My Jealous Alpha Stepbrother
Chapter 97

Becky

I pop another popcorn into my mouth as I eagerly wait for the battle of the year to begin: Misha vs. Blaze. I wouldn’t miss this for anything in the world and smile at my nice view of the field. This is going to be—

“Is this seat taken?”

A male wearing a suit is standing over me. He has to be in his forties, perhaps older, with warm brown eyes that probably look as surprised as mine once the mate bond washes over us.

It settles down like a thick, fuzzy blanket, but I don’t feel excited upon closer inspection of my mate.

“Aren’t you too old for me?” I ask, agitated because I’m a vampire, and my mate is already greying at the temples. Seriously? This werewolf isn’t going to stick around for very long… how typical.

To my surprise, the man laughs, and—without asking—the dude sits beside me with an impish grin. “Never judge a book by the cover. I’m way younger than I look.”

I frown and glare down my feet. “It’s not your age that is the problem… it’s that I will already live longer than my mate, and no offense, but you’ve already lived for so long—”

“I’m nineteen years old.”

His words on interruption got me snorting out loud. I lift my eyes to him and have to cover my mouth not to spit out my popcorn. Is he messing with me? There is no way he is only nineteen years old!

“Well, at least you have humor!”

His smile only grows, and he thrusts out his hand. “Elijah.”

I stare at his tanned hand in suspicion. I’m extroverted toward my friends, but Damien taught me to be careful with strangers. It doesn’t matter if this guy is my mate. I continue to glare at his hand, and Elijah chuckles at that, and I gaze up into his warm, brown eyes.

“I’m not dangerous…” he pauses then, and a gleam lights up in his eye. It gives him a mischievous look. “Wait, let me correct that: I’m very dangerous, but not towards you.”

“Pssh, you dangerous?” I grin. “You’re a werewolf, and newsflash: as a vampire, I’m not afraid of you.”

Elijah looks like he is trying not to smile. “Who said I’m just another regular werewolf?”

I freeze but don’t have time to ask what he means. Misha is now standing on the field, and the crowd has gone wild. For Misha or Blaze? Hard to tell. Blaze is wearing his t-shirt and standing in sweatpants, and the women seem equally interested in him.

“Who are you rooting for?” Elijah curiously asks me.

“Misha.” A smile plays over my lips as I watch my friend get into position. Josie is sitting in the bottom row, watching Misha with worried eyes, but his stance tells me he will win.

“I see… you’re not going to ask who I’m rooting for?”

“Well, let’s see… you’re shifty-shady and have been trying to hint that you’re special, so… Blaze?”

Elijah snorts. “You’re funny… but no, I’m rooting for Legolas.”

Don’t laugh, Becky. He isn’t worth it, and sure, he is gauging your reaction, but you’re weak if you smile.

I smile.

Damn it!

“I see… for a second, I thought you were a member of the Howler pack.”

“I am,” Elijah admits, shrugging. “Doesn’t mean I like my brother’s life choices. He is crazy and needs to be stopped.”

“Alpha Blaze is your brother?”

“Yup.”

“Shit.”

“Mhm.”

“My condolences.”

Elijah shows me a glimpse of his teeth; his canine ones are sharp. “It will make me feel better if you let me take you to dinner.”

I almost smile, almost. “Nice try, but… I don’t die men who lie about their age when it’s obvious they are over forty,” my eyelashes flicker to his arms and legs, and I grimace. “Aren’t you a bit thin for a werewolf?”

“Mhm, I haven’t eaten in forever.”

“You want me to buy you a burger?”

Amusement plays over his features. “You’re cute, but regular human food isn’t what my body craves… how about a k**s?”

I freeze in horror as the cogwheels turn in my head. “Wait a minute… if Blaze is your brother—” I gasp. “Are you trying to suck the life force out of your own mate?!”

He laughs. “No, no, it doesn’t work like that! Since you’re my mate, you won’t be harmed at all! But it needs to be my mate I’m intimate with. I believe it’s so my kind don’t cheat on their mate without consequences.”

“Oh, okay…” I look him up and down. He really needs to put on some weight. Or I mean… Elijah isn’t ugly, but he looks weak. “Well, no offense, but… I’m not interested at all.”

Even though there is a mate bond between us, it’s weak and barely even noticeable. I don’t know if that means Elijah is dying, but the point is that I’m not attracted to him. His eyes have dark circles underneath them, and no offense, but I like beef.

“Ah, so you’re shallow?” To my surprise, he looks amused rather than offended, and that, my friend, catches my interest.

“I am…” there is no point in hiding it. “I like big men, which is why I’m usually drawn to werewolves, but…”

He laughs. “I get it. No need to explain,” those brown eyes roam over my face and his smile is playful. “But what if I’m actually very handsome, and all I need is some intimacy to get it back?”

“Nice try, Romeo,” I focus on the battle. Avery is counting down the seconds for it to start. “Look like the match is about to—”

I turn into a stone when the battle begins, unsure whether to feel horrified or amazed at the scene. Avery only got to shout, “Go!” Before it happened—Misha impaled Blaze so fast he couldn’t even attack.

The crowd is still in shock, unsure of what happened. Alpha Blaze was struck through his crotch and intestines, and the point of the ice spear is now sticking up from his head.

“Holy shit…” Elijah whispers, gripping the seat while gaping down at Misha. He is calmly staring down at the dead Alpha, and Elijah swallows audibly. “Your Alpha… he… he ended that within seconds…”

“He sure did…” my heart is pounding so fast I can barely sit still. The crowd isn’t shouting or cheering yet, and I replace my voice. “Wait… what does this victory mean?”

Elijah whispers his response, “I don’t know.”

I continue to blink down at Misha.

The rest of the Howler pack has gone deathly silent, and I hold my breath when Misha turns to face the enemy pack. I have no idea what is going on inside that crazy head of his, but the words leaving his lips are even worse than I could have ever imagined.

“Let there be a pack war. Your former Alpha has made the females of our pack disappear. He sucked the life force out of them, our innocent girls—we have a witness, and if you deny this happened and have a problem with me killing your Alpha, I will end each and every one of you.”

Elijah breathes a laugh in his seat. “There you have your answer,” when I look at him, he smirks at me. “Looks like we are on opposite sides in an upcoming war, honey.”