Tasting

35–My Stepbrothers Love Betraying Me. 

Nora: 

“Bye, have a good day.” I waved my hand at Natalya as I left the school to hop onto Ryker’s bike. He was already there with his helmet on and gloves on his hands, ready to hit the road. 

“Hey,” I greeted and had barely grabbed the helmet from the back when somebody came rushing and almost bumped into me from behind, causing me to land my hands on Ryker’s thighs to prevent myself from losing balance. However, neither of us had much time to react because the person decided to stick around, 

“Alpha Ryker,” April’s voice made me grimace and turn to her. Why did she run like a maniac? 

Ryker turned his head to her and then stopped the bike, taking off his helmet and quickly running his hand through his hair to fix it. I got to see the silver in his eyes shining under the sun. 

“How are you?” she smiled, clasping her hands forward and blushing as he watched her back. 

“Is there anything specific you want to talk about?” Ryker was undoubtedly rude and moody. I did not expect him to be nice, but the least I expected was for him to respond to her nicely. 

“Oh yes, my apologies. You don’t even know me yet,” she slapped her forehead and then extended her hand for a handshake. Ryker just stared at it while she began to ramble, “I’m April Watts, the royal beta’s daughter.” 

35 My Stepbrother Love Betting Me 

The slight eyebrow raise from Ryker indicated that he acknowledged she wasn’t just some omega he could avoid. She was the second–best man’s daughter. 

“Ah! I didn’t know Mr. Watts was married,” his response even faded. her smile for a bit. Even I was confused. But April smiled back when Ryker finally took her hand and shook it. She closed her lips tightly and breathed heavily, barely letting go of his hand. 

“Your hand is so much bigger than mine.” she snickered for somet reason. I was standing beside them, feeling cringe. 

“So, April, what is it that you wanted to talk about?” Ryker attempted to free his hand, but she was clinging to it as if her life depended on it. 

“Oh! I just wanted to introduce myself to you. I’m your sister’s friend,” she finally acknowledged that I was also present there when she decided to use me to get close to Ryker. 

“Since she never thought of introducing her friends, I had to come forward and do it myself. I’m the one who takes care of her in school, by the way,” she said, making me feel disbelief at how she was lying, even though I could easily tell Ryker she is the biggest bully in my school. But confronting her would mean living a life of hell in school once again. And I didn’t want to do that in front of her. 

“Oh! You’re her friend,” Ryker said with a weird smirk on his lips. when he mentioned me and stole a glance at me. No way this evil. genius didn’t know I was not friends with April. 

“So, since you’re her brother and take care of her, I was kind of expecting that you would come to the party with her this weekend,” she said, giggling and batting her eyelashes excitedly. I was in shock because I didn’t expect her to directly ask him. 

35 My Stepbrothers Love Betraying Me. 

Ryker thought about it for a moment before he nodded, “Sure!” The only odd part was that he seemed to have lost interest in a few minutes. 

“So, are you ready to go home?” Just when April might have been thinking that he was getting comfortable with her, he put on his helmet and asked me to hop on the back. I could tell April so badly wanted to look disappointed, but she kept the fake smile stretching her lips. I jumped on the back and didn’t hold onto him like he had asked me to. The ride was filled with silence from us and more noise from traffic and wind. The helmet worked to cancel out most of it. 

Once we arrived home, I noticed the cars parked outside, giving me a little unsettling feeling. Something was just not right. 

“Are we having guests?” I asked Ryker, jumping off the bike and leaving my helmet in his lap. 

“I just came with you, I’m as clueless as you,” he groaned, walking ahead of me while I followed him in haste. Once in the foyer, I saw Lord Atwood and some old guy standing with him, accompanied by some warriors and the rest of my stepbrothers. 

“Hello,” I uttered when I noticed the old man glaring at me with a hint of disapproval. 

“Nora!” Lord Atwood, who looked very stressed, stepped forward and smiled weakly, “They’re saying something about you.” 

As soon as he started with that phrase, a gulp ran down my throat. I looked over at my stepbrothers, and they seemed to have a very mild smirk on their lips. My eyes traveled to Ryker alone, and I saw him tilt his head. I wanted to know if he told anyone about my wolf. Was that what this whole thing was about? It looked stressful the way the guards. looked so ready to attack me. 

“What?” I asked with much difficulty, trying to stop myself from instantly showing anxiousness. 

“They’re claiming that you’re harboring a monster’s child,” the minute Lord Atwood said that, my heart sank in my chest, and my eyes went back to Nash, who stared at me blankly for a minute before his lips curled upward. 

“I told them it’s not true. You wouldn’t betray us like that,” however, Lord Atwood smiled at me, breaking my heart to see how much he believed in me. 

“That’s very heart–touching, Dad, but we have a duty to perform. We can’t avoid the investigation on the basis of our feelings,” Nash stepped up and said, making me shake my head a little at him in disbelief. 

“All we need to do is to check her room,” the old man cleared his throat, who didn’t even have the decency to announce his rank and 

status. 

“Warriors!” he continued after waiting for Lord Atwood’s decision. 

“I’m sure she’s not what you think she is. You won’t find anything in her room,” the teary–eyed new father said, and I couldn’t help but turn my face to the other side. 

If the act of treason was proven, it wouldn’t just get me kicked out of here: I’d be thrown in prison or kicked out of the pack entirely to live like a rogue. 

The warriors and the old man ran upstairs while Lord Atwood followed them after giving me a brief weak smile. Now I was left standing with the brothers, who were definitely too happy to watch me get in trouble. Especially Nash!