The forbidden Love between us

Keira POV I hate moving. Hate the boxes. Hate the way Mom keeps saying “it’ll be fine” like saying it makes it true. Hate that I’m seventeen and still have to leave everything behind because her new husband has a bigger house and a better school district. Mom’s car idled in front of St. Claire Prep, and I stared at the gates like they were prison bars. “Behave,” she said, for the tenth time. “Mr. West’s name is on the donor board. Don’t embarrass us.” “Us,” she said. Like I had a choice in any of this. I nodded. Lied. Because the second I looked up, I saw him. Kaden West. He was leaning against the gate like he owned the whole place. White shirt, sleeves rolled, soccer bag slung over one shoulder. Girls were already slowing down to walk past him, pretending they weren’t staring. He caught my eye and that grin spread across his face—the one that’s gotten him out of detention, out of trouble, and into everyone’s bed, according to the group chat I’m not in anymore. My stomach dropped. Because Kaden West isn’t just the most popular guy in school. He’s my stepbrother now. Mom married his dad three months ago. I met Kaden once, at the courthouse, for ten minutes. He didn’t say a word. Just looked me up and down like I was a problem he’d have to deal with later. Looks like “later” is now. “Look what the cat dragged in,” he said, loud enough that three people turned. “New girl. Pretty one. Anyone tell her the rules yet?” Heat climbed my neck. I kept walking. Head down. Eyes on the cracked concrete. If anyone found out I lived with him, I was done. Girls at St. Claire didn’t just hate Kaden’s exes. They erased them. My life was quiet before. Boring, maybe. But quiet. I liked quiet. I made it two hours. First period: math. I sat in the back, took notes, didn’t speak. Second period: English. Same. Third period: history, and that’s when the note came. Library. Now. Books. No name. But I knew the handwriting. My hands shook as I folded it and shoved it in my pocket. The library at St. Claire was supposed to be silent. It wasn’t today. Kaden was there, waiting by the fiction shelves like he’d been expecting me. Arms crossed. Jaw tight. The door clicked shut behind me, and the sound made my chest go cold. “Don’t scream,” he said. “Not unless you want everyone to know you’re sleeping ten feet from my room.” I took a step back. “Don’t touch me.” He moved faster than I thought he could. One second I was by the door. The next, his forearms were on either side of me, caging me against the shelf. A paperback shifted above my head and fell to the floor with a soft thud. His chest was close enough that I could feel his breathing. Fast. Angry. “Listen to me,” he said, voice low. Rough. “Run all you want here. Tell everyone I’m a jerk. I don’t care.” His eyes dropped to my mouth, then back to my eyes. “But at home?” He leaned in. I could smell his cologne. Cedar and something sharp. Something that made my pulse jump even though I didn’t want it to. “Mate.” The word hit me like a slap. It wasn’t romantic. It wasn’t sweet. It was possessive. Dangerous. Like he’d claimed something that wasn’t his to claim. My brain short-circuited. Mate? What the hell did that even mean? “Mate” was a word for dogs. For wolves. Not for people. Not for your stepbrother in a school library while your mom thought you were checking out To Kill a Mockingbird. “Let go of me,” I said. My voice came out shaky. I hated that. He didn’t. Instead, his forehead dropped until it was almost touching mine. “I’m not playing, Keira,” he said. “You think I wanted this? You think I wanted you showing up and ruining everything?” His jaw flexed. “But you’re here now. And I don’t share.” Footsteps echoed in the hallway. Voices. Girls. Laughing. “Is Kaden in there?” “With who? Please don’t tell me it’s the new girl—” The door handle rattled. Kaden’s eyes flicked to the door, then back to me. Something ugly and satisfied flashed across his face. “Choose carefully, Keira,” he whispered. “Because once they see us like this, there’s no going back.” He let go. But he didn’t step away. The door swung open. And standing there were three of the girls who made my life hell at my old school. They’d transferred here last year. Now their eyes went wide as they took in me, pinned against the shelf, and Kaden, breathing hard, looking like he’d just won something. “Keira,” one of them said. Her name was Lila. She smiled. It wasn’t nice. “Well,” Lila said. “This is awkward.” My heart was pounding so hard I thought they could hear it. Kaden’s hand brushed my wrist. Not gentle. Not apologetic. Possessive. And he said it again, loud enough for all of them to hear. Mine