond sang. Pulling me toward him.

Draven ran ahead, fast, reckless. I chased him.

We reached the cliff edge overlooking the river. He stopped. Shifted back.

I shifted too, landing on two feet, naked, breathing hard.

He was already turning to me.

"Lila," he said, and my name sounded like pain.

The moon hung low, turning his skin silver. His chest rose and fell. His hands were fists at his sides.

"Don't," he said. "Don't come closer."

I took a step forward anyway.

The bond snapped taut between us.

He growled. Low, broken. "I'm losing it."

"Then lose it," I whispered.

He moved.

One second he was ten feet away. The next his hands were on my waist, lifting me, pressing me back against the nearest tree. Bark dug into my spine. His mouth was at my throat.

I gasped.

He didn't kiss me. He breathed me in. Teeth scraping over my pulse.

"Draven," I choked out.

His claws pricked my hips. Not breaking skin. Just holding. "Say no," he rasped. "Say it now, or I won't-"

I didn't say no.

My hands fisted in his hair. I pulled him up, my mouth finding his.

He froze.

For a heartbeat, nothing.

Then he kissed me back.

Hard. Desperate. Like he'd been starving for four years and I was the only thing that could feed him. His tongue swept into my mouth, and I tasted blood and moonlight.

The bond flared white-hot.

My wolf screamed yes.

His hands slid down, gripping my thighs, lifting me higher. I wrapped my legs around him without thinking. He pressed into me, and I felt how hard he was, how much he wanted this-

"Dammit."

He tore his mouth from mine. His forehead pressed to mine. He was shaking.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so sorry."

He set me down. Stepped back.

His eyes were wet. Not with tears. With rage. At himself.

"The moon's not an excuse," he said. "I don't get to take you because I can't control myself."

I stood there, chest heaving, lips swollen, my body still aching for him.

"You didn't take me," I said.

"I almost did." He turned away, dragging both hands through his hair. "And next time, I might not stop."

Silence stretched between us. Heavy. Full of everything we hadn't said.

Finally, he shifted. Black wolf again. He nudged my leg with his snout, gentle this time.

Come, his eyes said.

We ran back. Slower this time.

In the room, he didn't get in bed. He curled up on the floor again, back to me, and didn't move for hours.

I lay awake, my lips still tingling from his kiss, and wondered which scared me more.

That he'd lose control.

Or that I didn't want him to.