CLAIMED BY MY ALPHA STEPBROTHER.

ChapterThree.

ELARA’S POV.

There was no way I was ever going to survive in this house.

Cassian wasn’t the same big brother-figure I’d grown up following around like a lost puppy. The Cassian I remembered used to tease me, sneak me chocolate when mom said no sugar after dinner, and ruffle my hair when he thought I wasn’t paying attention.

This Cassian? He was quiet, controlled and cold. Like marble carved into the shape of the man I used to know. And every time he walked into a room, my heart forgot how to beat properly.

Earlier in the kitchen, the tension between us had been so thick I could practically choke on it. The way his gaze moved over me… not friendly, not brotherly made my skin crawl and heat at the same time. I didn’t know whether to run from him or hide behind him like I used to when thunder struck.

It didn’t help that he’d warned me countless times about what I wore around the house. But this was his home and there was no one else inside. His guards remained outside the gate, and knowing Cassian, they’d rather rip their own tongues out than step into the house without permission.

Still… I didn’t expect to feel so... wrong under his stare.

Maybe I should just ask him straight out if he didn’t want me wearing shorts or crop tops even inside. Then fine, I’d bury myself in oversized sweaters just to keep the peace. But I’d still wear what I wanted inside my room. My room was the only place I still felt like myself.

After our painfully awkward encounter, Cassian excused himself without another word. His room unfortunately turned out to be the one right next to mine. The knowledge that only a wall separated us made the air in my room feel impossibly dense.

I tried to sleep. I really did. But the heat in the room was unbearable. The AC remote was broken, and even lying still felt like suffocating inside an oven. Of course. The universe clearly hated me.

I stared at the ceiling for a while, debating whether sleep-deprivation was preferable to facing Cassian again tonight.

With a resigned sigh, I smoothed down my nightgown the hem hovering dangerously mid-thigh grabbed the useless remote, and padded barefoot toward his room.

I knocked softly, no reply. I waited but still nothing. I tried again. Silence.

“Okay… don’t be dramatic,” I muttered to myself, hand trembling slightly as I twisted the doorknob.

It opened. He hadn’t locked it. The moment I stepped inside, I forgot how to breathe.

His room was… Cassian. Everything about it radiated that quiet, intimidating confidence he carried around like a second skin. The king-sized bed was perfectly made. The lighting was low and warm, settling shadows over the walls. There was something elegant almost dangerous about the place.

I should have turned around and left. Instead, my gaze drifted. And then it landed on a painting. A painting of a naked woman.

My heart stuttered. Because even in the dim light… even from across the room… She looked like me. No. That couldn’t be possible. Cassian would never… I took one tiny step forward.

“Elara?”

His voice slid through the darkness behind me deep, smooth, and startling enough that I jumped.

I turned fast and immediately wished I hadn’t.

Water still clung to Cassian’s skin, glistening as it trailed down the hard lines of his chest. Dark hair, damp from the shower, fell over his forehead. A towel hung low on his hips revealing that sharp V-line that disappeared beneath the fabric.

Heat exploded across my face. Every rational thought evaporated in seconds. My pulse skidded into panic, and I stared like an i***t because what else do you do when your dangerously intense stepbrother walks out of the shower looking like a fallen god?

His scent clean, fresh, expensive drifted toward me and wrapped around my senses until my head spun. Suddenly I was thirteen again, hiding behind him when storms came. But I wasn’t a child anymore.

And he wasn’t just my stepbrother.

“I… I’m sorry, Cassian,” I stammered, blinking fast, trying not to stare at literally everything. “I didn’t know you were… I just… the AC remote.”

I lifted it uselessly like a white flag. His expression softened for a split second. Then he spoke.

“You need something?”

And when he called me like that calm, familiar the past tugged at my chest.

Years ago, he used to call me Mine. A silly pet-name that used my name as an excuse. Back then, I’d laugh and tell him he was saying it wrong.

Now? The word wrapped around my ribs like a hand. Too close and too intimate.

“Yes,” I managed, swallowing hard. “The remote isn’t working. The room is really hot and I can’t sleep.”

He stepped closer not touching me, but close enough that my heartbeat went wild.

“Let me see.”

I handed it over, praying he didn’t notice the tremor in my fingers. He turned away to check the battery, thankfully giving me a second to breathe. And think. And regret every decision that led me into this room.

“You’ve been in your room all day,” he said casually, still facing his closet. “Why?”

I hesitated. Because you scare me now. Because you feel like a stranger. Because every time I think of that night the blood, the body my stomach twists.

“I’ve just been… preparing for my first day at Blackwood Innovations,” I lied weakly.

“Hmm.” Then he turned and pressed the remote back into my hand.

“Battery was dead. It should work now.”

“Thank you,” I breathed. “Good night.” I was halfway to the door.

“Elara.”

I froze. His voice sounded different.

“Yeah?”

He closed the distance slowly and deliberately until I had to tilt my head back just to meet his eyes. His hands rested gently on my shoulders, warm and steady. My pulse thrummed beneath his touch, and panic melted into something far more confusing.

“You don’t have to be so tense around me,” he murmured. “I don’t bite. I’m still your big brother.”

Big brother? Right. Except nothing about the way he was looking at me felt brotherly.

“You’ve pulled away,” he continued. “I don’t like it. This is your home too. Watch movies. Make a mess. Come find me if you need something. Stop acting like you’re walking on glass.”

I stared up at him. Words stuck somewhere in my throat. Did he really not understand?

“Do I scare you?” he asked gently. My resolve shattered.

“Yes,” I whispered. His jaw tightened pain flickering through his eyes.

“Because of that night,” I added, chest aching. “You killed someone, Cassian. And you didn’t even flinch.”

Silence washed over the room. Then he sighed.

“I’m sorry you saw that,” he said quietly. “But that man had bad intentions toward you. I knew it. And I would do it again if it meant keeping you safe.”

His gaze softened warm, earnest.

“And about the internship… I just wanted time with you. That’s all.”

For a moment, I saw the old Cassian again. The one I trusted with my whole heart. My shoulders loosened. Maybe… Maybe I’d been wrong. Maybe he wasn’t a stranger.

Maybe he was still the big brother who used to tuck me under his arm and tell me storms couldn’t hurt me.

“You should’ve just said so,” I muttered, rolling my eyes playfully despite the tension lingering in the air.

His lips curved slow and genuine and it hit me all over again how dangerously beautiful he was. And how reckless it was to notice.

The evening melted into something lighter, softer. We talked a little more and laughed almost like before. And somewhere between his rare smile and the quiet hum of the AC finally working…

I started to wonder if I’d misjudged him entirely. If maybe Cassian hadn’t changed at all. Maybe… I was the one who had.