Chapter 67

You like it.

Archer’s words shoot white-hot embarrassment through my body – mainly because he’s right. Despite myself, I do like it when he bosses me around. I get hot when he goes all Alpha on me.

I absolutely hate myself for it, but it’s true.

Not that I will ever admit that to him, though.

“You are out of your mind,” I tell him.

The corner of his lips lift into a telling smirk. “Don’t lie to me or to yourself.”

“Why would I like it when you always treat me like dirt? It makes zero sense.”

“I don’t treat you like dirt.” He lowers his voice again. “But maybe you’d like it more if I did.”

“Why would anyone want to be treated poorly?” I want an answer, so I can explain it to myself. By all rights and reason, I shouldn’t want him to bend me over his bench while he drops to his knees behind me, like he did with that girl. But I do want it.

I want it so badly, just thinking of it now makes my panties wet.

When Archer looks down at me again, my body wants to preen for him. My nipples are painfully hard, begging for his gaze. I worry my bottom lip with my teeth, trying to keep myself under control, but it’s no use. It’s like my body has a mind of its own.

Or it already belongs to Archer. He just needs to claim it.

“If I put you in your place, Chloe, you’d be begging me for more,” he says.

A spark rushes through my body. Put me in my place? Like he smacked that girl’s ass? Is that what he wants to do to me? Surely feeling pain while intimate doesn’t feel good?

But that girl seemed to enjoy it.

My throat goes dry. With Archer, I want to try it.

“They always beg,” he says, voice low.

“I wouldn’t,” I snap, wrangling control away from my body. My mind is still in charge. I can’t give into lust, not with such a raving asshole as Archer.

He lifts a hand into the space between us. With the back of his fingers, he gently brushes over the peak of my aching nipple that poked out through my shirt.

Pleasure zips through my body.

I bite back a whimper, but not before he hears it. He tuts at me.

“You’re body says differently.”

“Leave me alone,” I say, but I am breathless. I’m not sure how convincing I am.

Slowly, he leans back. I immediately regret the words that added space between us, even though I know I shouldn’t. He doesn’t want me because he wants me. He wants to put me in my place, which to him is as an object.

I’m an object for no one, not even him.

He drags his gaze once more down my body, letting his gaze linger pointedly at my breasts. I cross my arms over my chest, hiding my budding nipples.

Without a word, he turns and walks out the door. He doesn’t look back again.

Later, I carry Mia into my room. Embarrassingly, I really want to change my damp panties. Unfortunately, my room is already occupied.

My snake of a stepbrother Wyatt is there, standing in front of my open closet, going through my clothes.

“What the hell are you doing in here?” I ask, approaching him.

He turns away from the closet, only so much to glare at me. “I thought I’d help you pack your things, since you’ll be leaving soon. Although I guess nothing here actually belongs to you.”

“These are my clothes. They were a gift to me.”

Wyatt laughs. “Yeah, sure. They say that until it’s time to go, then they’ll kick you out on your naked ass.”

“That thought doesn’t seem to bother you overmuch.”

“Whether they kick you out, or you leave all your own, I couldn’t care less. So long as you are gone.”

Mia grips my shirt in his little hand. Looking down, I see the distress brewing on her face. With me holding her, she must be able to feel some of my growing upset. I don’t want to let Wyatt’s vile demeanor affect Mia so I take her over to where I set up a bouncy seat and place her in it.

She hasn’t napped yet. She’s well behind schedule, despite my best attempts. I’m hoping she’ll fall asleep quickly now.

Wyatt, however, doesn’t seem to share my concerns.

When he speaks, it’s just as loud and obnoxious as ever. “You don’t belong here, Chloe. Not at this school. Not at the Pyramid. And not around the Hayes’s. I don’t know what kind of enchantment you put on that baby, but it won’t save you.”

“I’m the Nanny, and I signed a contract for three months. At the end of those three months, I will be gone. It’s pointless to argue about anything else.”

Arguing with Wyatt is like talking to a wall. He has his opinions about me, opinions I don’t fully understand. But it seems pointless to try to understand them.

For whatever the reason, he seems to hate me. Before, I thought he might be the one savior I would find in this place. Now, I realize he wants me to fail more than anyone else.

“You’re a fucking weakling, Chloe. No wolf, no future. You want to be a warrior? Don’t make me laugh. You’re destined to be nothing. Or, no, sorry. The brothers are right. You’re destined to be a Nanny. Or a whore like your mother.”

I curl my hands into fists. It takes all I have not to put him in the wall.

“Don’t talk about me and my mother like that.”

“Or what? You going to fight me? I’m the brothers’ Beta. That means something around here.”

I’m not so sure about that. Wyatt doesn’t seem to mean anything to the Hayes’s, except as a glorified servant. He might be the first one they call when they need something, but he still isn’t their friend.

I don’t say any of those words aloud. I have more dignity than to take such a low swing at him, even after he insulted me. But he can still see what I want to say on my face.

He knows my weakness is a sore point for me. But I know his weak spots too: he’s incredibly insecure.

He can pretend he means something around here. Pretend to be the big dog on campus. But everyone knows the truth. He’s as low as the rest.

His face twists up in disgust and blind hatred. “You fucking bitch.” He doesn’t give much more explanation than that.

Honestly, his hatred hurts my soul a small amount. When our parents fell in love, I never thought he and I would be close exactly, but I always wanted to just get along.

That feels so impossible now, like a foolish dream from another life.

“I don’t understand,” I say, more melancholy than before. “Why do you hate me so much?”

He snorts a harsh laugh. “Like you don’t know.”

“I don’t.” I lift my arms and let them drop. “I really, really don’t.”

His laugh cuts short. He glares at me instead.

“You and your whore mother are trying to ruin my whole family. You won’t get away with it. When I tell the brothers you got rid of the clothes they bought you, they’ll kick you out of here so fast, your head will spin.”

My breath catches. So that’s why he was snooping around my room.

“You can’t…” My voice is weak. If he tells them, they are going to be pissed.

I can’t even imagine what Archer will do.

Wyatt smirks. “Watch me.”