Forbidden Mate- A Step-brother Romance – ~LANA~ It is the first day of August, exactly five years since I learned about Havenville and its Mystic Cloud River. Today, I would finally have the chance to find my mate. I’ve been dreaming of this day ever since I learned about love and how beautiful it could be as long as it was with the right person. “Lana!” my mother calls out from the staircase below, her voice carrying through the serenity of the house. Rays of sunlight filters through the curtains, casting soft shadows, it was almost as though the light was aiding the urgency in her voice, letting me know that it was time. I don’t waste another second as I rush out of the room and make my way towards her. “I know, I know,” I say when she gives me a stern look. “I am late.” I am always late. It was something that my family and friends were used to by now. That is why they usually told me to get dressed two hours in advance. “Are you not excited to find your mate?” She asks me. “If you don’t get there in time, you might miss the opportunity to find him.
I am sure that it is the last thing you want to happen.” My mother knew how much I had dreamed of this since I was thirteen. Now, five years later, I would finally have the opportunity to visit Havenville and find my mate near its mystic river. She was simply teasing me so that I could move faster. I wasn’t the only one expected to find their mate today. My step-brother, Apollo Moon, also had the opportunity to find his mate. However, unlike me, he was definitely not excited about this. Since Apollo was a known player and had a different girl over to the house almost weekly, I was positive that he was not ready for his mate. My step-brother and I rarely got along due to obvious reasons. I did not like his behavior, and we barely had much to say to each other unless it was totally necessary. There were times my mother and his father attempted to get us closer but it always ended in a huge argument. Eventually, they decided that it was best to stop trying. I was glad they’d stopped forcing us to try and get along, I was okay with how things were between us. It was better that way. “You already know how much I’ve wanted this,” I tell her. “There is nothing stopping me from getting to Havenville today, not even myself.” “Everyone in this house knows how much you have been waiting for this day, ” my stepfather chuckles. I try not to get embarrassed by his words, I didn’t exactly try to hide my feelings from everyone around me.
Even my friends knew how much I spoke about this. Not everyone is lucky enough to be able to afford a trip to Havenville but since my step-father was basically rich, he was sponsoring this trip for us. “Where is Apollo?” My mother asks him. He sighs and pushes his glasses closer to his eyes, “Apollo is not interested in this event. However, I have managed to convince him to attend. He may not think that finding his mate is a good thing at the young age of twenty, but if he is lucky enough to find his mate today, I am sure that he will change his mind.” Both my mother and stepfather never found their mates, even to this day. They always stressed that they felt something was missing in their lives for a long time until they found each other. They wanted something different for their children, they wished that our fates would be better. “Where is he?” I ask. “We are late.” I was usually the one keeping everyone back. Apollo was usually on time, so then, why was he taking so long today? “Someone is in a hurry to find a complete stranger and live happily ever after.” I hear his voice behind me. It has an edge to it that I’ve never heard before. Usually, I could tell he was being sarcastic, but this time, it felt like he was annoyed or upset.
What could he possibly be angry about on such a happy occasion? Why did he always have to spoil everything? “If I don’t find my mate today, I will blame you, ” I hissed at him. He brushes me off as he heads for his car. Wait—why was he moving towards his car? This was a trip we all planned to do together. “Are we not taking the same vehicle?” I demand. “Why is he leaving on his own without the rest of us?” “Ah—,” my stepfather says. “You know that Apollo can be a little stubborn at times.” Then why the hell were we waiting on him this entire time? He could have met us there. I watch as Apollo’s blond hair glistens in the sun, I always found myself fascinated by it. I need to remember to ask him about his hair-care routine, that is if he would even speak to me. “I am excited for you, ” my mother tells me as we join my stepfather in his car. “What do you think my mate will look like?” I ask her. Tall? Handsome? Sparkling eyes? Blond hair? It felt as though I was calling out the physical qualities of my step-brother. I shook that thought out of my head. I could never like someone who slept around with a hundred girls in one month. “Let us not get too excited.” My mother warns me. “I don’t want you to become disappointed like me.
Not everyone finds their mate at the river. Unfortunately, only a select few of the hundreds present are lucky enough to find their mates at Havenville.” I did not want to be disappointed. I have waited too long for this day. Only werewolves eighteen and over are permitted to enter Mystic Cloud. Hence, this is the reason why I’ve been waiting for five years, I would be turning eighteen at exactly midnight tonight. I had to find my mate today. Nothing would stop me. Chapter 2 ~LANA~ We were finally here. The crowd was massive, with hundreds of werewolves hungry and anxious to find mates. There were a few she-wolves around my age and a few older women, possibly in their late twenties to early thirties. It would be beautiful if everyone here could find their mates. I wanted each person present to leave happy; I hated to see others disappointed. However, I knew that was not possible. Unfortunately, like my mother mentioned earlier, only a select lucky few would leave with their mates today. “Good luck, ” my mother says as she leans in to kiss me on the cheek. Unfortunately, only werewolves looking for their mates were allowed at the river; everyone else was forced to stay in their vehicles in the parking lot.
The Havenville community was very strict about that rule. I couldn’t complain since the river was already packed, but I could imagine how much worse it would have been if everyone and their families were allowed access on a day like this. I looked around the crowd for Apollo; he should have been here already since he always drove faster than his father. Was it possible that he hadn’t bothered to come? I could see him doing something like that. When there is no sign of him at the entrance, I do not bother waiting for him. I am sure even if he saw me, he would choose to ignore me. That was the kind of relationship that we had. Even at the academy, we always passed each other straight. I take a look at the magical river in front of me. I can’t help but gasp at it’s beauty. It was indeed the most beautiful river I have ever laid my eyes on. The water was clear and no doubt extremely clean. It felt like a hidden gem, pure and filled with promises. I take my time examining my surroundings. With each passing second, the crowd grew. I could tell that things were about to get crazy soon. We left home exactly seven hours ago, and arrived just in time for the event to begin.
At exactly midnight, a few lucky guests would be leaving with their mates. I didn’t want to be one of the many who would leave here in tears. “A special thank you to everyone who showed up today, ” the host says as she welcomes us all. “I am happy to see even more participants here today than five years ago. You are the lucky ones to be accepted.” What she meant to say was that we were the ones willing to pay a lot of money to gain access to the river. I was lucky my stepfather had money and was willing to spend it on me so that I could be here today. “I can barely control my excitement!” A girl around my age squeals next to me. I knew exactly how she felt. There were so many men here who could be my mate. I could see a few eyes on me and wondered if any of those men were hoping that I would turn out to be their mate. The thought of finding the one person meant to be mine makes my heart flutter. It is almost time. My mate. Where are you? I have been waiting for you. “Look at him!” Another girl whispers next to me. “He’s so freaking hot! I want him to be my mate.” “Yes, please!” Her friend shouts. “Let him be mine.” All the other women around me seem to agree. What was all the commotion about? Who were they all so excited over? I follow their gazes and spot none other than my step-brother Apollo. My eyes widen. All along, they were speaking about him. He seemed to be getting the most attention from the other men.
I was used to this kind of behavior whenever he was around. Back at the academy, I would always get annoyed by this. I couldn’t deny that he was the most attractive man present—with eyes the color of the moon on its brightest days. In fact, whenever I looked into those eyes, it felt like I was staring at the moon. Then there was his blond hair that always fell over his forehead in the sexiest way ever and those perfect pink lips—what the hell am I thinking? He is my stepbrother and completely off-limits. Apollo is not looking in my direction; he’s soaking up all of the attention he’s getting. If he doesn’t find his mate today, I am optimistic he will return home with more than one woman tonight. I scan my surroundings, was there a single woman present who wasn’t trapped by his good looks? I try not to let that bother me. Whenever Apollo brought home a new woman, it always made me angry. It wasn’t like I was jealous; he irritated my soul. I wondered if those women even knew that they were only around for one night, if even that long. Sometimes they were home for only a few hours before he told them to leave. “The countdown is on.” The host shouts loud enough for everyone to hear. Her words are enough to distract me from my thoughts. The crowd gets extremely quiet at her words. I could sense the tension as everyone looked around for their mate. “Ten.” “Nine.” “Eight.” “Seven.” “Six.” “Five.” “Four.” “Three.” “Two—” There is a long pause before she finally says, “ONE!” My heart is pounding against my chest as I tightly hold the cup in my hand.
It was filled with the sacred water. From everything that I’ve heard, as long as my mate was present tonight, the water will point in his direction. My eyes widened when the cup began to shake. I couldn’t believe what was happening. Water was coming out of the glass and leading me towards someone. It was truly happening. I was about to find my mate! I could feel the pounding get louder in my ear as I followed the flowing water. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before: floating water in the sky. It wasn’t only happening to me; a few others were following trails of water. I pause when I bounce into someone and try to keep calm when I notice who it is. Apollo. I was about to complain that he was blocking my view from whoever my mate was when I noticed something I should have done before. The water from my cup was pointing at him, circling his body right before me. My lips part slightly when I look down at my body, only to realize that his water is also circling me. W-what? Chapter 3 ~LANA~ This wasn’t happening. It simply wasn’t possible. There had to be some kind of mistake. Apollo couldn’t be my mate. He was my step-brother! The same step-brother that slept around with multiple women in a single week. I simply could not accept this. Someone must have messed with the water. Yet, everyone else seemed to be contented with their mates. Some were screaming and shouting for joy while others were crying in the arms of their new mates.
I was possibly the only one in shock and not in the good way. I wanted someone to pinch me and wake me up from this nightmare. There had to be some other explanation. Did Apollo pull some kind of prank on me? Why was he not saying anything? I knew that he couldn’t possibly be accepting this right now. “Congratulations!” I hear the host shout. “So many of you have found your mates tonight. You are the lucky few to be blessed by the water. The rest of you, do not worry. This is not the end of the world. Remember, you can still find your mate on the outside; it may just be harder. And if you don’t find your mate within the next five years, you are welcome to revisit the river and test your luck once more! Havenville and it’s mystic river is always excited to have as many of you here as possible. You are always welcome.” I don’t understand. How is Apollo my mate? How? A new thought enters my mind and it makes me look at him in a different light. He’d turned eighteen a lot sooner than me, which meant that he should have known all this time that I was his mate. However, he has never acted like I was his, not once. Since I’ve never dated a single man to this day, he didn’t really have a reason to fight for me. But that didnt explain everything. He should have shown more emotions all this time, even now, the expression on his face was cold and distant. Maybe there was a chance he didn’t recognize me. Sometimes, despite what everyone believed, a werewolf couldn’t always recognize its mate.
I have heard of stories where mates didn’t recognize each other until the river helped them. That was the reason a few couples even showed up here, hoping the water would help bind them together. However, Apollo’s expression tells me that was not the case. He did know. He knew all along. He did know that I was his mate this entire time but chose not to act on it. How could he have kept something like this from me? Why did he wait for this exact moment for me to find out? “You knew,” I whisper. “You knew all this time and didn’t think to tell me, not once.” He hadn’t only kept it from me, but he continued to sleep around with multiple women under the same roof that I was in. For two whole years, Apollo was aware that I was his mate and he still slept around with any woman that showed him attention. Does this mean he planned on rejecting me? Was he waiting until I was eighteen to reject me? Since it was now after midnight, I was officially eighteen years old. “How does she be the lucky one to end up with him?” I hear a girl whisper in annoyance. “I know.” Another one agrees. “She is hideous to look at and nothing compared to his looks.” Of course, there were hundreds of jealous women around us. I hadn’t even realized there were so many of them interested in him until now. I could feel the envious glares coming my way. This just might be their lucky night. Apollo looked like he planned on rejecting me. I’m sure that afterward, he would go straight to them. My heart hurt at just the thought of him leaving me to sleep with multiple women. He looked around us and noticed the attention we were both getting. Without any warning, he grabs my arm and pulls me away from everyone’s view. Now that the water had confirmed we were mates, my body responded to his hand on my arm, it felt like little shockwaves all over my body. I am breathing hard when he shoves me into the carpark. Before he has a chance to say anything to me, our parents are already in front of us: my mother and his dad.
They are both waiting to hear what we have to say. “Well?” my mother says as she wiggles her eyebrows before me. “Did you get to find your mate? Tell me. What is he like?” Can she not tell that the only person I’m standing here with is Apollo? “Son?” his father asks. “Did you find someone?” Did he find someone? That question kept repeating in my head. Me. He found me. But he’s known it was me for a long time. Apollo was twenty; he has been with my family since he was seventeen. We have been step-siblings for a total of three years. He has known it was me since two years ago on his birthday. Come to think of it, he did act extremely strange on his eighteenth birthday. He’d locked himself in his room for a few hours, and when he finally left it, he passed me straight and went out with a few of his friends. I didn’t see him again until two weeks later. He used the excuse that he had stayed with his mother. However, I remember his father demanding the truth, claiming that he had spoken to his ex-wife and found out he was lying. We never got to find out where he went for those two weeks. Now, I understood what had happened. He didn’t want to accept me as his mate. “No,” Apollo answers him. “I did not find anyone. Like I said before, I do not have a mate, and I do not wish to find one for myself. I am happy being single. I do not want to settle with one person.” My heart breaks at his words.