My Stepbrothers Forced Me to Call Them Daddies

CHAPTER 5

JESSICA'S POV

The university library smelled like old paper and ambition, a world away from the cheap cleaner and fear of my old high school. I kept my head high, my new leather jacket worn like armor, but I could feel the stares like physical touches. Whispers followed me through the stacks, a constant, hissing soundtrack.

“…that’s her…”

“…the one living with Professor Vale Brother’s.”

“…which one do you think she’s f*****g first? My money’s on Dominic…”

A hot flush crept up my neck. I gripped my textbook tighter, my knuckles white. They don’t know anything. I forced myself to keep walking, to not look at them. I am not their gossip. I am not their entertainment.

I found a secluded carrel in the back corner and slid into the chair, my back to the wall so I could see anyone coming. I tried to focus on the dense text about shifter pack dynamics, but the words swam on the page.

“Tough reading?”

The voice, smooth as honey and just as sticky, came from my right. Dominic leaned against the bookshelf, his arms crossed over his chest. The grey fabric of his professor’s sweater stretched tight across his shoulders. His eyes, a warm brown, traced a slow, appreciative line from my face down to my boots under the table.

“I’m managing,” I said, my voice tighter than I wanted it to be.

He took a step closer, invading my space without moving a muscle. “You know, most new students introduce themselves. Make friends. They don’t just hide in the dark corners of the library.” His smirk was a weapon. “Then again, you’re not most students, are you, little sister?”

The way he said it curled something low in my stomach. It wasn’t brotherly. It was a challenge. A promise.

“I’m here to study. Not socialize.” I looked back at my book, hoping he’d take the hint.

He didn’t. He pulled out the chair opposite me and sat down, leaning forward. The scent of him, clean cotton and something wilder, something uniquely alpha, washed over me. “The whole campus is socializing about you. It’s all anyone can talk about. The mysterious girl who moved into the Vale house. The one who has all four of us wrapped around her little finger.”

I snorted. “That’s not what’s happening.”

“Isn’t it?” he countered, his voice dropping. “Sebastian’s been in a mood all day, pacing his office like a caged animal. Julian’s been analyzing campus gossip patterns instead of grading papers. Cassian has probably already compiled a dossier on every person who’s looked at you sideways. And me?” He leaned even closer, his voice a low, intimate rumble. “I’m just… fascinated.”

My heart was beating too fast. This was exactly what I wanted to avoid. This attention. This… heat. “Maybe you should all find better hobbies.”

He laughed, a rich, genuine sound that turned a few heads at a nearby table. He ignored them, his focus entirely on me. “I think you’re the most interesting hobby this campus has seen in years. And I have a feeling you know it.”

Before I could form a retort, a shadow fell over our table. Sebastian stood there, his expression a thundercloud. His gaze pinned Dominic first. “Don’t you have a class to teach?”

Dominic held up his hands in a gesture of mock surrender, but his eyes gleamed with mischief. “Just welcoming our sister to campus, Bash. Playing the good host.”

Sebastian’s stormy eyes shifted to me. That flash of gold was there again, brighter this time, lingering in the grey. It felt like a physical touch, a claim. “She doesn’t need your version of welcoming. Get out.”

The command was absolute, an alpha’s order. Dominic sighed dramatically and stood up. He winked at me. “See you at home, Jess. Don’t let the big bad wolf scare you.” He sauntered away, leaving me alone under Sebastian’s intense scrutiny.

Sebastian didn’t sit. He just looked down at me, his presence sucking all the air out of the room. “You’re causing a scene.”

“I’m sitting in a library,” I said, forcing my voice to stay level. “He approached me.”

“It doesn’t matter.” He placed his hands on the table, leaning down so his face was level with mine. “Everything you do here reflects on us. On this family. Your little act of rebellion at the house? That’s one thing. This?” He gestured vaguely at the surrounding shelves, at the whispers that had thankfully quieted under his glare. “This is a different territory. My territory. You will learn the rules.”

A spark of the old defiance, the one he seemed to feed on, flared inside me. “Or what?”

A slow, dangerous smile touched his lips. It wasn’t friendly. It was predatory. “Or I’ll teach them to you myself.”

He straightened up, his gaze sweeping over me one last time, taking in every detail—my white-knuckled grip on the pen, the quick rise and fall of my chest, the way I couldn’t quite look away from him. He turned and walked away, his steps silent and sure.

I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding. My whole body was humming with a strange, electric energy. Fear? Anger? Something else?

I gathered my things with trembling hands, needing to escape. I couldn’t focus anymore.

DOMINIC POV

The whispers followed her everywhere like a cloud of poison. I stood against the brick wall near the student union, my arms crossed, just watching. Jessica walked through the crowd like she was trying to be invisible, her shoulders pulled in tight. But it didn't work. Everyone still stared at her.

Sebastian stood a few feet away, his jaw clenched so hard I thought his teeth might break. Every time a student laughed or whispered the word 'omega' as they passed, a muscle twitched in his cheek. He looked ready to punch someone. It pissed me off. Since when does he care what students gossip about?

Julian sat on a low wall with a book in his lap that he wasn't actually reading. A small smile played on his lips as he watched everything unfold. He loved this chaos, loved watching our perfectly ordered world get messed up. To him, she was just an interesting puzzle to solve.

And Cassian? He stood completely still in the doorway of the history building, his sharp eyes following her every move. Always watching. Always collecting information.

This was our world. We'd built it. Controlled it. Everyone knew their place. Then she arrived and destroyed everything. Some people—important people—weren't happy about it.

My wolf stirred inside me, a low growl at the back of my mind. It wasn't anger. It was something hotter. Something harder to control. She pulled at me like a magnet, and every alpha instinct I had was fighting against it.

I watched her break away from the crowd of students and slip into the narrow alley between the library and science building. She was hiding. Running away.

Perfect.

I pushed off the wall and followed her, my steps quiet on the stone path. She stood with her back to me, one hand pressed against the brick wall, her head down.

"Getting too crowded out there for you, little sister?" I said, my voice echoing in the small space.

She jumped and spun around. Her eyes went wide for a second before they narrowed. That fire I was starting to crave sparked in them. "What do you want, Dominic?"

I stepped closer, closing the gap between us until the air felt charged, electric. I could smell her—fear mixed with frustration and something sweet underneath. Something that made my head spin.

"I want you to understand what you're doing," I said, my voice dropping low and hard. This was my territory. She needed to learn that. "This isn't your old high school. The rules are different here. You need to respect the boundaries. Respect this family."

She didn't back down. Didn't look away. A slow, dangerous smile curved her lips, and it made my blood burn hot. "Are you scared I'm going to embarrass you, Professor Vale?"

She was challenging me on purpose. Testing me.

I took the final step forward. My body was so close to hers I could feel the heat coming off her skin. "You think this is a game?"

"Isn't it?" she whispered back, her voice turning soft and teasing in a way that shot straight through me. Her eyes held mine, daring me. "You're all watching me. Waiting for me to mess up. To break. What happens if I do?"

My control—the control I always prided myself on—started to crack. Her eyes dropped to my mouth for just a second, and it felt like lightning struck me. My hands ached to grab her, to push her against this wall and show her exactly what kind of game she was playing. My wolf paced inside me, wanting to claim her.

I saw the moment she noticed the change in me. Her eyes flickered with understanding. She saw my breathing get heavier, saw my eyes get darker with want I couldn't hide. And she liked it. I could see the power of it rush through her.

Slowly, she ran the tip of her tongue across her bottom lip.

I snapped.

A rough sound tore from my throat. My hand shot out and gripped her chin—not hard enough to hurt, but firm enough to keep her still. The feel of her soft skin under my fingers sent electricity through me.

"You have no idea what you're playing with," I growled.

Her breath caught, but that fire in her eyes only burned brighter. "Maybe I want to find out."

The air between us was so thick with desire I could taste it. My head started to lower, my eyes locked on her mouth. I was going to kiss her. I was going to crush my lips against hers and show her that some lines, once you cross them, you can never go back.

But just as I felt her warm breath mix with mine, she moved.

She pulled back. My hand fell away from her chin. A tiny, knowing smile curved her lips. She'd felt my control break, and she'd pulled away just to prove she could.

"See you at home, Dominic," she said, her voice teasing and breathless. Then she turned and walked away, her hips swaying just enough to drive me crazy.

I stood there frozen, my fists clenched at my sides, my whole body screaming with frustrated need. My wolf roared inside me, angry and more turned on than I'd ever been in my life.

She'd woken something dangerous in me. Something I couldn't control.

And as I watched her walk away, one thing became clear:

She has no idea what she just started.