CLAIMED BY MY FIANCE’S STEP BROTHER

CHAPTER 4

DAPHNE POV.

I hurried down the corridor and nearly walked straight into Nathan.

He stopped short, then smiled softly. He was quite attractive. “Your father said I could ask you for a private walk. Only if you are willing, of course.”

I kept my face carefully polite. “I thought you might want to rest after dinner.”

His smile widened, boyish and hopeful. The sight twisted something uncomfortable in my chest. I had spent so long terrified that he would ruin my life that I had never considered I might be the one already poisoning whatever fragile peace this arrangement could have offered.

“I assumed you might want a little extra time with me,” he said. “Since we are marrying in a week.”

I stared at him. “A week?”

Nathan’s brows lifted. “Your father didn’t tell you?”

“No.” My pulse slammed hard against my throat. The walls of the corridor suddenly felt too close. “I thought we still had time.”

“I know it’s sudden,” he said gently. “That’s why I hoped you’d show me around the villa. Give us a chance to know each other better.”

I opened my mouth to refuse as politely as I could manage, but Lucian’s voice cut through the hallway before I could speak.

“Don’t you think you should let the lady rest?” He leaned against the wall a few paces away, arms folded, that familiar smirk already in place. “You heard her father. She’s not used to being around men. Why not wait until tomorrow?”

Heat flashed through me. He was mocking the lie my father had fed them both, and he was doing it right in front of Nathan. I refused to let him win.

I turned fully toward Nathan and fixed my most charming smile in place, even though it felt brittle. “Would you like to see the gardens instead? I have flowers I’ve been wanting to show someone. I’d value your thoughts. My father says you’re one of the smartest Alphas.”

Lucian’s jaw tightened. “Nathan doesn’t know the first thing about flowers. How does that make him the smartest?”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “And do you?”

He said nothing.

That silence was answer enough. I kept the smile locked on my face even as it began to ache in my cheeks and gestured for Nathan to follow. “This way.”

We walked in silence until we reached Flora’s garden. The evening air was cooler here, heavy with the scent of roses and night-blooming jasmine. Nathan stopped and looked around, clearly impressed.

“You really are a proper wife,” he said, almost approving. “I have open space at the packhouse. You can keep your hands busy there while I handle pack affairs.”

I hesitated only a second. “I could come with you. I’ve always wanted to be involved in pack matters.”

Nathan laughed—light, dismissive, as if I had said something endearing and childish. “I wouldn’t want to tire out your pretty brain.”

Something cold settled low in my stomach.

I bit down hard on my tongue so the words rising in my throat wouldn’t escape. He didn’t notice the change in my expression. He simply smiled again, completely at ease, and gestured toward the nearest bed of blooms.

“Tell me about every flower,” he said. “I’d like to know them.”

I stared at the nearest rose longer than I needed to, forcing air into my lungs until the panic loosened its grip. Then I turned to Nathan and dragged a polite smile onto my face.

“That’s… jasmine,” I said, pointing at a white cluster that definitely wasn’t jasmine. I moved on quickly. “And that’s a rose.”

The words came out thin. I already regretted claiming this garden like it belonged to me. Flora was the one who cared about the damn flowers. I barely looked at them. But Nathan didn’t know the difference, and right now that was all that mattered.

I gestured at another plant and started inventing a name.

He tilted his head. “I think you mean lavender.”

“Yes. Right. Lavender.” I seized the opening before I could dig the hole deeper. “What do you actually stand to gain from this arrangement?”

Nathan looked at me like the answer should have been obvious. “A wife.”

I nodded once. Of course. That was all any of them ever wanted.

We kept walking. He asked careful questions about the marriage—where we would live, how I felt about pack duties, whether I preferred a large ceremony or a quiet one. Every answer that left my mouth was the one my father had drilled into me until it tasted like ash.

“Whatever you wish.”

After the third identical reply, Nathan stopped. He turned me by the shoulders so I had no choice but to face him.

“You don’t seem fully on board for this marriage.”

Fear hit so hard my stomach dropped. If he walked away from the alliance now, my father wouldn’t just be angry. He would make good on every threat he had made against Flora.

“Alpha Nathan—” My voice came out sharper than I intended. I forced it softer. “Yes. I want to marry you.”

He studied my face. “You keep spacing out whenever I ask you something.”

“I just don’t know how to act. I’ve never dated. I’ve never even spoken to a boy like this before.” I lied.

The words burned. I hated lying. I had spoken to a boy once—one of the young gardeners. When my father found out, the punishments had been brutal and the boy had vanished. I never saw him again. But I couldn’t say any of that. I had to lean into the pure, untouched act if I wanted Nathan to keep believing it.

Nathan watched me for a long moment. Then he sighed.

“I think we should cancel the wedding next week.”

My heart slammed against my ribs. “What?” The word tore out of me. Terror flooded every limb as I pictured what my father would do the second he heard. “Alpha Nathan, I—”

He smiled and lifted a hand to my cheek, his touch light, almost gentle. “I want you to get to know me. I don’t want this rushed. Let’s make it ninety days for now. That should be enough time for you to fall in love with me.”