Beyond the Pack’s Law: My stepsister or nobody else

Hayley’s POV

I felt his hand slide up my back into the crop top, but I didn’t break the kiss. One moment we were on the dance floor dancing, and the next we were at a corner of the club kissing like our lives depended on it.

“Stop.” A voice in me said, My wolf. I understood why she wasn’t on board with me making out with a total stranger at a club, but at the rate this was going, I wasn’t sure it was possible to stop.

My brain seemed to finally react when I felt him tug at my bra strap. I pushed him away, like, what the hell?

“Did I do something wrong?” He asked with such innocent eyes that I couldn’t find it in me to be angry.

“No, this is… I need to go.” That was the last thing I said to him that night, because right after that, I went to get Mina and Mona and told them I was going home, and they sacrificed their fun to go home with me too. I felt bad for sure, but I didn’t know what else to do-act like an adult and respectfully tell Kayden I wasn’t some cheap one-night stand? Nope, I just left with my tail in between my legs. The truth was, I felt stupid for letting it get that far.

But at least I had snapped into my senses at the right time.

I shook my head violently, wanting to get the memory out; it had been a week after all. There was no need to keep replaying the scene; I did a quick outfit check in the mirror in front of me, and I was fairly satisfied.

It was the weekend again, and my agreement with mom was that I’d go out. This time, there was no way I was letting her choose where or how I was going to be dressed. It was her fault I got treated like a whore when she had absolutely dressed me up as one.

This time I had a more comfortable outfit: a baggy t-shirt and jeans.

Today was more harmless than last time; Mina, Mona, and I had it all planned out. We were spending the whole day together just doing things that made us happy.

My first stop was the cafe. I grabbed my bag and walked downstairs.

“Are you…” Mom started when she saw me.

“Don’t even think about it; if it’s about my outfit, I don’t want to hear it.” I replied coldly.

Either Mina or Mona had snitched to her about my bumping into Kayden, and now she was all supportive of me finding love, or whatever she thought it was.

“I was going to say anything; you look cute.” She shrugged her shoulders and went back to cooking.

“Thank you.”

“You see, now this is good for you. Make friends; fall in love.”

“We’ve talked about this, mom; people don’t just fall in love like that. I’d appreciate it if you’d drop that logic.”

“What about that guy from last week?”

“What about him?”

“I thought you liked him?” She said it with eager eyes.

“I never said that; it was a one-time thing. That wasn’t love.”

“You’re not even giving this a try, are you?” I could sense the irritation underlying her tone.

“Because I’m not looking for love.”

“That wasn’t the case a couple months ago.”

My jaw tightened in anger; she was still talking about Aiden. For someone who wanted me to forget about Aiden, she was very quick to bring up my relationship with him and how it repulsed her.

“Stop bringing Aiden into this.”

“Then stop letting him affect you when he’s not even here. Hayley, you have to let it go.”

I wasn’t even holding onto anything, was I? I missed Aiden, but I never took any time to stop and think about it.

“I’m not.”

“If you say so.”

“If I’m not back by midnight, then I’m probably at Mona’s.”

“Just leave me a message if you plan to have a sleepover.”

“Sure, bye.” I stepped out the front door and took in the beautiful view of nature. The sun kissing my face and the soft, gentle breeze carrying the scent of trees and earth made me feel like I just stepped into a fairy tale. Hopefully, my day went as peacefully as it did in fairy tales.

I opened the cafe door and searched for Mina and Mona. I waved at them when I did, but I noticed they were not alone. There was an extra person at our table; I walked over and realized it was Holland. My heart leapt to my mouth and dropped back into my chest.

“What is going on?” I looked to my friends, who told me to take a seat.

“We ran into Holland while we were waiting for you.”

“Hey Hayley.” He said it with a soft smile.

I looked at them again. What sort of joke was this?

I had avoided Holland like the plague at school; after the last betrayal from him, I was more than eager to completely cut him out of my life, but now my friends, who were supposed to hate him for me, were chit-chatting with him. He had tried to talk to me a few times in school, but I made sure our paths never crossed. So much for avoiding.

“Anyways, have you guys ordered anything yet?” I acted like he was seated in front of me and asked the others.

“No, we were waiting for you.”

“Cool, I’ll go get it. What do you want?” I asked; it was an excuse to leave the table and catch a breath.

I took their orders, Hollands included, and went to the counter. I was patiently drumming my fingers into the counter while my order was being made when I felt someone call me from behind.

“Hayley? Is that you?” I turned around, wondering who it was, and right behind me was the guy from the cinema, Kayden.

“Oh, hi.” I didn’t really know what else to say.

“And here I was thinking I’d probably never see you again.”