Mate I never wanted

Dear overprotective brother

VIvian

My thoughts were running wild half of the night, up until the moment around dawn when I passed out from exhaustion. To say that the wake-up I got from the bracelet was not welcome would be an understatement.

With a growl of annoyance and pain, I rolled out of bed and made my way to the bathroom. Rabbeca was right behind me and her mood was close to mine.

Together we made our way to get breakfast, and before I even knew what was going on I felt myself being lifted. For a second I froze, and I was ready to fight whoever was attacking me, but before I could move, the familiar scent of John hit my nose. My body relaxed instantly into his warm hug.

"Vivian..."

I couldn't help but bury my face in his chest and relax into the comfort of his body. The comfort only he could give me. It felt like I had come to a safe harbor after the last few stormy days. Everything was so hectic and so out of control that it felt like I was getting swept up by tides of craziness.

After a few moments of hugging like that, John released me, and we stepped away from each other.

"Hey..."

I whispered to him, now feeling a bit shy about my emotional reaction to him in the room full of people.

"Hey, I was looking for you yesterday, but they said that you were unwell and have been rushed to the doctors... but they would not give me any information."

Uhhh... I tried to think of what I should tell him, because telling him the full truth was for sure going to make him go crazy and, to my luck, I did not have to, because one of the trainers stopped right next to us.

"Miss Vivian, your scores from the shooting exam came and added with the track time you have scored almost the highest in the whole year."

My back went straight as I looked up at the man dressed in a full uniform. If I am not mistaken, he is the head of the Combat training program. They prepare the fighters for the army, and it is the biggest and one of the most sought after training programs in the academy.

"Thank you sir."

Heat rushed to my cheeks as I met his eyes. I could feel John grinning next to me.

"What program are you on?"

"Spacecraft pilot and engineer, sir."

"With your talents and scores, you should be in the armed forces. You could make a great solder. I will put in a good word for you so you could transfer programs."

"No, thank you sir. I'm happy with the program I chose."

My words shocked the older man in front of me as well as everyone else in the room.

No one ever gets offers like this. It is very rare that anyone gets a chance to change programs like this. The only ones that do move in between programs are the ones that go to a program that is considered below. To one that is less sought after. But moving up is almost unheard of.

So it is no surprise why the trainer and everyone else in the room stared at me like I was crazy. But I had no wish to be a soldier. I had no wish to be famous and fight wars by hand. All I wanted to do was fly spaceships and design them.

"With all respect sir, I'm happy with my program. I want to be an engineer and pilot, not a combat soldier. So thank you for the offer, but I would prefer to stay in my original program."

The older man was in complete shock. I'm sure he expected me to jump at the opportunity, but here I was defying the standard once again.

"Okay, if you say so. Please find one of the trainers so that you can take the make-up test for the one that you missed."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

With a slight nod in both mine and then John's direction, he left the room.

"Vivian, is your score that high? Why did you not change programs? When I get home I will tell father about this, he will be so proud. I'm sure that after news like this he will most definitely let you return home."

"John, if I wanted to be a combat soldier I would have applied to be one. You know that I always wanted to be a pilot."

"But the program is so expensive. It is the most expensive one in the academy. Where will you get the money to pay for it? I could..."

"No, I have already paid for the whole course. There is no need to worry about it."

"But Michlle, where did you get the money from? Did you do something illegal?"

I rolled my eyes at his concern and decided to change the subject before he asked any more questions.

"It doesn't matter. Now tell me, how are you here? I thought you were about to be deployed again?"

"Yeah, but I decided to take time off. Mother wanted me to spend time with Margaret so we would connect."

"Then why are you here? Your parents will be furious with you, especially because you are here with me."

"They do not know that I'm here, and they are your parents also. And after I tell them how great you are doing in your training, they will let you come home, most definitely."

"They are not my parents and that place is not my home."

Pain and shock in his face made my stomach turn.

"Does that mean that I am no longer your brother also?"

I released another deep breath and went on to pull him for another hug.

"You will always be my brother, but I am not returning to the Cliffwinds. Now please go home before you get in trouble. And I have training to get to."

With a soft smile on my face, I laid a soft goodbye kiss on his cheek.

He looked a bit sad, but he nodded and walked out of the dining hall. A few moments later, I felt my phone vibrate and, without really thinking about it, I pulled it out.

It was a message from Lucien.

Please stop hugging that man. He is not your brother. Or did you forget that we are engaged to be mated?

What?

Did he really just text me that?

Before I could get even angrier and answer him, Rebeca appeared next to me.

"So, do you have a group for tomorrow?"

"What?"

I stared at her, completely confused about what she was talking about.

"A group for the second part of the training. Groups of five that you will have to do missions with. Have you forgotten about that?"

SHIT.

"It completely slipped my mind."

She stared at me, her eyes wide.

"So I take it you don't have a group?"

"Yeah."

"Want to be in mine?"

I stared at her blinking.

"Sure, who else is in your group?"

Her cheeks went pink as she chuckled.

"Well, now there is you and me... and that is it..."

I stared at her and could not help but start laughing.

"Okay, that is a start. Do you know if there is anyone else fr..."

Before I could finish talking, I felt a tap on my shoulder. When I turned around, I saw Mathew. He was at the top of the scoreboard and he was the leader of the Nobels.

"Can I help you?"

I asked him, completely confused as to why he was talking to me.

"Do you want to join us for the team test?"