Her Stepbrothers' Demands Read online

  “Why didn’t you tell me this? My God, you were a baby. I’ll kill him! That son of a bitch!” her mother growled, her eyes seemed to light up as Cole wrapped his arms around her and whispered to her.

  She had to get away from them and made her way to her room, but before leaving she glanced over her shoulder. “So how does it feel to have something thrown at you without being told about it, Mother? Now you know what I felt like two days ago.”

  With that she turned and made her way up to her room. She shut the door, leaning on it, rubbing her temples, sliding to the soft carpeted floor. The tears rolled down her cheeks as she worked to push the voice out of her head.

  The counselor she had seen as a teenager had told her to open up and tell someone what had happened that night, but explaining her story to him had been the hardest thing in her life. One, he never believed what she had said, and two, she had paid for it dearly that night. The bruises from which she had hid well from her mother, until now.

  Jasmine wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her head on her knees looking around her room; the room where she had grown up in. “Please stay away,” she whispered to herself hoping against hope the Nightmare Man wouldn’t penetrate her barrier.

  Pink walls, a king-size bed with curtains around it acting as a shield, protecting her like a princess. Something Cole had told her on the first day they had moved into his home. “I sure don’t feel like a princess anymore,” she snorted.

  “Open the door Jasmine,” R.D. snarled, when he tapped on the door, scaring her for a second.

  “Go away. I’m tired and want to rest,” Jasmine said into her arms.

  “I don’t want to hurt you, but I will open this door. I’m coming in, now move,” he demanded, always demanding, but she got up and opened the door just in time, then moved to her bed, all of a sudden very tired.

  “You had to open that can of worms now? Couldn’t you have waited to speak of this, knowing the stress would delay healing for your mother?” Logan glared at her, pacing back and forth in front of her bed until she had enough.

  Jasmine jumped up off of her bed and stepped in front of Logan, pointing her finger into his chest. “First off, how do you think I felt walking into that room and seeing my mother being bit into? Torn apart by that wolf, while Cole stood there? Did he come and explain it to me? No! I was shoved out of the room and the door slammed in my face. No one, not even you came out to explain what was happening. Hours later your grandmother came to me and explained. So don’t you go all bat shit on me, asshole. Plus, she wanted to talk. I talked. Now get the hell out of my room and leave me the fuck alone!” Before she could say another word, sharp stabbing pain hit her. She grabbed her head, her legs shook and tears slipped down.

  “No, stay away,” Jasmine cried out, barely making it to the side of her bed before her legs gave out. He was inside of her now and there was nothing she could do. Jasmine wasn’t strong enough to push him back.

  “What’s wrong?” Both Logan and R.D. asked at her side as she fell backwards onto the bed. “Who’s here?” They both asked, scanning the room for any threat.

  “You have to leave now,” she moaned. The last time she had one of these attacks was when she had been in high school and she’d just spoken to her shrink… “Should have kept my mouth shut and left,” she mumbled.

  “Yes, you should have. Never have I been angrier at you then I am right now.” Cole stated, coming into the room staring down at her. In an instant, he knew something was not right. “What’s wrong?”

  “What are you doing in here? Go, get out, be with her, and never leave her, Cole. Protect her,” she cried using what strength she had left to run to the bathroom, hopefully protecting them all. She slammed the door shut, locking it, knowing, what was coming.

  “You were warned, little girl, to keep your mouth shut,” the Nightmare Man said as she was picked up by unseen hands and thrown up against the tile wall. The wall cracked behind her, one lump formed on her head, and she knew by the time this was over she’d have many more. An invisible hand tightened around her neck. He lifted her up off the ground where she had fallen, choking her while he ripped off her shirt and bra. “Bigger than before. I can’t wait to find you and make you mine. Come to me or your mother will die. That wolf is no match for me.” he screamed, her skirt was next to go before a punch landed to her stomach.

  “Never you, asshole!” Jasmine yelled as the breath was knocked out of her. Knowing her mother was now protected, she did all she could to fight back. But how could she fight something that wasn’t there? She cried out in pain as he banged her head up against the wall again, before releasing her.

  Her body crumbled to the floor. The hard wood now had dots of her blood from the cuts on her head. The bathroom door split in half, allowing Cole, Logan, and R.D. to storm in and reach her side, searching for the threat. She peeked up at them, not moving her head, her throat sore and her head throbbed. Jasmine tried to catch her breath when her mother ran into the room, but she knew her ribs were now broken again.

  “Baby!” she said and knelt next to Logan. “What happened?” she reached to help her up, but the pain was too bad. Jasmine fell back to the ground, crying out again.

  “Cole, she’s hurt! Who did this to her? Look at the hand print!” her mother cried, pointing to her neck as R.D. moved around her mother and gently stepped over to Jasmine to lift her into his arms.

  Everything ached, as she gripped his shirt tight trying not to move her head. “He’ll be back, protect mom,” she whispered. “I can’t keep him out, too tired.”

  “I’ve got you princess,” R.D. kissed the top of her head and carried her back into her bedroom careful of her head as he gently laid her on the bed. “Who did this, Jasmine? There was no one in there,” he asked.

  “Logan, the doc is still here. Go get him. R.D. someone was here, find him,” Cole ordered and she knew that once he was on a roll, nothing would stop him. He stood there staring at her on the other side of the bed, his eyes dark and foreboding. One thing Jasmine had learned living in this house was no one touched what Cole considered his, and Jasmine was his daughter.

  She tried to shake her head and regretted it. “He wasn’t here physically,” she explained as her voice cracked. “And I don’t need a doctor, I need to leave. He’ll come for me.” Jasmine reached down, pulling the blanket up over her body and tried to get up, but the pain was too much. There was no way she could leave right now and the mere thought that she had brought danger to her mother made her tremble. Jasmine had successfully kept the Nightmare Man away for years, protecting her mother from him, but it looked like her fit of anger had now placed all of them in danger.

  “I have to leave,” she whimpered and hated that she sounded like a child, but all of a sudden Jasmine was back at age nine, seeing the monster for the first time.

  Her teeth started to chatter, and Jasmine was cold, oh so very cold. “Shouldn’t have said a word. I’m sorry, Momma, I tried to protect you,” she whispered into the side of her pillow as Jasmine looked away from everyone.

  The sound of voices drew her attention and she saw the man who had always shown up to take care of them when they were sick. For the next hour, he examined her, wrapped her ribs, and kept whispering to her, trying to calm her. She had a few broken ribs and was not to move around.

  Her mother and Cole nodded to the doctor, while Logan and R.D. both returned to the position at her sides, sitting on the bed beside her. When the door closed, leaving only the five of them, all eyes turned to her as Cole wrapped his arm around her mother, kissing the top of her head.

  “Explain right now, Jasmine. Do not keep us in the dark any longer. We can help,” Cole’s body was stiff, and she knew he was close to changing into the wolf and so was her mother.

  She inched down further on the bed and flinched at the pain. Hoping no one noticed, but no such luck as R.D. leaned over and once more scooted her up on the pillow, careful of her injuries. “Stay put,” he mum
bled against her ear, before nipping her lobe.

  Clearing her throat, Jasmine glared at him and rubbed her ear, ignoring him. “I call him the Nightmare Man, because at first he seemed to just appear in my dreams. But all of that changed when Dad dragged it into reality one night. Into his home, with the promise of dinner. Mom was working since he wouldn’t…” Jasmine glanced down at the blanket on the bed, tracing the pattern there with her fingers. R.D. and Logan each took a hand free, twining their big strong fingers with her smaller ones and gently squeezed.

  “Go on, we’re here,” Logan leaned over and kissed the top of her head. “Is this person still here?” he asked, nodding to her head.

  “No. From what I can make out, it takes a lot of energy to do what he did. The last time this happened, it was years ago, but I remember seeing him feeding and resting afterward. Like it took a lot out of him. He already knows we’re in Texas. But I don’t think he knows exactly where yet.” Her gaze flicked to her mother.

  “I couldn’t tell you. I was too afraid he’d invade your dreams. He’s not human, Mom, the Nightmare Man is a blood sucker.” She shivered, remembering the time he had buried his fangs in her neck and then forced her to drink some of his blood, establishing the link after he had…

  Chapter Three

  “You two know what must be done and don’t take no for an answer. I made the mistake of waiting too long. I’ll instruct the doctor to stay around. Do you want me to call Keith in to do this?” His father asked telepathically and already R.D. was shaking his head.

  “No. If we’re going to help block this thing from her mind, we need our blood running through her now. I’ll change her, but with the injuries she’s already had, it’s going to be bad. Make sure the doctor is standing by,” R.D. stated, glancing over at his brother, who nodded.

  By tonight, their mate would be one of them. They would be able to help her block the man who had hurt her and trace where the asshole was, because there was no way they would let him remain alive. This man put his hands on what was theirs and they always took care of what was theirs. At the age of 64, R.D., the oldest son, had learned the hard way to hold onto what was his and protect it well or it could be snatched away so easily.

  “It wasn’t your fault, son. We all make mistakes, but we learn from them. We’ll find my grandson one day and destroy all of those who took him,” his father said, reassuring him.

  His son would be 16 right now. If it wasn’t for his mother, he sighed and nodded. “I know, but the thought of losing my mate? I won’t let anything happen to her, Father, I promise you and Katherine.”

  R.D. leaned down and kissed her lips softly before following behind his father as he dragged Katherine out of the room. “But I want to stay with my baby,” she growled and tried to move away from Cole, but he wasn’t having any of it, swinging her up in his arms.

  “Hush, right now the only ones who can help Jasmine are my sons. We’ll wait downstairs,” Cole said to her and to R.D., letting them know they would be close as the doctor came back into the room, carrying the things they would need.

  Shutting and locking the door, R.D. turned and watched as Logan stripped out of his shirt and carefully lifted their woman into his arms while he took the tarp from the doctor, throwing it over the floor. It would be messy and he wasn’t about to allow her room to get ruined.

  After placing the tarp on the ground, R.D. stared down at their woman when Logan lowered her to the ground. “I’m sorry, but this has to be done. It’s the only way we can help,” he said and started to strip out of his clothes, all the while his gaze never left hers.

  “What are you doing? Logan, put me back in bed.” She looked at the doctor who stood there not saying anything as Logan took the silk ropes from the doctor and proceeded to tie her hands together, even with her fighting him, his brother didn’t stop.

  “Stop it, Logan. What the hell are you doing? Let me go?” she cried out as she jerked around causing her breath to drain out of her.

  “Don’t move,” Logan hissed, getting down into her face. “This has to happen tonight before the creature comes back. We will find him and take care of him, but until then, you need to be protected and this is the only way we know how.” Logan nodded to R.D. and in the next minute R.D. called on the change.

  Bones cracked, muscles pulled and skin disappeared as R.D.’s vision changed to that of the wolf. But what happened next shocked the crap out of both of the brothers. The doctor had shifted and took his place before he could move. Biting and ripping into their mate’s neck, before him.

  Their woman’s screams died down after the second gash into her skin, blood was everywhere and seeing her there on the floor…

  “Change back and put your blood into her wounds now,” the doctor ordered sending his thoughts through the pack’s link in his head before the wolf could attack the doctor. Without a word, R.D. shifted and leaned over their mate who had passed out from the pain. Both he and Logan ripped open their wrists at the same time and allowed their blood into the wounds, watching for the moment her body would stop breathing.

  Changing a human was hard on the body. First the person would die, their heart changing along with her lungs, and the rest of her body. She would be stronger, her hearing would be enhanced as would her vision. Their mate would live as long as they did and she would be able to carry their children.

  “You shouldn’t have done this, Doc,” R.D. said, waiting for the crossover as the man shifted back next to them.

  “Do you really want to start off your mating with this in her mind, you attacking her? No, this is better. You’ll still have the connection to her now that both of your blood runs through her. With Jasmine being your mate, this will also help bring you three closer faster, because this wild one will fight you. She’s protected her mom all these years. She is worthy of both of you, She is someone that is fit to be the queen of the pack.” The doctor glanced to the window and that’s when R.D. heard it.

  Part of their pack had traveled to his father’s house outside and they were singing to their queen. Too bad she couldn’t hear it until her initiation into the pack, which would be soon, if he had any say in it. Her last gasp of breath came, and both he and Logan watched and waited for her to breathe once more.

  The doctor started pulling out bandages after shifting back and getting dressed, but not before he unlocked the door to the bedroom. His wife came in, caring water and several bottles of liquid protein Jasmine would need to drink as soon as she was able to.

  “She’s breathing,” Logan said with a sigh. “Let’s clean her up and get her into bed before she wakes up.” Logan reached for one of the damp cloths as did R. D, and they both started to work on her. As soon as Jasmine had passed out, Logan had untied her hands.

  “She’ll want to take a bath?” he questioned the doctor as he taped a bandage around the big gashes in her neck, which were slowly closing. It would take a day or two before the wounds were totally healed and her insides would be also healing over the next week.

  “Tomorrow she can take a bath, but for now I want her in bed for the rest of the day. Twice she has had trauma today. It’s hard for the change alone, but to be attacked like she was.” The doctor shook his head and stood.

  “Move her to the bed and I suggest one of you stay with her at all times for the next few days. She should sleep the rest of today. I’ll come back in a few hours to check on her.” Both he and his wife left after taking the tarp, dirty bandages, and towels with them.

  R.D. watched his brother carry their mate to the bed where he gently placed her in the middle before covering her up with the blanket. He turned his gaze back to where R.D. stood, as he curled up next to her. “We’re going to have to really turn on the charm, brother. She’s been hurt so much lately.”

  “And we will, but you know we have another problem we’re going to have to deal with?” R.D. moved to the other side of the bed, careful not to jostle her as he settled in against her. “You know how mother
is going to take this.”

  His brother growled, causing Jasmine to whimper in her sleep. “Knock it off, she needs to sleep,” he frowned at his brother, but knew how he felt. When it came to their mother, both of them had little patience. She had stepped over the line too many times. Hell, she was lucky to be alive. Tricking the alpha of the pack into bed was not a smart move, let alone allowing his grandson to be kidnapped so long ago.

  The only reason she was still alive was the fact that she was their mother. His father always said a child should have a mother, but when he had found out about her habits, their father had stepped in and raised the both of them. Only on certain occasions did they have contact with her, until they had reached their adult years. Then they interacted with her because they had to keep her from stirring up trouble in the pack. No, their mother was a trouble maker and she hated their father’s new mate with a passion.

  R.D. cringed thinking of her reaction to the news about Jasmine. Yes, they would have to protect their little spitfire from their own mother.

  ***

  Jasmine listened to them thank someone for cleaning up the bathroom as she considered what they had done to her. Even her stepfather had told them to do it. She hurt everywhere, bones and muscles ached. Hell, even her face ached, not to mention that her throat burned like crazy. Was she pissed, you bet. Once more they had taken the decision out of her hands, scaring the crap out of her in the process.

  How long had she been sleeping? She was hungry that was for sure, and her stomach kept growling, but the one good thing was that her head wasn’t throbbing as it had been before.

  “We know you’re awake, Princess, so open those eyes so we can discuss what has happened.” R.D. said brushing his lips over hers. “Breakfast is on its way up, but first you must drink a couple of these special shakes the doctor has made for you. It will help.”

  She opened up her eyes and sucked in her breath. Everything looked different, brighter, things she wouldn’t have noticed before, Jasmine did now. Like the fact that her vibrator was sticking out under a pile of clothes in the corner of the room. “Damn,” she whispered, then glanced at R.D. who followed her gaze and laughed.