Fated mate with my enemy stepbrother (eBook)

Bound by Blood, Torn by Desire

Devin Webster (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025 | 1. Auflage
154 Seiten
Publishdrive (Verlag)
978-0-00-112291-8 (ISBN)

Infos

Seraphina Mercer swore she would never return to the estate that destroyed her childhood-nor face Kai Vale, the infuriating, cold-eyed stepbrother who made every breath feel like a challenge and every glance feel like a warning. Their families have been locked in a silent war for generations, and she spent years believing Kai was the most dangerous part of it.

She was wrong.

When an ancient pact awakens a fated mate bond between them-one that should be impossible-Seraphina is thrown into a storm of secrets that threatens everything she knows about loyalty, bloodlines, and destiny. Kai is torn between a lifetime spent protecting the Mercer legacy and a pull toward Seraphina that grows stronger every time danger strikes.

As rival packs close in and old betrayals rise from the shadows, Seraphina uncovers the truth about her hidden lineage, a power buried in her blood, and a threat that has been waiting for her return. Trust becomes a battlefield. So does her heart.

Forced to fight side by side, she and Kai navigate a connection that demands closeness even as their past demands distance. Every step draws them deeper into danger... and deeper into each other's orbit.

But when the enemy finally strikes, Seraphina learns the most brutal truth of all:

Fated mates can strengthen you-
or destroy you from the inside out.

And the one person who can save her...
is the stepbrother she was raised to hate.

Textauszug

Chapter 1 — “Return to Shadows”

Thunder rumbled faintly over the horizon as Seraphina Vale’s car wound its way up the Mercer estate’s long, winding drive. She gripped the steering wheel tighter than necessary, her knuckles pale under the moonlight spilling through the windshield. Every mile that brought her closer to the sprawling gothic mansion was a mile deeper into a past she had worked so hard to escape. Yet, there was no avoiding it now. Her father had summoned her back, and with him, inevitably, came Kai Mercer.

Her stomach tightened at the thought. Stepbrother. Enemy. Alpha of the Mercer pack. Her pulse stuttered despite herself. The memory of his eyes in the forest—the green, feral intensity that had both terrified and consumed her—was still vivid, lingering like smoke in her chest. That pull she had felt under the full moon had not faded. If anything, it had grown.

The estate loomed ahead, dark against the rolling hills, the forest at its back seeming to breathe in the night air. Stone gargoyles glared down from the parapets, wings spread as if ready to dive at intruders. A low wind carried whispers through the trees, rustling leaves and bending the branches in unnatural arcs. Something in the night made her breath catch—an unease she couldn’t shake, a premonition of conflict she had no choice but to face.

The gates swung open with a groan, and the car’s tires crunched over the gravel drive. She stopped at the circular driveway, eyes drawn immediately to the mansion’s front steps. There he was. Kai Mercer.

He was leaning against the stone railing, arms crossed, gaze sharp and assessing as always. Even in the muted moonlight, he exuded a presence that was impossible to ignore—dangerous, magnetic, commanding. Every instinct in her body told her to bolt. But she didn’t. Instead, she slid the car door open, feeling the cool night air bite at her skin.

“Kai,” she said, keeping her voice steady though her chest thumped.

He lifted his head slowly, green eyes locking onto hers. There was a flicker there—something unreadable—but it didn’t soften the edge in his expression. “Seraphina,” he said flatly, voice low, measured. “I see you decided to honor your father’s summons.”

She didn’t answer immediately, stepping out of the car and letting the door thud shut behind her. The air between them crackled with tension, charged and taut as a drawn bowstring. “You know I had little choice,” she said finally, tone sharp. “And don’t act like I wanted to come back here any more than you wanted me here.”

Kai’s mouth quirked, a shadow of a smirk that didn’t reach his eyes. “I don’t pretend to like surprises,” he said. “Especially not family surprises.” He pushed off from the railing, long legs carrying him down the steps with predatory grace. “But you’re here now, so I suppose we have to deal with it.”

Seraphina swallowed, resisting the urge to scowl. His words were carefully chosen, deliberately precise, but the subtext was almost unbearable. Every inch of his presence reminded her of that night in the forest—the way his power had radiated, the pull she couldn’t explain, the way her body had reacted without permission.

She clenched her fists at her sides. “Deal with what exactly?” she asked. “You have a problem with me inheriting half of Dad’s estate? Or with me existing at all?”

He stopped a few feet away, and the tension between them was suddenly too thick to ignore. For the first time since her arrival, Kai’s gaze softened just slightly—not much, barely noticeable, but enough to make her stomach twist. “I have a problem with anyone interfering with what belongs to the Mercer pack,” he said quietly. “That includes you.”

The words were sharp, like knives sliding across stone, and yet beneath the hostility, there was something else. Something electric. Seraphina felt it—a spark, subtle and insistent, threading through the hostility, a heat that made her pulse race. Her chest constricted, caught between exasperation and a confusing pull she couldn’t name.

“I’m not interfering,” she shot back, though her voice wavered just slightly. “I’m just… here. For him.” She gestured vaguely toward the house, toward her father, who had remained silent in the background, watching the reunion like a chess player observing pawns move across a board.

Kai’s eyes narrowed, green flames in the moonlight. He stepped closer, and her pulse jumped, every instinct screaming that this proximity was dangerous, that she should step back, yet she didn’t. He was too close, too overwhelming, and her body responded in ways that enraged and terrified her.

“Every part of you being here is interference,” he murmured. “You walk in as if nothing has changed, as if you can just reclaim what you think is yours. Do you even realize what you’ve walked into?”

Her jaw tightened. “Try me,” she whispered, the words sharper than she intended. Her fingers curled at her sides. Every nerve in her body was on fire, but not from fear alone. Something else pulsed beneath the surface—something that reminded her of that moment in the forest, the way their connection had sparked and refused to fade.

Kai tilted his head, as if considering whether to escalate the confrontation further, and the air between them seemed to hum. He was close enough now that she could smell him—the earthy scent, the sharp tang of his pack, the undercurrent of something untamed and magnetic. Heat bloomed in her chest despite herself. She wanted to push him away, wanted to argue, wanted to deny every sensation… yet she couldn’t move.

“Careful,” he said finally, his voice dropping to a dangerous low. “You’re walking a line you don’t understand.”

Seraphina’s chest tightened. “Try me,” she repeated, louder this time. She had never been intimidated by him, not really, though she had feared him enough to respect his power. Now… now, something else simmered beneath that fear. Something dangerous, enticing, and wholly unavoidable.

A sudden howl ripped through the night, slicing across the estate grounds like a blade. Both of them froze, ears straining. The sound was long, mournful, carrying a message she didn’t understand but instinctively felt. Every instinct in her body screamed danger, and yet, in that moment, all her attention was on Kai.

He stiffened, head tilting toward the forest. His body tensed, coiled like a spring, every muscle ready to explode. “Get inside,” he ordered abruptly, though his eyes flicked back to hers, green flames capturing hers in a magnetic pull she couldn’t resist. “Now.”

Seraphina hesitated for a fraction of a heartbeat, torn between running and yielding to the strange connection that thrummed between them. But she had learned enough about him in that brief encounter in the forest: disobeying him was not a safe choice. She moved toward the front doors, the gravel crunching under her boots. Behind her, she felt him follow, silent, predatory, an unspoken promise and a warning in his presence.

Inside, the foyer was cold, shadowed by the towering ceilings and the heavy scent of aged wood and fire. Her father’s eyes followed her, calm yet unreadable, but she didn’t meet them. Her gaze sought Kai’s instead. He lingered near the staircase, his form blocking her path almost deliberately, the tension between them still crackling.

“Stay out of my way,” he said quietly, though his voice carried undercurrents that made her chest ache. “This house… this pack… it’s not a playground.”

Seraphina’s lips pressed into a thin line. “I’m not here to play,” she said. Her words were firm, but a small part of her—the part that still pulsed with that magnetic force she couldn’t explain—fluttered in response to his intensity.

Kai’s gaze flicked toward the window, where the forest beyond seemed to pulse in the silver light of the rising moon. “The night isn’t calm,” he murmured. “Something’s out there. And it’s not waiting for us to be ready.”

A shiver ran down her spine, not entirely from fear. Her pulse jumped, and she realized with a start that she had begun to sense it too—a presence in the shadows, moving just beyond sight, watching, waiting. The air seemed to thrum with expectation, charged energy that set her nerves on edge.

Her father cleared his throat, breaking the tension. “Dinner in thirty,” he said. “You two can settle… whatever you need to settle after.”

Seraphina took a steadying breath and followed the echo of his steps, but her eyes remained fixed on Kai. He didn’t move immediately. His gaze held hers, unblinking, green and magnetic, and she felt that strange pull tighten once more. She wanted to look away, wanted to deny the connection, but she couldn’t. Something deep and inexplicable had already begun.

A low growl reverberated through the estate grounds from the forest beyond, and the echo traveled into the foyer. Seraphina’s stomach tightened again, and Kai’s lips pressed into a thin line.

“We’re not alone,” he murmured. His hand brushed the railing as he climbed the stairs, and though he didn’t reach for her, she could feel it—the bond, the warning, the undeniable spark connecting them.

Her pulse raced as she followed, every instinct alert. She had returned to the Mercer estate, but the night had already made it clear: this was no ordinary homecoming. Danger was close, attraction was closer, and everything—her inheritance, her family, and perhaps her very heart—was about to be tested in ways she hadn’t imagined.

The wolf howl rose again,...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 9.12.2025
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• ISBN-10: 0-00-112291-6 / 0001122916
• ISBN-13: 978-0-00-112291-8 / 9780001122918