My Fiance is Sleeping With My Step Sister

Chapter 48

The pack had been quieter the last few days. Not because they suddenly accepted me, but because Devon had made it clear he wouldn’t tolerate anyone speaking against me in public. That didn’t mean the whispers had stopped. They had just moved into the shadows, behind closed doors, out of his reach but not out of mine. I could still feel them, like needles pricking my skin every time I walked past.

Joey stayed glued to my side, always cracking jokes or teasing me so I wouldn’t focus on the stares. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. Today it didn’t.

We were walking back from the training grounds, my arms aching from all the drills, when two women from the pack stopped talking the second I came into view. They both looked at me with their noses wrinkled, then turned away like I wasn’t even worth finishing the conversation for.

I bit my tongue. I was learning that answering back only made things worse.

Devon had been watching me more closely too, like he was waiting for me to break. Every time he caught me slipping into my thoughts, he’d pull me into his lap, press his mouth against my neck, and whisper how he loved me, how he’d never let me go. I soaked up every word but inside a small voice whispered, what if it doesn’t last?

That night, Joey brought food to our room again, teasing about how we were becoming hermits. Devon rolled his eyes, told her to mind her business, and she left laughing. After she was gone, we ate in bed, his thigh pressed against mine, his hand tracing circles over my wrist.

For a while, it felt normal. Like we were just two people in love, hiding away from the world. He kissed me slow, his fingers brushing through my hair, and I let myself melt into him.

But later, when he was asleep with his arm wrapped around me, I couldn’t close my eyes. Something was off.

I kept hearing sounds outside. Not loud enough to be real threats, but faint shuffles, like footsteps on dirt or branches snapping in the wind. Every time I sat up, the night was quiet again. Still, my stomach wouldn’t settle.

By morning, I was pale enough that Joey commented on it during training. “You look like you saw a ghost.”

“Couldn’t sleep,” I muttered, not telling her about the noises.

She studied me, her head tilted. “Addy, you ever think maybe you’re not just imagining things? Sometimes instincts know before the mind does. You just have to trust your instincts."

The words stuck to me all day.

Later, Devon caught me staring out the window, my arms folded tight around myself. He came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. “What are you looking for?” he asked softly.

“Nothing. Just… watching.”

“You’re shaking.” His lips brushed the top of my head. “Talk to me.”

I turned in his arms, pressing my cheek to his chest. “I don’t know what it is, Devon. I feel like something’s coming. Like the quiet we have right now is only here to trick me. I can’t shake it.”

He held me tighter, his voice steady even though I felt the tension in him. “Whatever comes, I’ll deal with it. You don’t have to carry this fear alone.”

I wanted to believe him, but the unease wouldn’t go away. It sat heavy in my stomach, crawling into my bones.

That night, when Devon finally fell asleep again, I stayed awake, staring into the darkness. The air outside felt charged, too heavy, like the night was holding its breath.

And for the first time since I got here, I wasn’t just afraid of the whispers or the pack’s hatred. I was afraid of what was waiting beyond the borders, waiting for me.

Something was going to happen. I could feel it.