Tangled Between The Stepbrothers | Read Free Preview
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Chapter 2
Ayla Cross
“You’re pathetic, Cross. Just like your mom.”
Jace Reyes’ voice still rang in my ears, even hours after I faceplanted in the cafeteria. His words had sliced right through me, louder than the thud of my body hitting the floor.
It wasn’t just the fall. It was the way he said it, with that smirk twisting his stupidly perfect face—like hurting me was entertainment.
Apparently, just existing was enough to piss everyone off.
I clutched my arms around myself, standing awkwardly by Zane’s locker, trying not to look like I was waiting.
But I was.
I’d been standing here for nearly five minutes like a loser. I didn’t even know what I was doing anymore—maybe just hoping for one decent moment. Maybe hoping the one person who didn’t let Brooke get away with treating me like dirt earlier would at least acknowledge me.
Maybe I’m just broken.
I rubbed my hands together to distract from the gnawing doubt crawling through my chest.
Am I really turning into one of them? Flipping my hair and waiting for some hot guy to look at me like I matter?
Hell no. I wasn’t Brooke Leclair, faking giggles and wearing perfume like a weapon. I wasn’t trying to flirt. Not really.
Just… maybe thank him. That’s all.
Before I could fully convince myself I wasn’t being desperate, a wave of guys in varsity jackets stormed down the hall like they owned it. One of them slammed a shoulder into me hard enough to make me stumble into the locker behind me.
No apologies.
Just middle fingers and snickers as they passed.
I gritted my teeth, swallowing the scream burning in my throat.
“You stalking me now, Cross?”
Zane’s voice came from behind, deep and slow and effortless.
My body reacted before my brain could catch up—every nerve awake, aware, humming with too much feeling. I turned, and there he was, towering over me with that calm, dangerous energy that always made the air feel thinner.
He looked me up and down—not in a sexual way, more like he was deciding whether I was worth noticing.
God, why did my stomach flip at the way he said my name? Like it didn’t belong to an insult for once.
Zane popped his locker open and shoved in a folder full of charcoal sketches. I didn’t dare ask what they were. His silence made me feel stupid for standing there.
“What do you want?” he asked, voice flat. No emotion. No interest.
I hesitated, my courage unraveling with every second.
“I just… wanted to say thanks,” I started, voice quiet. “For earlier. Brooke’s always like that and—”
“I wasn’t defending you,” he cut in.
Just like that.
My mouth snapped shut as heat rushed to my face.
“I don’t need your gratitude. I just didn’t want to hear her voice anymore,” he added.
And then—without warning—he shouldered past me. Hard. I stumbled, breath catching in my throat as my body lit up where his arm grazed mine. Like something electric had passed between us, fast and sharp.
I hated how my heart reacted. Hated the way I felt it everywhere.
He paused just long enough to toss one more dagger over his shoulder. “And by the way… that thing you’re wearing? Burn it. It’s giving ‘dumpster chic.’ Kind of iconic, honestly.”
Then he walked away, like he hadn’t just dropped a bomb.
I sat on the bench outside school a few minutes later, head down, hoodie pulled up.
It’s not you. It’s them. Not you. Them. I repeated it in my head like a prayer.
The Reyes twins had every reason to hate me. My mom—Lexie Cross—had been the sidepiece that wrecked their picture-perfect family. It was public knowledge in Wolf Cove. Gossip moved fast in our town, but bloodlines moved faster.
My last name came with curses I didn’t choose.
And still, every time I tried to act normal, it backfired.
I passed a group of girls sprawled across the lobby floor like they were posing for a magazine shoot. Brooke Leclair was in the center, of course. Long legs. Perfect posture. Eyes like poison.
I didn’t need to hear what she was whispering to her friends. The way she cut her eyes at me said everything.
I dropped my gaze and kept walking.
I didn’t belong here. I never would.
The rumble of the school bus engine caught my attention, and I broke into a run.
“Wait! Hey—wait!”
I waved my arms like a maniac, boots slapping the pavement. But the driver just smirked at me in the side mirror and sped up. Loud music blared from inside the bus like a final insult.
Awesome.
Guess I was walking home.
Through downtown. Alone. At dusk.
Exactly what every girl dreams of.
I was halfway down my block when the feeling started.
That cold prickle on the back of my neck. That whisper of instinct that said: You’re not alone.
I glanced behind me.
Nothing.
The clouds had rolled in, making the red-roofed houses on my street look eerie and abandoned. Wind howled between the buildings. One of the streetlights flickered.
I picked up my pace.
Just a few more blocks.
You’re imagining things.
A bulb above me buzzed, flared, then burst with a sharp pop.
My feet stopped. My pulse didn’t.
The sound of footsteps came next.
Slow. Heavy. Getting closer.
I turned around—and froze.
Someone in a hooded jacket was walking straight toward me.
I backed away fast. My breathing turned ragged. My limbs felt loose, shaky, disconnected from my body.
“Hey! I don’t know who you are, but if this is some joke, it’s not funny!”
No answer.
I turned and ran.
My boots hit puddles. Mud splashed my legs. My breath turned to frost in the cold air.
Whoever it was was still behind me—getting closer.
Then something grabbed my shoulder.
I whipped around and shoved them with everything I had. We both tumbled into the street just as headlights flared, a horn blaring like judgment day.
I winced, shielding my eyes—then looked up.
And time stopped.
“Ayla, what the hell is wrong with you?!”
The voice hit me harder than the fall.
I knew that voice.
That face.
That ghost.
“Mom?”
Lexie Cross stared down at me, her features lit up in bright yellow by the car’s headlights.
I couldn’t breathe.
The world went quiet except for the echo of the driver’s angry voice in the background.
She was back.
And I knew—somehow, in my bones—that this was only the beginning.
Chapter 3
Ayla Cross
“What are you doing here?” I snapped, the cold soaking into my spine through the back of my dress. “What—decided to slum it with the rejects for a day?”
I was drenched, muddy, and breathing hard. My clothes were stuck to me, soaked from the pothole water I’d landed in during our little roadside reunion. If I’d looked like a mess before, now I was roadkill with a pulse.
Lexie Cross—the woman I hadn’t seen in three years—tilted her head like I was overreacting.
“I’m here for you, Ayla,” she said softly, like that fixed anything. “I thought you’d be glad.”
“No one in this town wants you around. You show your face and someone’s bound to throw a rock at it.” My voice cracked. I didn’t care.
She flinched, but her face settled into a practiced pout like I’d just spilled tea on her heels.
Even after everything, she was still beautiful. Tall, composed, red hair slicked back and pinned with a jeweled clip that probably cost more than my tuition. She looked like she hadn’t aged a day—like betrayal was her skincare routine.
“Still dramatic,” she muttered, pulling me out of the street and back onto the sidewalk like I was a toddler. “Would it kill you to call me ‘Mom’?”
Would it kill you to act like one?
I bit back the words. I was too exhausted to argue.
We walked the rest of the way in silence. She moved fast, like she already knew she wasn’t welcome. When we got to my dad’s old cottage—what little he left behind before he… left—I fumbled for my keys.
Lexie didn’t wait for an invite. She pushed past me into the living room like she still lived here. Like she hadn’t disappeared the night her name hit the gossip blogs.
“What do you want?” I said tightly, following her inside.
She didn’t answer. Just walked straight into my room and yanked open the dresser like she owned it.
“Hey—what the hell—”
She tossed a pile of my clothes onto the bed and snapped the drawer shut, holding it out toward me like a suitcase.
“You’re coming with me. Tonight.”
“Excuse me?”
“We’re leaving. You’re staying at the Reyes estate now.”
I blinked. “The what?”
“Don’t argue, Ayla. This isn’t up for debate. My husband—Alpha Reyes—wants you at the house.”
House? It was basically a palace. I’d seen photos. Rumors about what went on inside that place were practically a school-wide conspiracy theory.
I folded my arms. “Why? Why now? You haven’t seen me in years, and now I’m supposed to move into the wolves’ nest like I belong there?”
Lexie sighed like I was the one being unreasonable.
“You’ll understand soon. Just… trust me.”
I laughed without humor. “Trust you? That’s rich.”
She didn’t respond.
Next thing I knew, we were in a taxi. Lexie was smoothing out the sleeves of her pristine white blazer while I sat beside her in a wet hoodie, fists clenched in my lap.
“To the Reyes estate, please,” she chirped.
My stomach dropped.
Just like that, I was leaving everything behind—with the woman who’d left me behind first.
“We’re here. Brace yourself,” Lexie muttered as the car rolled up a long private road.
I stared out the window at what looked like a luxury fortress. Gated property. Four stories of white stone and dark-tinted windows. Spotless gardens that didn’t look like they’d ever been touched by weather or humans.
At the entrance: Alpha Reyes, flanked by his sons.
They looked like bodyguards in suits, arms folded, eyes unreadable. Zane’s gaze was already on me. Cold. Calculating. Jace looked like he’d rather be anywhere else.
“Y-Your Highness,” I said awkwardly, bowing my head.
Alpha Reyes didn’t say anything. His face was carved from steel. One long scar dragged down the side of his face, and his silence was somehow louder than yelling.
“Is this the girl?” he asked Lexie, ignoring me completely.
Before I could respond, Jace let out a groan loud enough to echo.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
He turned and walked inside without waiting.
Lexie, of course, followed her husband like a shadow, heels clicking against the pavement.
Just like that, I was left standing there like baggage. Zane stared at me for a beat longer, then turned and started walking without a word.
I had no choice but to follow.
Inside, the house was spotless. Cold. Clinical. Like the kind of place where even the rugs had their own cleaning staff. I couldn’t stop staring at the marble floors or the tall ceilings. It didn’t feel like somewhere people actually lived—it felt like a showroom.
Lexie was already halfway down the hall, talking about which rooms I could and couldn’t access. I tuned her out. My head was pounding. My heart hadn’t slowed since we got here.
“Marley—” I started, calling her by her first name again.
Lexie stopped, spun on me fast, her red hair slapping my shoulder.
“Don’t you ever call me that again,” she hissed. “You don’t get to disrespect me just because you’re angry.”
“I’m angry because you abandoned me.”
She stepped forward. I stepped back.
“I didn’t have a choice,” she said. “This is bigger than you. Bigger than me. You’re here now, and you’ll do what’s expected. Got it?”
I didn’t respond.
“Get cleaned up. Meet me downstairs. In this house, we pull our weight. We cook. We follow rules. No exceptions.”
Then she left me standing in the hallway, still soaked, still stunned.
A noise made me turn—and there was Jace. Standing a few feet away. Eyes narrowed.
Had he heard all that?
For a second, his expression softened. Almost pity.
But then it hardened again.
He walked past me without a word.
I clenched my jaw, blinked back the sting in my eyes, and made my way down the hall toward the kitchen. The scent of ginger and cloves hit me like a punch.
Lexie was already there, humming to herself in a silk robe like she hadn’t just torn me down five minutes ago.
“Here, make yourself useful,” she said, shoving a dish towel at me like we were normal. Like none of this was chaos.
I took it without looking at her.
What had I walked into?
And more importantly—how the hell was I going to survive it?
Preview 3
Ayla Cross didn’t ask to be dragged into the world of Lycans, lies, and legacy. But when she’s forced to transfer to Moon Crust Academy—known for its elite students and darker secrets—she becomes the school’s newest target.
As the daughter of a scandalous woman with ties to the powerful Storm family, Ayla is marked before she even steps through the academy gates. Living under the same roof as Zane and Jace Reyes—the infamous Lycan twins with brutal charm and untouchable status—only makes things worse.
Mocked, bullied, and stalked by something far more sinister than mean girls, Ayla finds herself caught between surviving high school and surviving the monsters that keep hunting her.
Thrown into a forced alliance with the very boys who make her blood boil and her heart race, Ayla must navigate dangerous desires, hidden truths, and a bond that was never supposed to form.
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