In love with my StepSon

Chapter six

Briston

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you this instant!"

Melissa's entire body flinched at my words and I watched her eyes go wide with terror as I descended the hidden stairs into the chamber. Each step I took toward her made her shuffle backward until her spine hit the stone wall and she had nowhere left to go.

"I- I didn't mean to," she stammered while her hands came up defensively. "I was just looking at the books and then the shelf moved and I..."

"How did you even know about this passage?" I demanded as I closed the distance between us. "How did you find the trigger?"

"I pulled a book," she explained quickly. "The one about curses. It just happened I swear."

I snatched the grimoire from the small table where she had set it down and my anger flared even hotter when I saw which text she had been examining. This book was dangerous. The knowledge contained in these pages was not meant for outsiders.

"Just happened?" I repeated with disbelief coating every syllable. "You just happened to pull the exact book that opens a secret chamber on your first day wandering this fortress?"

"Yes," Melissa insisted. "I didn't know it would do that."

"That's convenient," I shot back as I moved even closer until I was towering over her. "Tell me who sent you. Which pack are you really from?"

"What?" Her confusion looked genuine but I couldn't trust it. "Nobody sent me. I'm from Slytherin pack, you know this."

"Do I?" I questioned as I slammed my hand against the wall beside her head. She jumped and pressed herself flatter against the stone. "Or are you a spy sent to infiltrate my father's household and steal our secrets?"

"I'm not a spy," she protested with desperation creeping into her voice. "Your father bought me from my aunt. I didn't ask to be here. I don't want to be here."

"Convenient cover story," I countered. "The poor orphan girl sold into marriage. Perfect way to gain sympathy and access."

"It's not a story it's the truth," Melissa argued but her voice was shaking now. "Please you have to believe me."

I stared down at her and cataloged every sign of fear written across her face. The way her pulse hammered visibly in her throat. The trembling of her hands. The tears gathering in the corners of her eyes that she was desperately trying not to let fall.

My wolf Gorne stirred in the back of my mind and pushed against my rage with something that felt almost like concern.

Stop, he commanded. You're scaring her.

Good, I thought back. She should be scared. She's trespassing in places she has no business being.

But Gorne wouldn't back down. He kept pushing forward and making me more aware of how small Melissa looked cornered against the wall. How young she was. How terrified.

I took a step back and ran my hand through my hair while trying to get my anger under control.

"Get lost," I ordered coldly. "And stay out of places you don't belong."

Melissa didn't need to be told twice. She immediately moved to leave the chamber but in her haste to escape she lost her balance. Her foot caught on the edge of the old rug covering the floor and she pitched forward with a cry of alarm.

Instinct took over before I could think. I dropped my guard completely and lunged forward to catch her before she hit the ground. My hands closed around her waist and I pulled her against my chest to steady her.

The moment our bodies made contact something exploded between us.

It felt like lightning and fire and recognition all rolled into one overwhelming sensation. The mate bond ignited with such force that it nearly knocked the breath out of my lungs. I felt Gorne surge forward and roar with triumph while every nerve ending in my body suddenly came alive.

Mate, Gorne howled. Ours. Finally.

No.

This couldn't be happening. This wasn't possible. The moon goddess wouldn't be this cruel.

Melissa must have felt it too because she gasped and looked up at me with shock written all over her face. Our eyes locked and I saw the same confusion and disbelief reflected back at me.

"What was that?" she whispered.

I released her immediately and took several steps backward while my mind raced to process what had just occurred. The mate bond. With my father's wife. With the girl he had bought and brought to this pack just yesterday.

This was a nightmare.

"Nothing," I stated firmly while shoving Gorne back down. "It was nothing. Now get out."

Melissa stood there for another moment looking like she wanted to say something but then she just nodded and fled from the chamber. I heard her footsteps running up the stairs and then the sound of the library door closing behind her.

I was alone.

I stood in the hidden room and tried to steady my breathing while my entire world tilted sideways. My mate. The moon goddess had chosen my father's purchased bride as my mate.

I looked down and realized I was still holding the grimoire I had snatched from the table. I walked over to the small desk tucked into the corner and set the book down while trying to clear my head.

I ran my fingers along the worn leather cover and noticed for the first time that there was a vintage lock mechanism on the side. I pressed it carefully and heard a soft click as the lock released.

I opened the book to the first page and my breath caught in my throat.

A photograph was tucked into the binding. My mother's face stared back at me from the faded image. She was young in this picture, probably around my age now, with long dark hair and eyes that held warmth I barely remembered.

My hands trembled as I carefully removed the photograph from where it had been hidden for who knows how many years. I turned it over and found an inscription written on the back in elegant script.

"Vaelkoryth."

I stared at the word and tried to make sense of it. It wasn't any language I recognized. Not pack dialect or old tongue or anything I had studied in my education. Just this single strange word written in my mother's handwriting.

Why had she hidden this here? What did it mean?

I pulled out my phone and took a picture of the inscription making sure the image was clear and focused. Then I opened my contacts and scrolled to a number I rarely used. A scholar who specialized in ancient texts and forgotten languages. Someone I trusted to be discreet.

I attached the photo and typed out a message.

"Find out what this means."