All Chapters of Once My Bully, Now My Stepbrother & Mate: Chapter 1 - Chapter 4

Three years later.I curled up on our secondhand couch, afternoon sunlight streaming through the living room window of my apartment It wasn't much—peeling paint, creaky floors, a bathroom door that didn't close all the way—but it was mine. [At least from the company I worked for] And that meant everything.My phone buzzed for the tenth time that day. I glanced at the screen and immediately silenced it, my jaw clenching hard enough to make my teeth ache."Who keeps blowing up your phone?" Brielle emerged from the kitchen, two mugs of coffee in her hands. She passed me one and flopped down beside me, her blonde curls still damp from her shower."My mother." The words tasted bitter.Brielle's eyebrows shot up. "Sheila? I thought you blocked her number.""I did. She got a new one." I took a sip of coffee, welcoming the burn. "She's been calling for three days straight. Leaving voicemails. Texting. The whole desperate routine.""What does she want?""The usual." I set my mug down harder t

I stood frozen in the doorway, my brain refusing to process what I was seeing.Xavier. Here. In my mother's house. Or rather my mother was in his house."Kira, honey, this is Xavier Sterling," Mom said again, her smile so wide it hurt to look at. "Your new stepbrother. Isn't this wonderful? We're a real family now!"I wished the earth would open up and swallow me whole."This is a terrible idea." My voice came out flat, emotionless. "I need to go home."Mom's face crumpled. "What? But you just got here. Why would you—""Why?" I laughed, and the sound was bitter enough to curdle milk. "You really have to ask me why?""Kira, please, I don't understand—""Of course you don't understand!" The words exploded out of me, three years of suppressed rage finally finding their target. "If you had paid one moment of attention during my entire childhood, you wouldn't need to ask. If you'd looked up from your bottles and your pills for even a second, you would have seen me come home with scars. Wit