Forbidden Love with My Stepbrother

Viviana's POV

“Viviana, be a good girl! Open the door for me!”

I clutched my ears tightly, trembling as I crouched on the toilet seat. The muffled voice from the other side of the door was both soft and menacing, like a devil's enchanting whisper.

Then came three-fleeting-second silence. And then the pounding began. The bathroom door shook violently under the man's relentless fists.

“Open the door! Now! Open it immediately! My patience is running thin,” he barked, no longer disguising his rising anger, words a cocktail of coaxing threats.

“If you keep causing a scene, your mother will get worried. You know her health's not good; she can’t handle this stress. Open the door.”

The wood quivered under each of his blows as he shouted.

I was trembling now, my posture rigid. My freshly changed white sweatpants were already crumpled, with hard creases where my fingers clutched them for dear life.

Swallowing thickly, I forced my dry, parched throat to form words, my voice wavering.

“Dad, Nolan will be back soon.”

For the faintest moment, the noise stilled. Through the muffled barrier of wood and running water, I heard him hiss through his teeth—a low curse, venomous and guttural. “Bitch.”

“You're wrong. Your brother won't be back tonight. The alpha of the Murdahl Pack is negotiating a business deal with him. He’ll be tied up until late.”

After a brief pause, he added, “Not just Nolan, your mother won’t stop me, either. In fact, she’s agreed to this arrangement. I am the alpha. Every wolf in the pack obeys my commands.”

“You know your mother has dialysis tomorrow, don’t you?” he said after another moment of silence, his tone threatening and tentative.

Tears stung my eyes, which forced me to bite down hard on my lip, the taste of blood blooming in my mouth. Summoning every shred of defiance left within me, I roared, “Get lost! John, if you don’t stop this now, I swear I'll tell Nolan. And trust me, you know what that’ll mean for you!”

The man outside was named John, my stepfather, and also the the alpha of Bruno Pack.

For three harrowing years, he’d been my living nightmare.

At first, his gaze unsettled me, lingering on me like he was staring at a whore about to undress anytime. Then came the fleeting touches that skated over my skin, the pilfered underwear lifted from my drawers, and the sour, putrid scents that had invaded my bed.

Tonight, he had shed even the pretense of civility. He tied me up and intended to rape me.

The Bruno Pack was no longer a safe place.

But I couldn't just run away and leave Mom behind—and honestly, I couldn't afford her dialysis treatments three times a week.

The footsteps outside grew faint before disappearing entirely. He was giving up—for tonight, at least.

I dragged my weary steps toward the sink. Cool water gushed over my trembling hands and splashed my neck and forearms. I scrubbed ceaselessly, my pale flesh rubbed red and raw until it bordered on bleeding.

Damn! This life of perpetual dread was eating me alive.

I stared into the mirror. My clothes hung tattered off my shoulders. Tears and mascara streaked down my cheeks like war paint. My green eyes, usually vibrant, gleamed with fear. And on my left cheek bloomed the mark of his violence, five crimson fingerprints as clear as a brand.

I was wolfless. No one would stand up for me. Not even my mother.

Except—

A sharp click at the door yanked me back to reality.

The front entrance opened, and then keys rattled as they were tossed carelessly onto the shoe rack.

I quickly twisted the wire I’d wedged against the bathroom lock, stepping out.

The clock had just struck midnight, and darkness swallowed our neighborhood whole. Only the dim yellow light spilling from the bathroom braved the suffocating black.

My gaze darted toward Nolan.

“Nolan!”

Just as I was about to escape the dim-lit shadows, John suddenly showed up. His hand shot out, dragging me into his vice-like grip.

I screamed.

“Even if he’s back, it doesn’t make any difference,” he hissed. “As long as you behave, I’ll treat you better.”

The stench of his deceit turned my stomach.

“Let go of me! You vile, despicable monster! I will no longer believe your lies! Nolan won’t leave me alone. He won’t!”

Fueled by desperate rage, I twisted and clawed against him.

But I didn't have a wolf. I was just a fragile shadow against his dominant strength, and it wasn’t long before he subdued me.

His hand clamped over my mouth, muffling my cries. “Shut up, and stay silent!” he snarled through clenched teeth. "I brought you back, Viviana. You need to obey whatever I say."

"Nolan, help me! Help!"

I bit down hard on the fleshy part between his thumb and fingers, drawing blood as I screamed Nolan's name with my throat ripped raw, yet he just walked away indifferently, like he hadn't heard a thing.

I figured Nolan never wanted to be my protector. Hell, he probably hated my guts— thanks to me and my mom, he lost his own mother, his family, and every scrap of normalcy he ever had.

“No one’s going to help you."

Due to a lack of oxygen to my brain, John’s cold laughter echoed in my ears like it was coming from miles away.

My eyes, stinging from a painful suffocation, were filled with tears again. With a wicked glint in his eyes, John let out a sharp, mocking laugh, rubbing his hands together as he pinned me down beneath him.

"No! No! Nolan! Nolan!"

My scream got stuck in my throat when Nolan suddenly charged in. His normally blue eyes erupted with a fierce golden gleam like his wolf's as if he was ready to tear everything apart.

With a loud bang, Nolan took John down with a powerful punch.

His strong arm muscles flashed in front of me, veins bulging, as his sun-kissed skin brushed past.

“Goddammit! My face!” John wailed as he writhed. “Nolan, are you insane? How can you strike me over this pathetic, crippled wolf?”

Laying hands on the alpha was an unspeakable act within the pack’s Alpha.

But Nolan didn’t care. He stepped forward, boots grinding into the back of John’s hand.

“Shut up,” snarled Nolan.

His anger burned like embers, silent but all-consuming. Though he never once looked at me, I could feel it. He was furious because I had suffered.

“I warned you,” Nolan growled. “Never threaten a woman in my presence, whoever she is!”

Nolan’s eyes sparkled with a golden intensity, and John grimaced in pain.

But in the next moment, he shoved past Nolan and got back on his feet, rubbing his hand and looking pretty disheveled.

“But I never agreed to that, and she’s hardly a woman,” John shot back.

I shuddered as his vile gaze slid back to me, crawling over my skin like an arachnid spinning threads of fear and revulsion.

“And for the last damn time—Nova’s death is not my fault,” John added petulantly.

The name was like a slap, igniting a fiery crackle in the air around Nolan.

“Shut up! You are not even worthy to speak her name!”

Blazing with rage, Nolan charged, and his kick sent John sprawling before his shift could complete, severing his transformation with a sickening crunch.

I watched the whole thing unfold, witnessing Nolan take John down right in front of me.

I was gasping for breath, struggling to catch it, until I finally had to start pounding my chest.

Nolan seemed to just notice me. With a cold expression, he walked toward his bedroom, leaving me and John, who was sprawled on the floor, behind.

“Come with me,” he ordered, voice clipped and cold. “Tonight, you’re sleeping in my room.”