My Jealous Alpha Stepbrother
Chapter 45

Kade

I might have taken water over my head since I’m about to challenge this freak of a hybrid alpha willingly. And I don’t mean that in an offending way.

No, I’m jealous of Avery.

He has the formidable size of a werewolf but the magic of a vampire. If I had his powers, I could win a fight against Victoria and take back the heart of Chang’e.

But I’m not Avery, so I can only hope for the second-best thing: form an alliance with his pack.

The only problem is that I have to win a duel against him. It’s nerve-wracking. I don’t know what to expect from him, but I can sense one thing: he is more powerful than me.

I want to win, but is that possible?

I glance to the side and replace Jinora staring at me. Sh!t. Is she going to see me embarrassing myself? I don’t like the thought of that.

We slept together, and in the morning, when I woke up, I found myself cuddling Jinora with a fondness I’d never experienced. My heart was beating out of my c.hest, which terrified me.

That woman doesn’t like me. She might be attracted to me, but she replaces my arrogance sickening. It would be foolish to fall in love with her as she would never return my feelings. I know that, yet I replace myself wanting to impress her. I don’t want her to see me lose to Avery.

“I will go easy on you,” Avery announces, looking half-bored as he stretches his arms and cracks his shoulders. “I won’t use magic, and I won’t shape-shift. I won’t use a vampire’s strength, either.”

My l!ps curl. “Vampires are stronger than werewolves because a vampire does not hunt alone, while a werewolf’s strength lies in its pack. But you forget that I’m a lycan. We might have a pack, but we are much stronger than werewolves.”

He chuckles. “Yet you struggled to fight my mother.”

I narrow my eyes. Anger rises in my c.hest and threatens to boil, but I won’t fall into Avery’s trap. This is his game: angering me, so I won’t think straight in our duel.

It won’t work on me, though.

“I’ve learned from past mistakes,” I tell him. “This will be different.”

“Oh?” Avery rakes me up and down. “Besides size and strength, what other abilities do you have as a lycan? You’re the prince, so I’m just, I don’t know, curious if you’re special.”

“I’m great at sensing things.” I can tell when a person is pregnant or if an accident is about to happen. Sometimes, I have even predicted the weather. But this ability isn’t that helpful in a fight.

“I disagree,” Avery says and looks at me with renewed interest. “Sorry for reading your mind, but… I want my men to be at their strongest, and your ability can be polished into something greater. Your sixth sense can be used to your advantage in a fight.”

I snort and lift an eyebrow. “Am I supposed to predict when my enemy is about to give birth? What if they are a man?”

Some men from Avery’s pack snicker on the sidelines. Even Avery appears amused.

“No, that’s not what I’m saying…” Avery tilts his head. “I want you to fight me with a blindfold on.”

“What?” I croak. “As if I’m not at a disadvantage already!”

“I honestly don’t think you are. The only reason you think you’re weak is that you’re not opening your senses,” Avery strolls away from me and opens a backpack. He then walks up to me and gives me a cloth. “Cover your eyes with that.”

Sighing, I do what he asks of me. This is foolish, but I wish to become Avery’s second in command, so I better listen. Perhaps he is trying to teach me something?

“Your ability is precognition, Kade. You think you’re sensing things, but my gut tells me you see the future without realizing it yourself. Psychic waves are radiating off you in waves, and I can tell because I have psychic abilities too.”

“That’s nonsense!” I laugh at his claim. “My family used to have magic in their veins, but no one has had magic for centuries now.”

“Are the other lycans white like you?”

That question gives me pause.

My people always believed the white lycans to be unique and powerful. Unlike my people, I can shape-shift at will, and my eyes are purple, but I thought it ended there.

“There are more lycans than me that can sense when a person is pregnant.” I point out.

“But you didn’t only sense it, did you?” Avery asks.

His question makes me think harder, and an image of Lydia holding a baby son in her arms flashes inside my head.

Avery gasps. “A son?” I can hear the emotion in his voice. “And he is healthy, yes?”

I’m not sure how or why, but another vivid image flashes in my head of Victoria. She is standing inside some old castle, and then her l!ps move to say, “I want the baby—if I drink its powerful b***d, I can steal some of its powers. I don’t care if it’s my grandson!”

Avery growls. “That b!tch is sick in the head.”

I nod because I agree. “I’ve never liked Victoria.”

“Then why did you work with her?” Avery demands.

“I didn’t think she was this sick in the head when she came to ask for my aid, and honestly, I didn’t have much of a choice than to follow her orders. She is much stronger than me.”

“True… And you had a common goal, yes?”

“Indeed. We both wanted the Chang’e, but we had different reasons. My people need that gem, so they don’t have to hide from the rest of the world. We change during the full moon into beastly beings, but without the heart of Chang’e, we can’t control ourselves at all.”

“You are a hazard to humans,” I can’t see Avery, yet somehow I can imagine him nodding in agreement. “I will let you have the heart of Chang’e after we have killed Victoria. I have no use of that item if it’s not needed for my mate’s survival.”

Right then, I’m hit with an image of Avery coming to attack me, and my body responds by avoiding him. A surprised gasp can be heard from my side, and I react quicker than lightning—I grab hold of the alpha and flip him onto his back while still wearing the blindfold.

Around me, everyone goes quiet, and I remove my blindfold. Surprised eyes meet mine, and I stare down at Avery. He is down on his back, and his l!ps curl into a smile.

“If you wanted to put our packs together, I wouldn’t hesitate one second to make you my beta.”

His words fill me with pride. I don’t know why I like being complimented by this werewolf, but he has helped me realize my power—he is a great leader. Perhaps he has a point? Maybe I could grow even stronger under the direction and training of Avery?

I hold my hand for him to take, ready to pull him up. “If you mean those words, maybe I will consider it.”

Avery let me pull him up. He doesn’t need my help, but the fact that he accepts it makes me respect him more. This is an alpha who isn’t afraid of taking the help of others—another point to him.

“I meant them,” he brushes dust from his sweatpants and meets my gaze with deep eyes. “Every member of your pack would be treated with profound respect, and as my second in command, you would still get to influence them,” his l!ps form a smirk. “But maybe I have more benefits to gain from you—you’re not interested in my mate as my current beta, and you’re much stronger than him.”

I hear an offended gasp from somewhere. It belongs to a woman, and when I turn my head, I see this person who is Avery’s current beta.

He is standing next to a female, his mate, I assume. She doesn’t look happy with what Avery just said. Perhaps she doesn’t know that her mate is lusting over Lydia? It’s obvious, though. He hasn’t looked away from her even once during the training session—foolish man.

“I only replace more and more reasons to like you,” Avery says, and I turn around once Lydia joins his side.

She allows Avery to wrap an arm around her, but her eyes are glued to mine when she speaks. “You have proven yourself in battle, Kade,” she shows her teeth in a smile. “So if you decide to turn our packs into one, I have no objections.”

“Even if I tried to kidnap you?”

She giggles and steps closer, whispering, “Let’s forget that part. We were enemies back then, yet you didn’t hurt me, but… I suppose there is one thing I must warn you about.”

“And what is that?” I ask, curious.

Her eyes challenge mine with a fierceness I’ve never seen in her before. Lydia is usually kindhearted and lovely, but she now looks at me with so much fire that I almost fear her.

“Jinora is my best friend,” she says, smiling, yet her smile is so wolfish that I shudder down to the marrow. “She said she spent a night with a man who ditched her in the morning, but Jinora didn’t mention a name—it became obvious when she looked at you fight, though. She was worried you would hurt yourself.”

I blink in surprise, not sure if I misheard Lydia. Jinora seemed to hate my guts yesterday. Sure, she squeezed my muscles and touched me, but she wasn’t very kind to me.

Something doesn’t make sense here since Jinora wouldn’t care if I got hurt. Lydia must be making things up.

“Jinora worried about me?” I ask in disbelief.

Lydia narrows her eyes. “Why do you sound so surprised?”

Behind her, Avery cracks up and grabs Lydia’s hand. He is wearing an amused smile on his l!ps. “Come with me, it’s time for lunch, and I believe we shouldn’t meddle too much in this. It’s funnier if we leave these people to figure out things on their own.”

“Leave them to figure out what?”

“Geez,” Avery laughs. “You really are too curious for your own good.”

“What?” Lydia barks at her mate, looking offended. “I’m sorry, but not everyone is a mind-reader like you!” Her eyes widen then, and a scary smile spreads over her l!ps. “Oh, I know! You have all the answers to my questions, don’t you?!”

Avery is cracking up now. “Yes, but there are some things that I think even you shouldn’t know, my resonance.”

Lydia blushes and touches the c.hest of her mate. “I like it when you call me my resonance… It’s weird but still cute.”

Avery is purring now. “You’re cute.”

Are these people about to f**k each other? Gag. I have to get the hell out of here. I don’t have a mate. This makes me incredibly jealous of Avery, who has found someone.

I turn around from the couple and notice Jinora looking at me. She averts her eyes when I wave at her, though. It makes me snort.

There is no chance that the beautiful red-head is interested in me romantically. What a joke…