Rejected by my Alpha StepBrother, Mated To His Friend

I don't play with men

LYRA'S POV

I sat in the VIP area with Jasper, Jack and Beta Ace. Jasper ordered drinks while Ace dismissed the men he was talking to.

Soon enough, the drinks were brought and Ace's full attention returned to us. He smiled warmly as soon as he saw me.

"Fancy seeing you here, Lyra." He picked a beer, and his brother, Jack, butted in.

"We met at the bar." He gasped dramatically. "You can imagine my shock upon seeing our dearly little Lyra at the bar."

I shot a frown at Jack which quickly disappeared as he broke into another one of his awkward childhood tales of me.

If I didn't know better, I'd think Jack had a special kink in embarrassing me. It's been one story or the other since I returned, almost like he couldn't resist making me the joke of the room.

"Remember when Lyra snitched to Luna Kelly about how we took a beer from the fridge and drank it in the woods?" Jack said and they all grumbled their agreement.

"You refused to let me come!" I responded, painfully hiding a smile. "That's what you get for running off without me," I added with a playful glint in my eye.

"It was a boy's thing!" Jack said in an incredulous voice. "You were too young to take the beer. We were being responsible by not introducing you to alcohol at a young age."

Jasper snorted and I thought it was a fitting reaction for the current situation. "Don't pull that bullshit with me." I chastised, "what were you, seven?"

"Twelve," Ace corrected,

Jack was happy to add, "We were strong male werewolves in the making. You were just a young girl."

It was my turn to snort. "How original," I said. "I didn't think you had such a misogynistic view at a young age, Jack."

Just when we were ready to get to the thick of things, Ace interrupted with a question for me. "I didn't imagine you'd be returning for the Alpha's Ascension. I hear that it's hard studying medicine in the human world."

I seldom said this but I had great respect for Ace. Despite being one of Rowan's best friends, and the beta of the Blackwood pack, he always showed respect for Rowan.

"It's been alright." I said, "I'm glad to be out and taking a break from all that stress."

We dived into more light topics until it veered into the night before and buttressed on Aurora’s appearance at the party. "Did you notice how Aurora couldn't keep her eyes off Rowan?" He said, "Anybody with eyes could see how taken she is by him."

I remained silent as they continued speaking of how Aurora was a great match for Rowan in strength and as a strategy to strengthen the alliance with her father's pack.

I continued drinking my beer, acting like I didn’t feel a bile rise in my throat from how they easily approved of Aurora. My heart pricked at the thought of how spot on they were with their observations, reminding me of what I’d tried and failed to forget.

“What about you, Lyra?” I blinked in confusion, having zoned out of their conversation for a while. “Did you meet anyone during your stay in the human world?”

“What?”

Jack laughed. “The answer is obvious. Our dear Lyra is a Virgin. Look at her, I can't imagine her dating anyone in the human world.”

Jasper's intense eyes remained on me, expectant with a smirk on his lips. I sat up in my seat and met his gaze.

“I dated several hot males in the human world,” I say staring right at Jasper. “Unlike us werewolves, they are a bit more casual in their approach to these things.”

“Seeing I wasn't looking for anything but a good time, it worked out pretty well.” I rounded up and the shock on their faces was prominent.

“I find that hard to believe,” Ace spoke first.

“She's obviously joking.” Jack waved it off. “Did you forget? This is Lyra who made a big fuss when she found that we weren't keeping ourselves for our mate.”

“She's too precious to do anything serious.” Jack teased, “Perhaps she had one dinner and ran for the hills when it was time for any real activity.”

“Is that so?” Jasper said with a glint in his eyes and I suddenly felt the urge to defend myself.

I stretched across the table and took another bottle of beer, intentionally flashing Jasper a bit of my chest.

“You tell me,” I murmured, and took a sip of my drink. “Do I look inexperienced in these matters?”

Jasper seemed entertained by my response while the others remained shocked at my bold display.

“Oh really? Tell me then,” His husky voice reverberated through my body. “Just how many human men have you played with?”

I opened my mouth, ready to speak but no words came out. My cheeks reddened, betraying my innocence but I refused to give up.

“I don't kiss and tell.” I retorted with an atrocious smile and the guys cooed. “How about you, Jasp?” I smirked. “I reckon you'd have a long list.”

For some insane reason, I was looking forward to hearing his response. Knowing his popularity amongst women, I wouldn't be surprised if the numbers were infinite.

I felt my wolf revolt against my thoughts but pushed her to the side, refusing to deal with her tantrums at this time.

It took a while for Jasper to respond, so much so that I wondered if he had indeed been with that many women.

“I don't play with men.” He finally said, and I felt confused.

The others laughed at his bizarre response but it took a while for me to understand. He'd smarted his way out of an answer.

“Since we are on the topic, what would be your ideal man, Lyra?” Jack asked and everyone's gaze fixated on me, waiting for an answer.

The first picture that appears in my heart is Rowan. It hurt that after what I walked into, he still managed to be at the forefront of my heart.

Rowan was reserved, protective, sweet and reasonable. He was everything I wanted in a man. He crossed off everything on the list for me.

However, a sick part of me was upset that even while he had other choices, he was always it for me.

“My ideal man would be wild, domineering, drop-dead gorgeous,” I paused and tried to describe anything furthest from Rowan. “unreasonable…?”

“That's quite a taste, Lyly,” Jack snorted. “If I didn't know better I'd think she was describing Jasper!”

My face suddenly grew hot as I retraced my steps. My eyes widened when I realised that it did sound like Jasper.

“Are you secretly in love with me, Lyra?” Jasper asked with a smirk, leaving me speechless.

The rest of the night breezed through and it was time to go home. “Do you have a ride home, Lyra?” Ace was kind enough to ask but Jasper stepped on before I could answer.

“She's with me.”

Ace shared a look with Jasper, then left with his brother, leaving me with the devil.

I followed Jasper to his car and got in first. He made a round and soon settled into the car. The atmosphere in the car became strained as soon as he stepped into the car.

My heartbeat increased as I battled against the mate bond and my wolf's urge to grab and mark him as ours.

Jasper remained in his seat for a minute, then started the engine. I thought of the best way to fill the strangulating silence between us.

I hadn't even gotten an opportunity to thank him for stepping in earlier, my thoughts ran a thousand miles per second and when our hands brushed for a second and he leaned over, my breath hitched.

What was he doing?! My eyes widened and I blurted, “E-even though we are mates, it doesn't give you the rights to-” I stuttered, declining from him.

Sweet sparks danced in the spot where our hands brushed and he fastened my seat belt with an infuriating smirk on his face.

“Can’t even fasten a seatbelt properly.” He teased and my cheeks reddened, “Living in human society didn’t teach you much, did it?”

“You this-” I swore under my breath as he continued with his careless remarks.

“You sure learned a lot about overthinking and narcissism.”

There and then, I pursed my lips, deciding never to take a ride with Jasper ever again.

Even if I had to walk all the way home!