Rejected By One Alpha, But Claimed By Three

#Chapter 4 When Your Mug Outs You As A Girl Wild for Piercings

[Katie’s POV]

If either Draven or his brother were seriously shocked by what was unfolding, then they were doing a great job of hiding it behind their expressionless faces.

Draven cleared his throat and forced a small smile. “It’s nice to meet you, I’m Draven.”

The guy next to him took it as his cue to introduce himself as well. “And I’m Adrian.”

I ignored the mischievous glint that was in Adrian’s eyes as he let his gaze linger on me longer than necessary.

There was nothing that could have prepared me for that. Of all the damn people that could have been standing behind the door, it just had to be the two people I was doing my utmost damndest to forget about.

Looking at the two of them, they both shared the same colored eyes and similar facial features.

For a brief moment, I truly thought that I was hallucinating. Given all that’s gone on in the last twenty-four hours, I figured I must have finally snapped mentally, and now I was dealing with the effects of burning psychosis.

But no.

A rolling wave of nausea crashed over me as my mom took control of the conversation.

“Your father tells me that the two of you are also attending the same school as Katie,” she acknowledged.

Both brothers nodded their heads as Draven spoke up.

“Yes, Adrian and I are both in the Business Administration Major.”

My mom’s eyes lit up with excitement while I subtly sank back into my seat and fought back the urge to leave the house entirely. Wonderful. Now I had to pretend as though I had no idea who either of these guys was.

“Oh, just like Katie then. That’s wonderful.” She turned to look at me. “The three of you could get together on campus and work on your courses.”

“It would certainly give you the chance to become better acquainted with one another,” William added.

My stomach flipped at the suggestion, yet I buried my discomfort. Unknowing to the two of them, I was already well acquainted with both Granmeyer sons. Not only had I been dating Draven for the last three months, but I had made the drunken mistake of somehow falling into bed with Adrian.

My muscles were still slightly aching from last night, which only caused a deeper feeling of shame to course through me.

William suddenly sat up straight and glanced at both of his sons. “The reason I called both of you here is that I wanted to introduce you to Katie and her mother. They’re going to be your new Stepmother and sister. Now, considering that you all attend the same academy, I highly expect both of you to look out for her while she’s there. Understood?”

I could hardly breathe, much less speak a word in my defense.

Draven merely nodded indifferently, whereas Adrian stole another lingering glance in my direction. His knowing smile sent shivers down my spine.

“That won’t be a problem,” he commented lightly.

Good God. How the hell had this become my life? When did everything become such a horrid mess? My mom had finally found someone good for her, but my relationship with both of William’s sons could very well ruin everything for her.

As the meeting began to wind down, William and my mom stood up from the couch and mentioned some possible dinner plans in the future. Draven, for the first time, spoke out.

“If it’s alright, I’d like to talk to my new sister about something.”

My heart rate picked up speed. Why on earth would Draven wish to speak to me? And about what?

Given our recent history, I would have thought that it was fairly obvious he and I had nothing more to do with each other. There again, I never did get to tell him how we needed to put our particular past behind us and never mention it going forward.

Everyone nodded in agreement and slipped out of the room to give us some privacy. Being left alone with Draven suddenly made me feel uneasy.

“Look, I don’t know what you need to talk to me about,” I started. “But all I have to say to you is that I’ve already broken up with you in my mind. And since I’m, apparently, going to be your new Stepsister, I’m hoping that this relationship remains hidden—”

“I don’t care about any of that,” he said sternly.

I was mildly annoyed that Draven didn’t bother to some much as blink twice at that statement. It was like our relationship really never meant anything to him. He was able to wave it off as though it were nothing but a bad afterthought.

Instead, he chose to bring up an entirely new topic that I was unprepared for.

“I want to know who it was that you slept with last night.”

My eyes grew impossibly wide as I glared back at him in disbelief. How the hell could he have known that? No. That would have been impossible.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I hissed. “I didn’t sleep with anyone.”

I was mildly annoyed that Draven didn’t bother to some much as blink twice at that statement. It was like our relationship really never meant anything to him. He was able to wave it off as though it was nothing but a bad afterthought.

Bastard.

He narrowed his eyes at me. “I don’t believe you.”

I tilted my head forward. “I don’t care what you believe. You’ve made your feelings toward me very clear. Now, I suggest that we drop this ridiculous conversation and move on.”

All I wanted to do was move on. I knew it would take time for me to fully let go of my past with Draven, given all the time we had invested in one another. However, given recent events, it was pretty clear that he may have never felt deeply about me as I did for him.

But for the sake of my mom and her growing future with William, I was willing to forsake that part of my life and move on.

But the look on Draven’s face was somehow proof that he wasn’t too keen on the idea. In fact, he seemed highly interested in what was going on with me at the moment.

Draven stepped closer and reached his hands out to grab the collar of my shirt. Pulling the material to the side to find the hickey I tried so hard to keep hidden. He bit back a low snarl from his throat and shoved me into the corner of the room.

“Why did you lie to me?” he questioned angrily through clenched teeth. “Who the hell was he? Tell me.”

I sucked a sharp breath in through my nose and resisted the urge to come clean. It truly wasn’t any of his business. I owed him no explanation for what went on in my life.

The two of us were practically pressed up against each other. I tried to push Draven away, but it was no use. He was far too strong compared to me.

At that moment, another voice spoke out, causing the two of us to turn our heads.

“Are you looking for me?” Adrian asked with an amused smirk on his face.