Claimed By My Step Brother

chapter 2: Damage control

By the time the final bell rang, Aria’s phone had buzzed so many times it felt like a second heartbeat.

She didn’t check it. She already knew what it said.

*Did Lucas Voss just call the new girl his mate?*

*Stepsister??*

*Someone get video.*

*Is this a joke or am I actually living in a romance novel?*

She shoved the phone deeper into her bag and walked faster, head down, earbuds in even though no music was playing. The hallway felt narrower than usual. People weren’t even trying to be subtle anymore. They stared. They whispered. A few girls looked at her like she’d personally ruined their entire senior year.

Sophie caught up to her at the side exit, slightly out of breath, dark curls bouncing.

“Okay,” Sophie said, falling into step beside her. “I’ve been very patient. I’ve given you exactly four hours and seventeen minutes of emotional processing time. Now start talking before I start making things up and selling them to the highest bidder.”

Aria kept walking. “There’s nothing to talk about.”

“He had you pinned against the lockers, Aria. His eyes did that freaky gold thing. And he said the M-word. In front of half the junior and senior class.” Sophie grabbed her elbow and tugged her behind the science building, out of the main flow of students. “So either we’re dealing with some extremely committed method acting, or your hot stepbrother just publicly claimed you as his werewolf soulmate. Which is it?”

Aria finally looked at her. Sophie’s expression was pure curiosity mixed with the kind of loyalty that said she would help hide a body if necessary.

“I don’t know,” Aria admitted. The words tasted bitter. “I don’t… I don’t know what that was.”

Sophie softened. “Okay. Then we figure it out. But first—are you okay?”

The question hit harder than Aria expected. She opened her mouth, closed it, then gave a tiny, helpless shrug.

“I think my carefully constructed plan to survive senior year just got set on fire.”

Sophie nodded once, decisive. “Right. New plan: we go to my place, eat our body weight in snacks, and pretend the entire school doesn’t exist for the next three hours. After that we can panic productively.”

Aria almost smiled. “You’re a good friend.”

“I’m an excellent friend. You’re just usually too busy being mysterious and broody to notice.”

They made it three steps toward the student parking lot before a familiar voice cut through the air.

“Aria.”

She froze.

Lucas stood near the edge of the lot, leaning against his black SUV like he’d been waiting. The easy public smile was gone. He looked tense, jaw tight, hands shoved in his pockets. When his eyes met hers, the gold had faded back to gray, but the intensity remained.

Sophie muttered under her breath, “And there’s the plot twist in person.”

Aria shot her a look. “Don’t.”

“I’m just saying. If you need me to create a distraction, I can fake a medical emergency. I’ve been practicing.”

“Sophie.”

“Fine. I’ll be over there pretending I can’t hear anything. Scream if you need me.” She squeezed Aria’s arm once and walked away, but not too far.

Lucas pushed off the car and walked toward her. He stopped a careful few feet away, like he was trying not to crowd her this time.

“You didn’t come to the oak,” he said quietly.

“I had a sudden and urgent need to not make everything worse.”

A muscle ticked in his jaw. “It’s already out, Aria. Half the school has videos. The other half is inventing details.”

“And whose fault is that?”

He exhaled slowly through his nose. “Mine. I know. I lost control.” He dragged a hand through his hair, looking younger for a second, less like the untouchable golden boy and more like someone who’d just realized he’d set his own life on fire too. “I didn’t plan it. The second I caught your scent in that hallway I just… stopped thinking.”

Aria crossed her arms, more to steady herself than anything. “That’s supposed to make me feel better?”

“No.” His voice dropped. “It’s supposed to make you understand that this isn’t a game to me. The bond doesn’t care that we share a last name now. It doesn’t care about timing or high school politics or the fact that my father is going to lose his mind when he finds out.”

She stared at him. “Your father?”

Lucas’s expression tightened. “He’s the alpha. I’m the heir. There’s… expectations. A human mate wasn’t on the list.”

The word *human* landed strangely. Aria filed it away for later.

“So what happens now?” she asked. “You just declare me your mate in the middle of school and then what? We hold hands in the hallway? I become the girl who stole Lucas Voss from every other girl in a twenty-mile radius?”

Something almost like amusement flickered across his face. “You didn’t steal me. The bond doesn’t work like that.”

“Feels like it from where I’m standing.”

He took one step closer. This time she didn’t back up.

“I can try to fix the rumors,” he said. “I can tell people it was a joke, or a dare, or that I was high on something. But I won’t pretend the bond isn’t real. Not with you.” His eyes searched hers. “I felt it the day you walked into the house. I’ve been fighting it for eleven days. Today I lost.”

Aria’s pulse was doing something complicated in her throat. She hated how much she wanted to believe him. She hated even more how part of her had felt the same pull and had been pretending she hadn’t.

“I need time,” she said finally. “And space. And for you to stop looking at me like you’re two seconds from dragging me off into the woods.”

Lucas’s mouth twitched. “I’ll work on the last one.”

“Lucas.”

“I mean it.” He raised both hands slightly, a silent surrender. “I’ll give you space. At school. At home. As much as I can.” His voice lowered. “But the bond doesn’t do space very well. It’s already under my skin. It’s under yours too. You felt it.”

She didn’t deny it. She couldn’t.

He glanced past her toward Sophie, who was very obviously pretending to check her phone while watching them like a hawk.

“Your friend looks like she’s ready to stab me with a mechanical pencil,” he said dryly.

“She is. Don’t give her a reason.”

Lucas nodded once. Then, softer: “Text me when you’re ready to talk. Or don’t. I’ll still be here.”

He turned and walked back to his car without waiting for an answer. Aria watched him go, the strange pull in her chest stretching tighter with every step he took.

Sophie reappeared at her side like a summoned spirit.

“Well?” she demanded. “Do we hate him, like him, or want to climb him like a tree? I need a clear emotional category so I know how to support you.”

Aria let out a long breath that was almost a laugh. “I have no idea.”

Sophie slung an arm around her shoulders. “Perfect. That’s the best place to start a romance. Now come on. We’re getting ice cream, and you’re going to tell me everything, including the part where his eyes went all supernatural and hot.”

As they walked toward Sophie’s beat-up Honda, Aria’s phone buzzed one more time.

A single message from a number she hadn’t saved yet.

**Unknown:**

I’ll keep my distance.

But I’m not going anywhere.

Aria stared at the screen for a long moment.

Then, against her better judgment, she saved the contact under a single letter.

**L.**

And for the first time all day, the flutter in her chest didn’t feel like pure panic.

It felt like the beginning of something she wasn’t sure she could stop.