Tempted By my Evil Lycan Stepbrother novel Chapter 70

Chapter 70: The Winner

Riley’s POV

“AND THE WINNER GOES TO-

The voice suddenly cut off. And then silence followed.

I stood there in Ezra’s grip, blood still dripping from my nose onto his fingers, and waited for the voice to come back.

But it didn’t.

My heart started thumping again. What’s wrong? Who the hell was this damn winner? Why hadn’t they given us a name yet?

“What-“I started.

Then suddenly the broadcast crackled to life again, but the tone was different now. It was less excited now, more official.

“THE WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED UPON ALL TEAMS’ RETURN TO SCHOOL. ALL SURVIVORS MAKE YOUR WAY BACK

IMMEDIATELY.”

The announcement looped once more, then cut to silence.

I blinked. My brain felt slow like it was wading through mud. The power drain was still pulling at the edges of my consciousness, making everything hazy.

“What the fuck?” I breathed. “Why won’t they tell us the winner?”

Ezra clenched his jaw and snapped, “Worry about yourself for a second, will you? You are till bleeding-”

But I cut him off and shoved away from him. My legs almost gave out on the first step. The world tilted sideways and I caught myself against the stone wall of the hollow, nails scraping against rough rock.

“Riley!” he roared furiously.

I ignored him and stumbled out of the hollow and down the slope toward the basin.

The battlefield looked like something out of a nightmare. Mooncrown bodies lay scattered across the broken stone, dark blood pooling in the moonlight. The resin braziers had burned down to smoking embers.

And in the middle of it stood my teammates.

Silas was leaning against a boulder, one hand pressed to his ribs. The wound there was still bleeding, but he could still stand

ľ upright.

His eyes found me immediately as I half-ran, half-fell down the slope.

“Riley! Are you hurt? Your face’s covered in blood!” He pushed off the boulder and started toward me, wincing with every step. I waved him off. “I’m fine. The broadcast-why didn’t they announce the winner?”

Silas’s brow furrowed. He looked over at Odin, who was standing a few yards away, his chest heaving. The cut on Odin’s forear had stopped bleeding, but his face was pale.

“That’s never happened before,” Silas said sullenly. “In the last hunting season, they announced it right after the final cannon. So this doesn’t make sense.”

“Maybe they need to verify the kill counts,” Odin suggested, but his voice was strained. He swayed slightly where he stood, and I saw his grip tighten on the spear shaft to keep himself upright.

Then his knees buckled.

15 Bonus

I crossed the distance before I could think, dropping to my knees beside him as he caught himself on a low rock. My hand went to his shoulder automatically, “Let fne take a look.”

“Don’t bother,” he muttered, trying to wave me away. “It’s…it’s just a scratch.”

“You call that cut a scratch?” I snapped. “Don’t lie to your healer.”

I could feel the damage beneath his skin. The claw marks by his forearm were deeper than they looked, and there was something wrong with his shoulder too. A dislocation, maybe. Or a break.

I closed my eyes and reached for my healing power again.

But nothing came.

I tried harder, digging down into that coiled serpent in my chest. There was nothing left. Just a hollow ache where the power used to be, like a well scraped completely dry. 1

I had exhausted my power.

No. Odin needed me. I pushed anyway.

Warmth trickled down my upper lip again.

“Riley, stop.” Silas’s voice came from somewhere to my left. He sounded serious. “You’re bleeding again.”

I ignored him. I focused on Odin’s shoulder, on the torn muscle and the swelling joint. I poured what little I had left into him. It’s not enough to heal, barely enough to take the edge off.

Then a hand closed around my wrist like iron and yanked me backward.

I stumbled and dropped to my knees. Above me stood Ezra, his face carved from stone, his eyes blazing with anger.

“Stop it. Now,” he growled.

“Let me go!” I tried to twist out of his grip, but I was too weak. My arms felt like wet paper. “Odin needs me-

“They need you dead even less.” He hauled me to my feet and pulled me against his chest, one arm locking around my waist.” Stop acting like a fucking hero.”

“Odin’s hurt-

“He’ll live.” He shot Odin a look full of disgust, as if he hated the fact that Odin had survived. “And you afe coming with me. Now.

Silas stepped forward. “Our healer comes with us. And you should get back to your teammates too.”

Ezra didn’t even look at him. “Stay the fuck out of my way.”

Then he bent down, hooked his other arm under my knees, and lifted me off the ground like I weighed nothing. My face became tomato red. “Put me down!” I pounded my fist against his chest. “Ezra! Are you fucking crazy?!”

I could feel eyes on us. Hansen. The braided woman. Silas. Odin. They were all staring with a strange look on their faces. We were stepsiblings for Christ’s sake. No stepbrother carried his stepsister in a princess’s style. It’s just too weird! But Ezra didn’t answer. He just started walking and strode to the forest.

“Did you hear me?” I hit him again, harder. “Someone’s going to figure it out

Chapter 36 The Winner

+15 Bonus

“Let them.”

“They’ll know about us

“I don’t give a shit.”

His jaw was set. His arms didn’t loosen. He walked faster, boots crunching over shale and broken stone, until the basin and the bodies and the staring eyes all fell away behind us.

Then he shifted.

One moment I was in his arms, human and warm. The next, fur exploded across his skin, bones cracked and reformed, and I was

somehow on the back of a massive black wolf with my fingers buried in the thick fur at his neck.

He ran.

The world blurred around me. Trees and rocks and moonlight all smeared together into a river of shadow and silver. The wind tore at my face, whipped my hair back, and stole the breath from my lungs.

But I didn’t fall.

His body moved beneath me like a living storm, but he made sure I sat on his back safely. The mountain and forest fell away. The safe zone markers flashed past in blurs of red and white.

Less than ten minutes. That’s how long it took him to get back to the starting point.

Everyone else was still miles behind us when we arrived. So the opening was quiet and empty.

Ezra slowed, then stopped. He shifted back to his human form and suddenly I was in his arms again.

He set me down on a flat stone near the center of the clearing.

I was breathing hard, my heart still pounding from that frantic run. “What’s the rush? The bus coming to pick us up isn’t even here yet-”

He leaned down and sealed my lips abruptly.

It wasn’t a gentle or sweet kiss. Instead, it was rough and desperate and hungry. Like he was trying to devour me all together. His hands cupped my face, tilted my head back, and I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t do anything but hold onto his shoulders and let him take me forcefully.

When he finally pulled away, we were both gasping.

His forehead pressed against mine. His breath came hot and uneven across my lips.

“Swear it, Riley,” he said, voice rough. “Swear you’ll never risk your life like that again,”

“Ezra

“I need to hear the damn words, Riley.” His hands tightened on my face. “I can’t-”

His voice cracked. After a few seconds, he continued in a hoarse voice. “I can’t lose you. So just swear it.”

My heart clenched. Suddenly there’s something hot and burning as well in my eyes.

“…I swear,” I whispered.

He let out a long sigh of relief and kissed me again. It was softer this time.

I couldn’t help but wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back. At that moment, that whole world faded away. I forgot about the game, the championship, Silas, and Odin. I even stopped worrying about others finding out about us.

Chapter The Winner

I needed him. Just like he needed me.

Then the world titted sideways, and everything went dark. I heard Ezra calling my name anxiously. But I couldn’t an

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