Mated To My Obsessive Foster Brother

Chapter 1

Olivia

•••

I was born on a moonless night, according to my foster parents—my real parents did not want me and abandoned me like yesterday's forgotten scraps, leaving them lucky enough to adopt me.

"Who would want a wolfless girl like you? You have no wolf, and you should not dream big of becoming anything important in this pack," my foster mother, Nancy George, had told me, her words slicing through me like icy thorns.

I was bullied growing up, forbidden from doing anything, my spirit trampled like wildflowers under careless boots.

However, I overcame all that after finishing my schooling at the pack's high school, and I set out to apply for an admission form into the pack's university.

On this Saturday morning, I decided to inform my foster mother, Nancy, about my interest in gaining admission into the pack's university to study medicine, as I wanted to help the pack members.

As a 17-year-old girl, I had seen many of our pack wolves fall sick, their bodies wracked with fever like storms raging unchecked, and this sparked a desire in me to study medicine to help them.

As I woke up in my room on the second wing of the mansion, I breathed out heavily, a sigh that hung in the air like morning mist, knowing I had to try my luck with my foster mother. She could be cruel to me sometimes, pampering her own daughter, Emily, like a delicate flower in a gilded vase. But I had to try. It was my only hope and chance of gaining admission into the pack's university, which was expensive.

My foster mother, Nancy George, worked as a nurse in the pack's hospital, and her husband, Wren, was a lawyer, even though they were delta wolves. They were rich from working and taking care of their two children, Mark and Emily, and they spoiled them rotten, showering them with gifts that gleamed like stars in the night sky.

Mark was a 24-year-old guy and hardly at home, but strangely, he had returned, as he was a basketball star player with his own money. Yet he was spoiled and had several girlfriends, whom he often brought home like trophies on display. His mother would never reprimand him for it; instead, she encouraged him not to take any of those girls seriously and to wait for his fated mate.

However, I could not blame Mark—he was rich, bolstered by his parents' wealth. The young ladies in our pack, the Starfield Pack, adored him, fluttering around like moths to a flame.

As I got out of my bed, slipping into a white dress that whispered against my skin, I made my way to the living room, seeing it was already past 8 a.m. The day was bright and sunny on this Saturday morning, sunlight streaming through the windows like golden rivers, and I needed to push my luck. I had no wolf because of my history of being born on a moonless night, so I was like a curse, not fully a werewolf like them—my existence a shadow haunting the edges of their world.

As I approached the living room, walking down the corridor where the walls seemed to lean in with silent judgment, I heard Emily's excited voice piercing the air like a triumphant song. "Mom, I still cannot believe it—that Daniel Ryan, the Beta's son, is asking me to be his girlfriend."

My heart clenched like a fist wrapped in barbed wire when I heard Emily say that. Daniel had previously asked me to be his girlfriend, but I told him no. Well, he did not give me a chance to explain myself as he spat in my face and pushed me to the ground, the dirt grinding into my palms like accusing fingers.

"Who would want to date a worthless wolf like you? I was only doing you a favor," he spat, in front of many of my high school friends, their stares burning into me like hot coals. I was so embarrassed, my cheeks flaming as if scorched by an unseen fire, and Emily came rushing over to meet Daniel. She held his hand and told him, "Daniel, you can be my boyfriend and don't waste your time on this bìtch."

My heart ached, a dull throb like waves crashing against jagged rocks, but I pushed the hurt aside. They were good for each other, I thought, but Daniel peered at me angrily, as he was the Beta's son, and my rejection made him feel bad, his pride wounded like a beast denied its prey. But I tried to avoid him. After all, he was not a student of my set. He had only come to the school for his younger sister's graduation certificate.

Shutting my eyes against the painful memories that clawed at me like restless ghosts, I clenched my fist and moved into the living room. The air thickened at the sight of me, growing heavy and oppressive like a storm cloud gathering, and the family at the dining table stopped eating as they sensed my presence, their forks hovering like paused accusations.

"Good morning," I greeted them with a forced smile, my voice trembling like a leaf in the wind.

"Mm. Morning. What do you want here?" Nancy asked, as she picked up a glass of water and drank, the liquid glinting like liquid silver. She sat beside her husband, while her son and daughter sat across from her, their eyes pinning me in place.

Seeing their gazes on me, sharp as daggers, I spluttered but decided to go straight to the point.

"Um, Aunt, I want to further my education at the pack's university."

"Hahaha!" Nancy laughed, as she peered at me, her eyes narrowing like a predator sizing up prey. She wore a blue nightdress, and she was fair and beautiful for her age, her skin glowing softly in the morning light.

"Why should you further your education? You're wolfless, and you do not have to think of going to the pack university. You should serve as our maid, as repayment for all the money we spent on feeding you up to this size. Isn't that right, honey?" She shifted her gaze to her husband, who nodded, his agreement rumbling like distant thunder.

"Yes. My mate is right," declared Mr. George, his voice firm as unyielding stone.

"Olivia, you are to quit your ambitions of going to the Pack University and serve as a cleaner here," he said, the words landing like blows.

"No! It's been my dream to create medicines to help our pack members become better. Please," I knelt before my foster parents, my knees hitting the floor with a soft thud, grateful they had adopted me and fed me. But I had to further my education, the dream burning in my chest like an unquenchable ember.

Emily rose from her dining chair, as she wore a white nightdress that flowed like silk, and she rushed up to meet me, her face twisted in fury.

"You bìtch! Didn't you hear Mom say that you are not going to the Pack University? You're to become a servant here in our home and clean the house. Got that!" She smacked me across my left cheek, the sting exploding like fireworks, sending me falling to the ground, the world tilting like a ship in a gale.

"That's enough, Emily!" Mark yelled, his icy voice cutting through the room like a winter gale, making his sister jump as she turned to look at him, her eyes wide with shock.

"Mark, are you taking this bìtch's side over me, your sister? Mom, Dad, Mark is favoring Olivia!" Emily cried, pointing at me like a accusing arrow. The atmosphere in the dining room became thick, tension coiling like a serpent ready to strike, as my foster parents looked at Mark suspiciously and asked him, "What has come over you, Mark? How can you defend that worthless girl? We only adopted Olivia to give Emily a younger sister, and since Emily does not want Olivia anymore, you're not to favor Olivia or see her as your sister. Now, apologize to Emily!" Mr. George declared, his command echoing like a judge's gavel.

Mark peered at his parents' faces, his jaw clenched like granite. He rose to his feet, the chair scraping back with a harsh groan. "Mom, Dad, you both are being unjust. I cannot sit here and watch you bully Olivia just because she does not have a wolf. If you guys don't want her presence anymore, take her back to the orphanage. I am out of here."

Mark walked away from the dining room, not sparing a glance at me, and my jaw dropped at his blunt words to his parents, hanging in the air like a thunderclap.

"Mark! Mark! Come back here!" His parents tried calling him, but he had already left the house, the sound of his car starting in the garage filling the air like a roaring beast as he drove off.

"You slut! What did you do to possess my only son?!" Nancy yelled, as she rushed toward me and descended on me in the living room, her rage a whirlwind unleashed.

Her hands connected to my face, smacking me continuously like relentless rain on a fragile roof, until the world faded to black and I fainted, darkness swallowing me whole.