Hated By My Stepbrother Alpha

Chapter 8

_Raven’s POV_

My scream ripped through the garden.

The wolf’s ears snapped back.

For one horrifying second, it stayed there, staring at me with those impossible blue and gold eyes. Then it spun around and bolted into the darkness.

It moved so fast it barely looked real.

One second it was under the wedding lights, huge and terrifying, and the next it was gone between the trees. Bushes shook violently in its wake. Leaves rustled. Branches snapped. Then there was only darkness and the sound of my own ragged breathing.

I couldn’t stop screaming.

My whole body shook so hard my knees gave out. I stumbled backward and grabbed the hedge. My breath was coming in broken gasps.

The garden door flew open.

“Raven!”

Footsteps pounded across the path. Several people rushed outside at once. Faces blurred in front of me. Voices crashed over each other.

“What happened?”

“Is she hurt?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh my God...”

I pointed with a trembling hand toward the trees.

“There!” I cried. “It was right there!”

My voice cracked so badly the words barely sounded human.

A few men immediately moved past me and hurried toward the edge of the garden. Others looked around sharply and scanned the darkness. My chest rose and fell too fast. I could still see it in my mind. The fur. The claws. The eyes.

Those eyes.

More footsteps came.

Then Lucas and my mom appeared.

My mom rushed to me first.

“Raven!” she gasped and grabbed my arms. “What happened? Why are you screaming?”

Her face was pale. Lucas came right behind her.

I could barely breathe. “I saw it,” I whispered.

My mom frowned. “Saw what?”

“A wolf,” I said, louder this time. “A huge wolf. Over there.”

I pointed again toward the trees.

Lucas turned immediately. “Where?”

“By the tree,” I said, my voice shaking. “It was right there. It was on the ground and then it...”

I stopped.

My words tangled in my throat.

Lucas looked toward a couple of men standing near the bushes. “Check the area,” he said.

They nodded and disappeared farther into the garden. I wrapped my arms around myself. I was freezing now, though I didn’t know if it was from the night air or fear.

My mom rubbed my shoulders.

“Raven, calm down,” she said softly. “You’re shaking.”

“I’m not lying,” I said quickly. “I saw it. I really saw it.”

“I believe you,” she said.

Lucas walked farther toward the edge of the garden, then stopped. A few moments later, the others returned from the trees.

“There’s nothing here,” one of them said.

Lucas scanned the area once more. His jaw tightened slightly. Then he turned back toward us.

“There is nothing here,” he said.

I stared at him.

“What?”

“There’s no wolf,” Lucas said calmly. “No animal. Nothing.”

“No,” I said while shaking my head hard. “No, that’s impossible. I saw it.”

A strange silence fell over the group. Everyone was looking at me now; the guests, my mom, Lucas.

Like I was the strange thing in the garden.

“It was here,” I insisted. “It was right there!”

Lucas stepped closer. “Raven,” he said, “tell me exactly what you saw.”

I opened my mouth. The answer came out before I could stop it.

“Cassian.”

The silence deepened.

Lucas frowned. “What?”

I swallowed hard. My pulse hammered in my ears.

“Cassian,” I said again. “He was here.”

My mom blinked in confusion. “What do you mean Cassian was here?”

I looked from one face to another. None of them understood. None of them had seen what I had seen.

“I saw him,” I said, my voice trembling. “He was in the garden and then… then…”

My throat tightened.

Lucas stared at me. “Then what?”

I forced the words out.

“He turned into the wolf.”

No one moved.

For a second, it felt like the whole world had stopped breathing.

Lucas just stared at me.

The others did too.

Some looked confused. Some looked startled. One woman near the door actually let out a short and awkward laugh before quickly covering her mouth.

But I wasn’t joking.

I could feel it in the way my face burned, in the way my hands wouldn’t stop shaking.

“I’m serious,” I said. “I saw him. Cassian was there and he…” I swallowed. “He changed.”

My mom’s expression shifted from confusion to concern.

“Raven,” she said quietly.

“No,” I said immediately. “No, don’t look at me like that. I’m telling the truth.”

Lucas rubbed a hand over his mouth, then lowered it.

“Raven,” he said slowly, “I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“I saw Cassian turn into a wolf!” I shouted.

A few people flinched.

“I saw him on the ground,” I went on, my voice rising with panic. “His shirt tore and his bones were… and then there was fur and claws and...”

“Raven.” My mom’s voice was firmer now.

I looked at her.

Her eyes were worried and embarrassed too. The mix of it made something sink inside me.

“Maybe,” she said carefully, “you drank too much wine tonight.”

I stared at her like she had slapped me.

“What?”

“Honey, you’ve had a long day,” she said gently. “You’re tired. You’ve been emotional all morning.”

“No.” My voice came out thin and sharp. “No, I am not making this up.”

“No one said you’re making it up,” she replied.

“But you think I imagined it.”

She hesitated.

That hesitation said everything.

“I didn’t imagine it,” I said. “I know what I saw.”

Lucas exhaled slowly.

“Cassian went home,” he said.

I turned to him. “What?”

“He wasn’t feeling well,” Lucas explained. “He left earlier.”

I frowned. “No. He was here.”

“He was here,” Lucas said, “but not now. He told me he felt sick. He had stomach problems....probably indigestion. He ate too much too quickly and said he needed to go home.”

I just stared at him.

Indigestion?

That was his explanation?

“He did not go home,” I said. “He was outside. I saw him.”

Lucas’s expression stayed calm but there was something unreadable in his eyes now.

“Raven,” he said, “Cassian left the reception.”

I shook my head.

“No.”

“He did,” Lucas said.

The people around us shifted awkwardly. I could feel them listening, watching and judging.

My face burned hotter.

Lucas continued, “And this venue is near the forest. If there was an animal out there, it could have been a wild dog. Or some other animal.”

“A wolf,” I said.

He gave a slight nod. “Maybe. There are wooded areas around here. It’s possible.”

Possible.

Like that explained anything.

Like that erased the image burned into my mind.

My mom touched my arm again. “Come, Raven,” she said softly. “Let’s go inside.”

I looked at her.

At Lucas.

At the guests standing there in their wedding clothes under the garden lights, all staring at me like I had ruined something beautiful.

Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut.

Maybe I should have said nothing.

But I had seen it.

I had seen Cassian.

And no matter what any of them believed, I knew I was not crazy.

Still, the weight of all their eyes pressed down on me until I felt small and foolish and exhausted.

I lowered my gaze.

“Yes,” I said quietly. “Maybe… maybe I’m starting to imagine things because I’m tired.”

My mom’s face softened with relief.

“That’s all,” she said gently. “You just need rest.”

Lucas gave me a small and reassuring nod. “It was probably some animal from the forest. That’s all.”

I swallowed.

“Yes,” I murmured. “Maybe.”

The guests slowly began to relax. Some drifted back toward the hall. Others gave me sympathetic looks that only made me feel worse.

I stepped toward the door with my mom beside me.

“I’m sorry,” I said quietly. “For all the trouble.”

My mom squeezed my hand. “It’s alright.”

We walked back toward the reception hall. The music was still playing inside. People were still laughing.

The wedding was still going on as if the world had not just cracked open in front of me.

At the door, I turned my head slightly and looked back at the dark line of trees beyond the garden.

Nothing moved.

Nothing made a sound.

But deep in my heart, one truth remained cold and certain.

I had not imagined it.

I had seen Cassian.