My Jealous Alpha Stepbrother
Chapter 13

Lydia

Drenched in cold water, I sit deathly while my pack laughs at me. It hurts, but there is nothing I can do. I fear the people around me will push me back into the puddle if I stand.

“Look at the dirty mutt!” Rhaegar shouts and points at me. He is the pack’s gamma and seems to be friends with Sally, Owen’s mate, who pushed me down on the ground.

He keeps shouting and pointing at me, which excites the pack. Suddenly everyone is laughing and splashing dirty water onto my face.

“Filthy omega!”

“Mutt!”

“Weakling!”

“Muttblood!”

Rhaegar smirks at me. “You’re so dirty and ugly…”

I look up at Owen, who is pretending I’m not there. He is facing the other direction while Sally and Rhaegar’s sister are scoffing at me.

“Why don’t you clean yourself, little mutt?” Sally walks forward and kicks more water into my face until I shudder at the cold. She laughs excitedly and splashes me again. “So dirty—yuck, I can barely look at you!”

I close my eyes and try to ignore the pack members making fun of me, hoping they will get bored of this.

Instead, it gets worse.

“Aww, aren’t you going to say anything?” Rhaegar crouches before me, grabbing my hair to yank me forward.

I yelp at the pain, and he wears this eureka expression—he has finally figured out how to make me react.

He laughs darkly. “So you aren’t immune to this? Let’s take it a step further then, shall we?”

Before I’m given time to react, Rhaegar transforms his nails into claws and slashes at my face. B***d splashes everywhere, and the burning pain makes me cry in agony.

For a moment, I can’t see. There is liquid in my eyes, and Rhaegar and everyone else are laughing.

“Aw, poor baby is bleeding, but I think I can do worse than that!” Rhaegar brags and grips my arm. With some force, he throws me down, so I’m down on my back. “Let’s see if you can keep yourself from crying now!”

Rhaegar kicks me in the head multiple times until my head is ringing with the beginning of a migraine. The pack is howling laughter, rooting for him. I bet he is wearing a smug expression, but I can’t see him.

The b***d is covering my eyes, and I cough before sitting up—only to be kicked down again.

“Know your f*g place, mutt,” Rhaegar growls. “Stay down!”

Sally snorts in amusement and kicks up some dirt over me just to get in that last jab. “Pathetic omega… To think Owen used to date you, of all people… You’re such a deformed freak. I’m so glad he has found his realm mate now. Someone beautiful, someone like me.”

“Agreed,” Rhaegar laughs. “This little thing is so small and miserable that we would do her a favor if we ended her sad little life. Isn’t that right, muppet? Wouldn’t it be nice if I ended you?”

I’m not given any time to answer. Rhaegar kicks me in the chest, and I coil up at the pain. People laugh while I spit up b***d. It’s from my face and currently getting everywhere.

The gamma sure hurt my face. The scar is deep, and the pain is only getting worse. Dirt has gotten into it, and it’s now stinging in a way that makes me worry it might become a scar.

I feel the area and whimper. “Please… No more…”

“What was that?” Rhaegar snorts. “Did you finally replace your voice?”

“Yes… I want to live…” I whisper. “Please just… Please stop hurting me…”

“But what would be the fun in that, little mutter?” Rhaegar grips my hair, holding me up. “Tormenting you is fun. But if you don’t want to get hurt anymore, then I understand… Perhaps it’s about time that I ended you. A dead girl can’t be in pain—”

“What is going on here?!”

Everyone turns quiet to the sound of Avery’s voice, and Rhaegar freezes up before standing. He turns away from me, facing his alpha.

“We were just having some fun with the omega, my alpha. The pack’s weakling is quite the easy target, and I think I’ve finally learned how to make her react: you add a little bit of pain.”

Some people giggle, but Avery doesn’t make a sound. He strides over, closer and closer. My eyes are kept on his black shoes, but I don’t dare to lift my head or hope for him to be my savior.

This isn’t a fairy tale, and Avery won’t be my knight in shining armor. He would risk his position if he helped me. The other pack members wouldn’t respect him. He hasn’t claimed me, and neither am I his mate—there is no reason for him to be on my side in this.

I know this, yet I can’t help but say a silent prayer once Avery stops in front of me. I don’t want him to join the others and hurt me. My heart wouldn’t be able to handle that.

My eyes shut, but I open them in shock when I replace Avery crouching in front of me.

What is he doing?

I stare into his eyes, still odd-colored, but today they seem more beautiful than ever. Probably because they are unreachable.

My stepbrother alpha wouldn’t help me. This is why I freeze when he tips up my chin with his finger, and then, every so carefully, he uses his right sleeve to wipe away the b***d from my face.

When he is done, I replace him expecting my injury with calculating eyes that only seem to grow more distance by the second.

“This isn’t a small injury…” Avery calmly stands up without looking away from my eyes.

“No, my alpha,” Rhaegar says. “I was planning on ending our omega’s miserable life because that’s what she is, right? A pathetic—”

Avery turns around with lightning movements and uses his claws to cut off Rhaegar’s head from his spine.

It happens incredibly fast, so fast that no one can react before it’s too late to save Rhaegar’s life.

He is gone.

Dead.

Rhaegar’s body remains in place but falls into an unmoving heap, and Sally screams in terror when his head lands on her new white shoes. They are now dirtied by his b***d.

“What the f**k?! No! Get it away from me!” Sally kicks Rhaegar’s head away, and people move so as not to touch it.

No one is speaking, but everyone is staring at the headless, dead gamma, and Owen is the first to ask questions.

“What the hell, Avery? Why did you kill Rhaegar?! What had he ever done to you, huh? Have you lost your f*g mind?!”

Avery turns around, and I fear for Owen’s life. Power and anger are coming off Avery’s larger frame in waves. He is towering over everyone here, larger-than-life, and he isn’t happy.

“Excuse me?” Avery asks in a calm voice, but I can hear that he is furious and filled with wrath underneath it. “Are you asking me why I killed Rhaegar after he admitted he was going to kill my stepsister?”

Everyone in the crowd widens their eyes, and I hear someone whisper, “Oh s**t!” or something like that.

Even Owen realizes his mistake. I see him gulping and taking a step back from the taller alpha. “I’m sorry, my alpha. For a moment, I forgot about Lydia’s role as your stepsister.”

“Easy mistake to make,” Avery holds out his hand for me and pulls me up without falling into any kind of emotion.

Still, I pass him a grateful smile.

As expected, it’s not returned.

Avery’s eyes are still colder than stone, especially when he speaks.

“Our parents aren’t married yet, but it will happen in the soon future. In the meantime, I would think twice about touching Lydia—if I catch her crying one more time, I might just kill more than one person to prove a point… Am I clear?”

Every pack member gape at his words but quickly recovers when Avery looks around the crowd to ensure everyone has heard him.

To be honest, I’m shocked he said those words. I’m half-believing this to be some sort of hallucination. Since when does the alpha care about the goddamn omega?

‘Since he slept with her,’ Avery’s voice rolls into my head. ‘You and I tied with each other, Lydia. It wasn’t s*x; it was making love. We accepted each other. You really don’t think that means something?’

I stare up at Avery after he has used his psychic powers to communicate his thoughts with me and watch in stunned silence as he orders the pack to get to the hunt.

Sally and Owen are given the task of cleaning up the body.

And me?

I stand there like a fool while Avery cracks his shoulders beside me. When his eyes catch mine, small smile tugs on his lips. It’s secretive and barely recognizable, but it’s there.

“You look pretty badass right now.”

I breathe a laugh. “It really hurts…”

Avery grimaces and takes a deep breath. “Come with me.”