Page 11 of Step Alpha

I hide my face over the bowl of cereal, keeping my back turned to all of them. Instead of sitting at the table, I stand at the counter and look out the window at the incredible view of the mountains.

“My Jeep is still in Durham,” Wilde mutters.

Logan is silent for a moment. “Leslie, give him the keys to your Subaru,” he says. “We’ll talk more when I get home.”

Now I turn to see what my mom will do.

She pauses a moment, shooting me a worried glance, but she’s too dedicated to making this thing with Logan work out. She leaves the kitchen and returns with the keys to her car.

Fuck.

Just when I thought things couldn’t get worse, they did.

* * *

Wilde

For someone so little, Rayne is full of sass. Not with my dad–she’s not stupid. But with me.

When it’s time to go to school, she comes and kicks my shoe. “Let’s go.”

Noplease. No meekness. I don’t even scent fear on her. She’s in baggy shorts and a loose t-shirt, which I hate. She could look so much better. I’ve seen her body. It’s decent. There’s no need to downplay it the way she does.

Her scent invades my senses. I don’t mind it. It’s infinitely better than the scent of a human, even if she is defective. I actually find it pleasant.

I also don’t mind the attitude. I’d probably feel a smidge of remorse if she were a cowering sheep. I like that she gives it back to me. It solidifies my decision to make her life miserable.

Because at some point, I need everyone in this house to realize what a colossal mistake this blended family thing is. I want Rayne and Leslie to go back to their side of town with the new baby.

Except that doesn’t feel right. That kid will be my sibling. It will be my duty to protect him or her, same as it’s my father’s duty to provide for and protect both the pup and its mother.

Fuck.

If only Rayne wasn’t part of this package.

But I shouldn’t get my shorts in a wad over the runt, though. She’s nothing. A nobody.

Once she’s out of high school, she’ll hopefully move out.

It’s just that my name will forever be linked with hers.

Fates, my dad called her mysister.

Asif.

Behind all this giant wall of resentment is the knowledge that I really shouldn’t care about any of it. I should be back at Duke on my football scholarship–the one I will certainly lose now–living my best life.

I’m one of the few who got out of Wolf Ridge. Someone who had the potential of really making something of himself. I could’ve been very rich. NFL scouts were already eyeing me. I was literally groomed for that life.

But I flushed that all down the toilet when I took the fall for Ryan and the team.

The heaviness of it makes it hard to walk out to the Subaru wagon. To open the door. Get behind the wheel and move the seat back as far as it goes to make room for my long legs.

I thought coming back to Wolf Ridge would be a relief, but it’s almost worse than being at Duke. I don’t belong here, either. I feel like I’m having some kind of out-of-body experience. I’m looking down at myself, going through the motions of starting up a car and driving the all-too-familiar route to the high school where I was on top of the world, but I’m a stranger to it all.

I say nothing to Rayne, and she doesn’t try to talk to me, either. She just scrolls on her phone, her body hugging the passenger door. Her scent fills the car. There’s something intriguing in it, but I can’t figure out what. A note that tugs at my senses, like a memory I haven’t yet had.

I cut through the back parking lot that faces the football field, which is the least convenient entrance for Rayne. I barely bring the car to a stop before she throws open the door and drops lightly onto her small feet.

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