Filed to story: Claimed By My Fiance's Alpha Brother (Callie & Cameron) Book PDF Free
“Callie!” she called out, her voice warm and bright. “Oh, darling, look at you! You look wonderful!”
She swept down the porch steps and pulled me into what felt like a genuine hug, her arms wrapping around me with surprising strength.
“Come in, come in!” she said, looping her arm through mine and guiding me up the porch steps. “I’ve missed you so much, sweetheart. We have so much to catch up on!”
The inside of the house was exactly as I remembered. But sitting in Victor’s old recliner was a man I’d never seen before, and the sight of him made my skin crawl immediately.
He was probably in his fifties, with thinning gray hair slicked back with too much pomade and a soft, doughy body that spoke of a lifetime of excess. His pale blue eyes moved over me with an assessment that felt physical, taking in every curve and line of my body with the kind of hungry evaluation that made my wolf bare her teeth in my mind.
“Callie,” Elizabeth said, her voice taking on that bright, hostess-like quality she used when she was performing for an audience, “I’d like you to meet Harold. Harold, this is my daughter Callie.”
Harold heaved himself out of the chair with obvious effort, his eyes never leaving my face as he extended a pudgy hand that looked like it hadn’t seen honest work in decades.
“So this is the famous Callie,” he said, his voice oily and warm in a way that made my flesh crawl. “Elizabeth has told me so much about you. What a lovely young woman you’ve grown into.”
I didn’t take his offered hand, stepping back instinctively as every alarm bell in my head started ringing at maximum volume.
“I’m sorry,” I said, looking between Harold and Elizabeth with growing confusion and dread. “I don’t understand. Who is this man, and why am I here?”
Elizabeth’s smile never wavered, but something cold and calculating flickered in her eyes. “Sit down, darling. We have wonderful news to share with you.”
When I remained standing, Harold’s smile widened, showing teeth that were too white and too perfect to be natural.
“Your mother and I have been discussing your… situation,” he said, settling back into the chair with a grunt. “A young woman in your position -unmarried, with a child -well, it can’t be easy. But I’m a generous man, and I don’t mind taking on another man’s responsibilities.”
The bottom dropped out of my stomach as understanding crashed over me like a tidal wave.
“Harold has very kindly offered to marry you,” Elizabeth said, clapping her hands together as if she’d just announced the most wonderful news in the world. “Isn’t that marvelous? Despite your… past mistakes, despite having that little bastard, he’s willing to give you respectability and a proper home.”
Valerie’s POV
I honestly never thought I’d see that bitch Callie again. After she slunk away from home five years ago with her tail between her legs, I assumed she’d crawled into some corner somewhere with her little bastard and disappeared forever. The last thing I expected was to find her working right beside the most powerful Alpha in the territory, looking like she actually belonged there.
The memory of being thrown out of that restaurant still burned in my chest like acid. The way Cameron had looked at me -with such cold disgust -when he’d ordered security to remove me. The way he’d automatically moved to protect Callie, like she was something precious instead of the worthless omega reject she’d always been.
It made me want to scream.
Sitting in the passenger seat of Marco’s beat-up Honda, I stared out at the shabby neighborhood we now called home and felt my rage building with each passing second. This wasn’t how my life was supposed to turn out. When I’d married Marco five years ago, he’d promised me everything -wealth, status, a position in the Nightshadow family that would make everyone who’d ever looked down on me pay.
What a fucking joke.
Marco had spun elaborate tales about his importance in the pack, about his close relationship with his powerful Alpha brother, about the inheritance that was supposedly coming his way. All lies.
The truth was that Cameron barely acknowledged Marco’s existence. Marco was nothing more than their father’s bastard son -a mistake that the family tolerated but never embraced. No money, no power, no influence. Just a disappointment who spent his days playing video games and eating junk food while I worked myself to the bone trying to maintain some semblance of the lifestyle I deserved.
“Valerie, baby, come on,” Marco whined from the driver’s seat, his hand creeping across the center console to rest on my thigh. “Don’t be like this. You know I hate it when you’re mad.”
I slapped his hand away with enough force to make him yelp. “Don’t touch me,” I snarled, my voice dripping with disgust. “And don’t call me baby. I’m not in the mood for your pathetic attempts at affection.”
Marco’s face crumpled like a kicked puppy’s. “But I missed you while you were at that fancy dinner. I was hoping we could… you know…” He waggled his eyebrows in what he probably thought was a seductive manner.
The thought of letting this useless waste of space put his hands on me made my stomach turn. When had I ever found him attractive? He was just a burden dragging me down.
“The only thing you’re going to do when we get home,” I said through gritted teeth, “is clean up that pigsty of an apartment. I’m hiring a cleaning service, and I don’t want them to think we’re complete animals.”
Marco’s face fell. “A cleaning service? Val, we can’t afford -“
“I don’t care what we can afford!” I exploded, my voice echoing in the cramped car. “I’m not living in squalor anymore! My parents are already demanding money for Dad’s medical bills, and I look like a failure every time I show my face in public. The least you can do is make sure our home doesn’t smell like rotting garbage!”
The apartment we returned to was exactly as disgusting as I’d expected. Pizza boxes stacked on every surface, empty beer bottles creating obstacle courses across the floor. I kicked an empty takeout container out of my way and immediately pulled out my phone to call the first cleaning service I could find.
“Martinez Cleaning Services,” a cheerful voice answered. “How can we help you today?”
“I need someone here immediately,” I said, not bothering with pleasantries. “My apartment is… challenging. I’ll pay double your usual rate if you can send someone within the hour.”
“Of course, ma’am. I’ll have someone there as soon as possible.”
Marco collapsed onto our stained couch with a grunt, already reaching for his gaming controller. “You know, Val, if you’d just relax a little bit, maybe -“
“Maybe what?” I whirled around to face him, my hands clenched into fists. “Maybe I’d be happy living like this?”
He opened his mouth to respond, but the sharp knock on our front door cut him off. I smoothed down my dress and went to answer it, expecting to see some stranger with a bucket of cleaning supplies.
Instead, I found myself staring into a face I hadn’t seen since high school.
“Anna?”
Anna Blackwood stood in our doorway wearing a Martinez Cleaning Services polo shirt and carrying a caddy full of cleaning supplies. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a practical ponytail.
“Well, well,” Anna said, a slow smile spreading across her face. “Valerie Knight. Or should I say Valerie Nightshadow now? Fancy meeting you like this.”
“Oh my God, Anna!” I threw my arms around her, genuinely excited for the first time in weeks. “I can’t believe it’s you!”
She looked around our disaster of a living room with professional assessment. “Jesus, Val. What happened to you? I thought marrying into the Nightshadow family would set you up for life.”
Marco chose that moment to look up from his game, his eyes widening as he took in Anna’s appearance. “Who’s this?” he asked, his voice taking on the tone he used when he thought he was being charming.
“This is Anna,” I said quickly, shooting Marco a warning look. “An old friend from high school. Anna, this is my husband Marco.”
Anna’s eyes swept over Marco with obvious disdain, taking in his rumpled clothes, his soft physique, and the general air of uselessness that surrounded him like a cloud.
“Charming,” she said dryly. “I can see why you snagged this one.”
Marco completely missed the sarcasm, puffing up with pride. “Yeah, Valerie knows quality when she sees it.”
Anna caught my eye and raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow.
“Marco,” I said sweetly, “why don’t you go get us some coffee? Anna and I have some catching up to do.”
The moment Marco shuffled out of the room, Anna dropped onto our couch with a sigh. “Okay, spill. What the hell happened? You married the Alpha’s brother, for crying out loud. You should be living in a mansion, not this… whatever this is.”
I settled beside her, grateful to finally have someone who understood my frustration. “It’s complicated. Marco isn’t exactly the golden child of the family. More like the family disappointment that everyone tries to ignore.”
“Including his Alpha brother?”
“Especially his Alpha brother.” I couldn’t keep the bitterness out of my voice.
Anna was quiet for a moment, her sharp mind clearly working through the implications. “So you’re broke.”
“Worse than broke. My parents are demanding money for Dad’s medical bills, and I’ve maxed out every credit card trying to maintain appearances.” I buried my face in my hands. “God, Anna, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I had a plan, you know? I was going to make Cameron notice me, make him fall for me. But then that bitch Callie showed up and ruined everything.”
“Callie?” Anna’s voice sharpened with interest. “Callie Knight? Our favorite little omega punching bag?”
“The same one.” I looked up, seeing the familiar gleam in Anna’s eyes that had always preceded our most creative torments. “She’s working as Cameron’s senior assistant now. Can you believe it? That pathetic little omega reject, sitting right outside the Alpha’s office like she belongs there.”
“How… interesting.” Anna’s smile was slow and predatory. “You know, Val, I think the universe might have just handed us exactly what we need.”
“What do you mean?”
Anna reached into her cleaning caddy and pulled out something that made my heart stop. A golden pendant, obviously expensive, with intricate engravings that caught the afternoon light streaming through our dirty windows.
“I found this five years ago,” Anna said, holding the pendant up so I could see it clearly. “I was working a cleaning job at the Moonlight Hotel during the Lunar Assembly weekend. Some rich asshole had left it in one of the suites, and housekeeping was just going to turn it into lost and found.”
She paused, her smile widening. “But I figured, what they don’t know won’t hurt them. So I kept it.”
“It’s beautiful,” I said, though I wasn’t sure why she was showing it to me. “But Anna, what does this have to do with -“
“Everything,” she interrupted, her eyes blazing with excitement. “Valerie, do you have any idea what this pendant represents? Do you know why I’m about to become the luckiest woman in Silver Moon Harbor?”
I shook my head, confused.
“Your brother-in-law, the mighty Alpha Cameron Nightshadow, has been searching for this pendant’s owner for five years. He’s put out notices through every pawn shop, jewelry store, and antique dealer in three territories. He’s offering a position at his company, a significant financial reward, and…” Anna’s voice dropped to a whisper, “the chance to be by his side.”
The pieces clicked into place so suddenly I actually gasped. “You’re going to pretend to be the woman he’s looking for.”
“I’m not going to pretend anything,” Anna said with mock innocence. “I am the woman with his pendant. That makes me exactly who he’s been searching for.”
My mind was racing now, seeing possibilities that I hadn’t imagined just minutes before. “But what about Callie?”
“What about her?” Anna’s smile turned vicious. “That little omega bitch thinks she can waltz into our territory and steal what rightfully belongs to us? I don’t think so.”
She leaned closer, her voice taking on the conspiratorial tone I remembered so well from our school days. “Here’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to present myself to your brother-in-law as his long-lost love. I’m going to take the position he’s offering, work right alongside little Callie, and make her life absolutely miserable until she quits.”
“And then?”
“And then, once I’m established as the Alpha’s mate and future Luna, I’m going to use his resources to make sure you get everything you deserve. Money for your parents’ medical bills, a proper home, the respect that’s been denied to you.” Anna’s eyes glittered with ambition. “We’re going to be queens, Val. Both of us.”
Valerie’s POV
Anna had been working at Nightshadow Industries for three days now, and every evening brought delicious updates that made my vindictive heart sing with satisfaction. She’d call me after work, her voice bubbling with malicious excitement as she described how perfectly her plan was unfolding.
