Caspian's POV
The scent hits me the second I walk through the front door.
Honey and vanilla. Sweet and warm and absolutely destroying my control.
My wolf lunges against my chest, howling so loud I'm surprised nobody else can hear it. MATE. INSIDE. OURS. CLAIM NOW.
"No," I growl under my breath. "Shut up. She's our stepsister. This isn't happening."
But my feet are already moving toward the living room. Toward her. Like my body's not even mine anymore.
I spent all day in the forest trying to convince myself I imagined the mate scent yesterday. That it was some random she-wolf passing through our territory. That the Moon Goddess wouldn't be cruel enough to make my future stepsister my fated mate.
I was wrong.
The scent gets stronger with every step. My skin burns. My hands shake. I've never felt anything like this. It's like every cell in my body is being pulled toward her by an invisible rope.
I stop in the living room doorway and my heart literally stops.
She's standing by the window with her back to me. Blonde hair falls down her back in soft waves. She's not tall—maybe five-foot-five—and way too fragile-looking for a werewolf pack house. Human. Breakable. Completely wrong for me.
And absolutely, undeniably my mate.
TURN AROUND, my wolf demands. NEED TO SEE HER FACE.
Like she hears my thoughts, she turns.
Time stops.
She's beautiful. Not pretty—beautiful. Big brown eyes that look too sad for someone her age. Full lips. Skin that looks soft and warm. Everything about her makes my wolf go absolutely insane.
But it's more than looks. It's the way she stands—arms wrapped around herself like she's trying to hold herself together. It's the fear in her eyes mixed with stubborn strength. It's the way she smells not just like honey and vanilla, but like sadness and secrets.
My mate is scared. Hurting. And every instinct I have is screaming to fix it.
"You must be Caspian." Her voice is quiet but steady.
I can't speak. My throat has completely closed. My wolf is chanting matematemateMATEMATEMATE so loud I can barely think.
"The strong, silent type. Great." She drops her arms and lifts her chin. "Look, I know you don't want me here. Your dad told my mom you're not happy about this whole situation. That makes two of us. I didn't ask to move here. I didn't ask to have a stepbrother. So how about we just stay out of each other's way and pretend this whole thing isn't happening?"
Each word feels like a knife. She doesn't want me. She doesn't even know what we are and she's already rejecting me.
Good. That's good. I don't want this either.
Liar.
"Fine by me," I force out. My voice sounds rough. Wrong. "Stay out of my way and we won't have problems."
Her eyes narrow. "That's it? That's all you have to say?"
"What do you want me to say?" I step into the room and immediately regret it. Her scent wraps around me like a blanket. "Welcome to the family? Happy to have you here? I'd be lying."
"At least you're honest." She crosses her arms again. "Your dad said you'd show me around. Guess that's not happening."
"Guess not."
We stare at each other. The air feels electric. Charged. My wolf is begging me to move closer, to touch her, to mark her as ours.
I take a step back instead.
"Dinner's at seven," I say. "Don't be late. Dad hates that."
"Can't wait," she mutters.
I turn to leave before my control snaps completely. Before I do something stupid like tell her she's my mate and ruin both our lives.
"Caspian?"
I stop but don't turn around. "What?"
"Was that you? In the forest? The black wolf watching my window?"
My blood runs cold. She saw me. Of course she saw me. I sat there for an hour staring at her like a creep because my wolf refused to leave our mate unguarded.
"Lots of wolves in the forest," I say. "Could've been anyone."
"It felt like you."
I do turn around then. "You don't even know me. How would you know what I feel like?"
She bites her lip, looking confused. "I don't know. I just... knew. Is that weird?"
It's the mate bond. She's feeling it too even though she doesn't understand what it is. The pull. The connection. The certainty.
This is so much worse than I thought.
"Yeah," I lie. "It's weird. Stay away from the forest at night. It's dangerous for humans."
"Everyone keeps saying that. Why?"
"Because humans are prey." I let my eyes flash silver—my wolf rising. "And wolves hunt at night."
She flinches but doesn't back down. "Are you threatening me?"
"I'm warning you." I move closer before I can stop myself. One step. Two. Until I'm close enough to smell the fear spike in her scent. Close enough to hear her heartbeat racing. "You're in a werewolf pack now, Linnea. Everything here can kill you. The forest. The wolves. Me."
Her chin lifts higher. "Then I guess I better be careful."
Brave little mate. My wolf preens with pride.
"Yeah," I breathe. "You better."
I force myself to walk away. Every step feels wrong. My wolf is raging, demanding I go back, that I claim her, that I tell her the truth.
I make it to my room and slam the door. My hands grip my hair as I pace. This can't be happening. The Moon Goddess must hate me. What kind of sick joke is this?
My mate is my seventeen-year-old human stepsister.
If I claim her, the pack will riot. Stepsiblings being mates is forbidden—doesn't matter that we're not blood-related. The scandal alone would destroy my father's leadership.
If I reject her, the mate bond will slowly kill us both. That's how it works. Rejected mates don't survive.
And if I tell her the truth? She'll think I'm insane. She just found out werewolves exist. How am I supposed to explain that she's my fated mate? That the Moon Goddess chose her for me before we were even born?
A knock on my door makes me jump.
"Caspian?" My father's voice. "Open up."
I open the door. Dad stands there looking way too knowing.
"You met her," he says. It's not a question.
"Yeah. I met her."
"And?"
I want to lie. I want to say she's just some human girl and I don't care. But Dad's an Alpha. He can smell lies.
"She's my mate," I whisper.
His face goes pale. "What?"
"Linnea. She's my fated mate." The words taste like ash. "The one the Moon Goddess chose for me? It's her. My future stepsister."
Dad runs his hand through his hair. For the first time in my life, he looks scared.
"This is bad, Caspian. Really bad."
"You think I don't know that?"
"If the pack finds out—"
"They won't." I cut him off. "Because I'm rejecting the bond. She's human anyway. The mating transformation would probably kill her."
"Rejecting a mate bond could kill you both—"
"I don't care!" My voice rises. "What choice do I have? Keep the bond and watch the pack tear itself apart? Claim her and watch her die in transformation? There's no good option here!"
Dad grabs my shoulders. "Caspian, listen to me. Don't do anything rash. We'll figure this out. Maybe there's a way—"
A scream cuts through the house.
Linnea's scream.
My wolf explodes. I'm running before my brain catches up, taking the stairs three at a time, following her scent to her bedroom.
I throw open the door.
She's on the floor, gasping, clutching her stomach. Blood seeps through her fingers.
"Linnea!" I'm beside her in a second. "What happened? Who hurt you?"
"No one," she gasps. "I'm—I think I'm—"
She faints in my arms.
And that's when I smell it. Under the honey and vanilla and fear.
Another heartbeat. Tiny. Fast. Growing inside her.
My mate is pregnant.