Bullied By My Alpha Stepbrother novel Chapter 80

Chapter 76

Jasmine.

I exhaled deeply and released the breath that I wasn’t aware I was holding in as Hardin rounded the third round and successfully made it to the stop. My heart thumped, even though my face was void of emotion, as I watched him step out of his car with a proud smile on his face, but I tried my best not to show my happiness. I was glad that Hardin had won but I was happier that he was the one to be proclaimed my mate.

I kept my eyes on Hardin as he looked up at dad and mom, who were looking down at him with so much pride. And when he turned to me, I locked my eyes, pulling him into a staring contest. It was not until we heard Lorenzo’s car screech loudly before coming to a halt that he turned his eyes away to look at Lorenzo. I kept my gaze, still, fixed on him without even caring to look down at Lorenzo who was now accusing Hardin of cheating his way through the competition.

“The young lad would have dropped dead by now had your eyes been guns,” Mom said, rubbing my hand slowly, and I turned my eyes away from Hardin. Knowing that other people must have noticed my stare too.

“Now he has won the competition, you should learn to look at him with loving eyes,” she added, except, I had not been giving Hardin death stares, I had only lost the clue on how to change my expression from a frown to a smile.

Dad stood up as Lorenzo got out of his car and took some steps down the stairs, clapping cheerfully as he walked down.

“The competition was simple, Lorenzo,” Dad responded to Lorenzo’s accusations, “and we all watched it from up here, we saw whomever it was that tried to cheat but, we decided not to discuss that because it would be a waste of time for us. Alpha Hills' Dad called, turning to Lorenzo's dad, "Why don’t you do the honours?”

Alpha Hills cleared his throat, giving Dad a quick glare as he climbed down the stairs from the other side and stopped at the same level as dad.

“Two days ago,” Alpha Hills began, “to resolve the issue of who will be Jasmine’s mate,” he pointed at me, “we decided to have a competition stating that anyone who wins the competition will automatically become Jasmine’s mate.”

I tuned out Alpha Hills as I reverted my gaze to Hardin. He was biting his upper lip and raking a hand through his hair. Even though he had won the competition, even though everybody had seen him win, he was very nervous, as though he were thinking they would change the result.

I shifted my eyes from Hardin to Lorenzo, who had his fist clenched and was obviously chewing his teeth. Lorenzo was one person I never seemed to understand and at the moment, I couldn’t tell if he was angry because he lost to Hardin or whether he was angry because he lost me as a mate.

“…and this day,” I subconsciously tuned in Alpha Hills, with my eyes still on Lorenzo and turned my eyes away quickly as he shifted his gaze to me. “Hardin Morales from has won the competition and henceforth is declared a mate to Jasmine.

Mom rubbed my hands happily and began clapping, Dad was beaming with smiles while my heart pounded intensely against my chest. It was racing from a combination of emotion- excitement and anxiousness.

I looked down at Hardin. He appeared relieved, a proud smile on his face as he bowed his head respectfully to the praises but the minute he turned to me, his smile fell. I was still expressionless or rather, trying to figure out how to put on a smile.

“No! I can’t accept this!” Lorenzo yelled, attracting every eye to him, “Jasmine is my mate, I can’t let him have her, not while I’m alive.”

“You were there when we agreed to this, Lorenzo, let this go.” Alpha Hills said, giving Lorenzo a stern glare.

“I can’t, she is my mate, I can’t,” he said and quickly ran up to me, “Listen Jasmine, you don’t have to go with these rules, we don’t, you are my mate, and I am certain about that. I am positive that you are mine.”

I shook my head rigorously and withdrew my hands as he tried to grab them, “I am not your mate Lorenzo. I’m sorry. I do not feel any bond with you and I have never felt it.”

“No, you need to stop saying that Jasmine, you, me, the both of us, we were fated by the moon goddess, we were meant to been toget…” Lorenzo was sent flying before he could finish his sentence, causing a gasp to escape mine and mom’s lips. I turned to where the force had come from to see Hardin fuming and charging towards Lorenzo.

“Leave her be, Lorenzo. This is my last warning to you,” Hardin snarled, stopping a foot away from Lorenzo as he held him down with his glare.

“I am not going to watch you steal what is mine, she is my mate and I will take her back,” Lorenzo said through gritted teeth.

I darted my eyes between the two boys, shuddering in my seat. I didn’t want to go with Lorenzo, and I didn’t want Hardin fighting Lorenzo to make my point clear.

Hardin scoffed, “I will be more than happy to watch you try.”

Lorenzo chuckled loudly and closed up the space between them. Hardin had his fist clenched and ready to throw a punch. His teeth were clenched to keep himself from making the first move.

They locked each other’s eyes and the connection that passed through them was filled with anger, hatred, pain, and rage. Lorenzo took a step further, climbing on Hardin’s feet and bringing down his face to be at the same level as Hardin’s. Hardin, though feeling the pain of Lorenzo’s hit, ignored him but kept his eyes locked on Lorenzo.

Hardin pushed Lorenzo away, causing him to stumble backwards, but Hardin caught him before he could fall to the ground as he plastered his face with punches and they both fell to the ground with Hardin on top of Lorenzo still punching him.

“Hardin stop!” Mom yelled, while Dad ordered the warriors to go stop Hardin.

A deep growl reverberated from the depths of Lorenzo's throat, it was clear he wanted blood.

"Enough of this child's play, both of you!" A familiar voice, from one of the elders that had tagged along, called out to the bloodthirsty duo. "It seems a race wouldn't be enough to settle all this commotion, how about a duel?"

"No please, no more fighting!" I objected with finality in my voice. I was tired of all the violence already, I didn't want anymore of it.

"Fine, I've been aching to put this loser in his place for a long time " Hardin concurred.

"Hardin please." I pleaded with tears in my eyes. He turned to me with a reassuring smile before turning towards the elder. "Winner takes all."

Lorenzo's face beamed with a cynical smile, and in that moment I couldn't deny the fear that had suddenly welled up inside of me. Though I knew nothing I said would really be of use against Lorenzo, I still turned towards him with tears in my eyes. But just as expected, he turned away and went ahead with the proposed duel.

"I want it now, right here, right now," Lorenzo suggested.

"Is that okay with you young lad?" The elder inquired from Hardin who shook his head in compliance.

Instinctively everyone who was gathered round began to retreat from the duo, with me being the only exception. There was no way I was letting Hardin battle to death with a monster like Lorenzo.

"Stay back Jasmine, please," Hardin said, but I wasn't bulging. Before I could say a word I felt a hand grip onto my hands and in an instant I was pulled away from their range. I glanced back to see who had pulled me away and my eyes met with those of an elder. I wasn't exactly shocked, there was a reason why they were the strongest of the wolf clan.

Once I was out of the way, Lorenzo attacked Hardin, but his blow was evaded in a skilled sidestep.

Lorenzo struck again with his other hand which was promptly restrained by Hardin. Then in a movement I could barely follow, Lorenzo swept Hardin's feet off the ground and delivered a devastating ax kick to his torso to slam him back on the ground. A third kick sent Hardin tumbling across the clearing until he dug his hands in the dirt to slow his roll.

I was scared to my bones, I was about to break free of the Elder’s grip, but he was too strong and mentally I knew that intruding would only make things worse. Lorenzo was clearly more powerful at that point, and he wasn't holding back at all either.

Hardin growled at his opponent in anger. He had not expected to be so outclassed by Lorenzo, but that didn't stop him from standing and fighting back.

I watched as the fight quickly became one-sided from there. Lorenzo held the advantage in speed, skill and agility. Hardin was bigger in size and thus presumably had the upper hand in strength but that did not matter when he could not hit his opponent. All it did was make him a bigger target for Lorenzo.

And as the struggle continued, Lorenzo kicked Hardin causing him to fall on the ground.

"Stop!" I cried from my restrained position, but nobody seemed to be listening. Lorenzo had murder in his eyes, he wouldn't stop until Hardin was dead.

Hardin was losing badly, and the fear in me constantly kept growing. If things didn't change then Hardin might actually die.

I had my eyes on Hardin all the time, that I barely recognised that Lorenzo had already transformed into his wolf. I watched as the two men stared at themselves, one, a monstrous wolf brimming with hatred, the other, in human form and down on his knees.

Then the monster began to lumber forward, slowly before breaking out into a run.