Claimed by My Alpha Step Brother

phyna 3. phyna POV

By the time lunch came, the whispers had already started.

I heard them before I even reached the courtyard.

“Did you see the way Tristan looked at the new girl?”

“She just moved in with him, right? Isn’t that his stepsister?”

“Doesn’t matter. If Tristan wants her, he’ll take her. He always does.”

My stomach twisted. I turned around before anyone could see my face and walked in the opposite direction, straight past the cafeteria doors and toward the back stairwell. I didn’t stop until I found an empty classroom on the second floor. I slipped inside, locked the door behind me, and sat on the floor with my back against the wall.

This was exactly what I had been afraid of.

Tristan was the kind of boy people talked about. The kind girls fought over. The kind who left a trail of broken attention and jealous stares wherever he went. And now, after one class and a few too-long looks, my name was already in their mouths.

I pressed my palms against my eyes and forced myself to breathe.

I would stay away from him. Completely. No shared seats. No conversations. No accidental meetings in the hallway. If I became invisible again, the rumors would die. They always did when there was nothing left to feed them.

The rest of the day became a careful game of avoidance.

I left class early whenever I could. I took the long way between buildings. When I saw the back of his dark hair in the hallway, I turned into the nearest bathroom and stayed there until the bell rang. At one point I even hid behind a group of taller students just to slip past him without being noticed.

It worked.

Until the final period.

I was halfway to my last class when a hand closed around my wrist and pulled me into an empty side hallway. My back hit the wall gently but firmly. Tristan stood in front of me, blocking any escape, his expression unreadable.

“You’ve been running all day,” he said.

I tried to pull my wrist free. He didn’t let go.

“I’m not running. I’m just… busy.”

“Liar.”

His voice was calm, but there was an edge underneath it that made my wolf go still. He leaned in slightly, close enough that I could see the gold flecks in his eyes.

“People are talking,” I whispered. “They’re already saying things. If they see you with me, it’s only going to get worse.”

“I don’t care what they say.”

“I do.” My voice cracked on the last word. “I don’t want to be the girl everyone hates because the future Alpha decided to look at her twice. I’ve seen what happens to girls like that. I won’t be one of them.”

Something flickered across his face—annoyance, maybe, or something sharper. His grip on my wrist loosened, but he didn’t step back.

“You’re really going to keep hiding from me?”

“Yes.”

He stared at me for a long moment. The hallway felt too quiet. Too small. My heart was beating so hard I was sure he could hear it.

Finally, Tristan exhaled through his nose and released my wrist. But instead of walking away, he rested one hand on the wall beside my head, caging me in without touching me.

“You can try,” he said quietly. “Hide in empty classrooms. Take the long way around. Pretend you don’t feel whatever this is. But I’m not going to stop looking for you, Phyna.”

My name in his mouth sounded different. Heavier.

I swallowed. “Please… just leave me alone.”

He held my gaze for another second, then pushed off the wall and stepped back.

“For now,” he said.

Then he turned and walked away, leaving me alone in the hallway with my pulse racing and the rumors already waiting for me on the other side of the door.

I stayed there until my hands stopped shaking.

I had tried my best today.

Tomorrow, I would try harder.