In love with my StepSon

Chapter Eight

Briston

I stood in the library long after the guard had left and stared at the shelf where she had been hiding and tried to make sense of why I had intervened in the first place. What was she doing sneaking around the library like a thief? Did she think I was going to report her to my father for reading a book? The thought was absurd and yet she had hidden from me like I was the enemy.

My wolf Gorne growled low in my chest and I felt the familiar heat of his presence pushing against my control.

"Gorne, that's my father's Luna," I said out loud to the empty room. "She's out of bounds."

Gorne didn't respond but I felt his disapproval radiating through our bond and I pushed him down harder until he retreated into the back of my mind with a snarl.

I walked out of the library and headed toward my chambers while trying to scrub the image of her sitting on the floor with that book from my thoughts. I had almost reached my door when a guard intercepted me and bowed his head.

"The Alpha requests your presence in his chambers immediately," he announced.

I sighed and changed direction toward my father's wing of the fortress. When I entered his chambers he was standing by the window with his hands clasped behind his back and staring out at the training grounds below.

"Good morning Father," I greeted him formally.

"Good morning son," he replied without turning around. "You know we have a lot of enemies."

I waited for him to continue because this was obviously leading somewhere, but he was waiting for my response.

"Is that why you called for me Father? To remind me that we have enemies?" I asked with an edge of sarcasm in my tone.

"Don't be rude son," he finally turned to face me. "Melissa needs to be grounded. Teach her how to use a gun and the blades. I don't want her hurt in case there's an attack."

I stared at him in disbelief and felt anger rising in my chest.

"You want me to teach your Luna?" I asked incredulously. "Hell no."

I turned to leave but his voice stopped me in my tracks.

"Briston, that's an order!" he yelled coldly. "Don't test me."

I knew better than to disobey my cursed father because the man who acted cold and ruthless in human form was infinitely more dangerous in his beast form. I had seen what he was capable of when his wolf took over and I had no desire to be on the receiving end of that rage.

"Fine," I gritted my teeth. "Fine."

I walked out of his chambers and slammed the door behind me hard enough to rattle the frame.

That same morning, I walked to the training grounds and waited for her to arrive while I tried to convince myself that this was just another task. The guards brought her down and she was wearing a long flowing dress that was completely inappropriate for what we were about to do.

"That's not the way to dress for gun practice," I told her as I gestured to her outfit.

She looked down at herself and then back at me with confusion in her eyes.

"I didn't know what to wear," she said quietly.

I turned to the maids who were standing nearby.

"Get her something appropriate," I ordered. "Training clothes. Now."

They rushed off and returned fifteen minutes later with Melissa wearing fitted black pants and a form-fitting tank top that left very little to the imagination. She walked toward me and my wolf Gorne immediately perked up and growled with happiness in the back of my mind.

I couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked with her curves accentuated by the tight clothing and her skin glowing like the morning sun. Her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail and the light caught the angles of her face in a way that made my breath catch.

She stopped in front of me and I realized I had been staring. She was looking at me with a question in her eyes and I cleared my throat and looked away quickly.

"Let's begin," I said gruffly.

I handed her a handgun and showed her how to hold it properly with her feet shoulder-width apart and her arms extended. She followed my instructions carefully and I stood behind her and adjusted her grip while trying to ignore the fact that I could smell her shampoo and feel the heat radiating from her body.

"Focus on the target," I told her as I stepped back. "Don't pull the trigger. Squeeze it gently."

She fired and the shot went wide and hit the dirt several feet to the left of the target. She frowned and tried again and this time she came closer.

"Good," I said. "Again."

We worked through the drills for an hour and by the end of it she was hitting the target consistently. I took the gun from her hands and replaced it with a blade, one of the Chinese-style swords my father collected and kept in the armory.

"Now we work on close combat," I told her as I drew my own blade.

She looked at the sword in her hands and then at me with uncertainty written all over her face.

"I don't know how to use this," she admitted.

"That's why I'm teaching you," I replied as I moved into a fighting stance. "Attack me."

She hesitated and then lunged forward with the blade extended awkwardly in front of her. I sidestepped easily and tapped her shoulder with the flat of my sword.

"Dead," I said. "Try again."

We went back and forth for another thirty minutes and I could see her stamina fading with every exchange. She was breathing hard and sweat was dripping down her face and her movements were becoming slower and less controlled.

She came at me one more time and her legs gave out beneath her. She fell forward and I dropped my blade and caught her before she hit the ground.

The moment my hands touched her skin I felt it. The connection between my wolf and hers was instant and electric and it shot through my entire body like lightning. Gorne surged forward and roared with recognition and I felt Melissa's wolf Mia respond with equal intensity.

Mate, Gorne whispered in my mind. Ours.

I dropped her immediately and she fell to the ground with a thud and looked up at me with shock and confusion in her eyes.

"Time's up," I said quickly as I stepped back and put distance between us. "You need to go."

I turned and walked away from her without looking back while my hands shook and my wolf howled in protest. This was just a task. I was doing my job. I kept repeating it in my head like a mantra but I knew it was a lie.