Mated To My Obsessive Stepbrother

Chapter 141

Chapter 141

KASMINE

The crowd grew still.

I tilted my head back and stared up at the sky. The moon was almost there- gliding slowly and painfully toward the center of the heavens. It wasn't full tonight. Just a gentle crescent. But that didn't matter. Everyone knew-on your twenty-first birthday, the second the moon touched the center of the sky, the magic awakened. The wolf either came or it didn't.

My chest rose and fell quickly.

Almost there.

Almost.

Then-

It happened.

A sharp, stabbing pain shot through my spine like lightning. My legs buckled. I hit the ground hard, knees slamming into the grass as my hands dug into the earth.

A scream tore from my throat before I could stop it.

It felt like fire was eating me from the inside out. Like my skin was being peeled, my bones shattered and glued back together wrong, I could hear them-cracking, shifting snapping-over and over again like a thousand sticks breaking at once,

I couldn't breathe.

I couldn't even think

I was writhing and gasping, my body folding in on itself. Every nerve was burning. My hands were stretching- elongating-fingers tearing and reshaping into paws. My back arched violently. My spine curved. I clawed at the ground, screaming into the dirt, barely aware of the sobs and groans around me from the others going through the same thing.

Then-just when I thought I would pass out-

It stopped.

Silence fell.

Everything in me was still.

Everything outside me was different.

I opened my eyes. Everything looked clearer. Sharper. Brighter. I could hear everything-even the thump of Jake's heart from where he stood. I could smell the grass, the fire, the sweat, the fear, the excitement.

I didn't feel the grass anymore, I didn't feel the tremble in my limbs or the ache where my knees had slammed

rippling through me like a river that had

stood, but

on four

Chapter 141

paws dug into the dirt with an

and clapped,

after years of being

instinct, I tipped my head back, let out a howl, and

I would have done it anyway. My paws barely touched the ground as

blurred around me, but somehow, I could still see

want

But I had to,

broke back through the tree line, back into the crowd, and

a soft white robe, draping

pulled it tight around my shoulders,

And then-

The scent hit me.

Holy. Fucking, Hell.

I staggered

was like someone had punched me in the lungs. My knees buckled slightly,

reached out to steady myself, but there

to hold on to.

It was him.

it was-wherever he was-his scent was burning through the

was sharp and rich, like cedar and smoke-drenched earth after rain. Powerful. Dark. Thick. It was sex and danger and dominance-everything a

Jake's subtle warmth. Jake smelled like cinnamon and safety. This

bring

demanded submission. And my wolf-traitorous bitch that she was- immediately rolled over inside me like she'd found home. My chest ached. My eyes

Beta, maybe. But definitely

And that mean

My throat went dry.

time to fall because I turned slowly, my

thou

My eyes scanned the sea of faces one by one. I could barely

was

was it coming

Who?

stopped just before the edge of the crowd. They were still cheering and celebrating. No one else seemed