Read Stepbrother Bear - Complete Online
Authors: Rosette Bolter
EPILOGUE
The gun doesn’t go off in my hand.
There is so resolution of justice for either my brother or sister. I am left to
walk out of the General’s house, crying and sobbing – not knowing that maybe
someday everything will be okay.
I look ahead
down the road. I look into the future. I see myself standing just outside a
wedding altar. I’m wearing a bright orange dress and there are flowers in my
hair. Everyone has turned around from their seats to look at me. I look past
them towards the edge of the reception where the pastor is waiting with the
bride’s maids and the best men. The groom is dressed all in black. But I don’t
know who I’m looking at because he is a stranger.
As is my
stepbrother, Aiden Phillips, who has been away at war. A war our country won.
You won’t read anything in the papers about his or Lara’s condition. The
secrets of their experiments are kept from the public. But still their faces
are plastered about the pages. They’re heroes. They saved people’s lives.
And it was
all for a good reason.
But it’s not
Aiden waiting for me at that the end of that aisle. It’s another man, a man I
haven’t met before. A man I’ll meet someday. If I were to search for Aiden,
perhaps he would appear somewhere amongst the crowd. A terrible, goofy smile
etched on his face. Taunting me. Making fun of me. Perhaps he would tell my new
groom about our thing together. Perhaps he would say he’s going to steal me
away.
These are
just my thoughts. On what I have to look forward to.
That dark
empty road that stands in front of me.
But where it
leads, I know not.
Only –
“Bianca.”
I turned
around, my heart skipping a beat.
Both Aiden
and Lara were on the footpath behind me.
They each
stepped off Aiden’s motorcycle and began to approach.
“Oh my God!”
I squealed. “You guys!”
I ran up to
them and hugged them both.
“I don’t
understand. How did you – how did you know to find me –”
“Don’t think
we haven’t been watching you,” Lara said mysteriously. “We were a little
concerned to find you here –”
“It’s okay,”
I interrupted. “I didn’t do anything. I didn’t hurt her.”
“How are Mom
and Dad doing?” Lara asked.
“Fine,” I
mumbled. “Actually, they’ve gone to France.”
“That’s
okay,” Aiden said. “We’ll see them when they get back.”
I looked to
both of them, feeling more and more confused. “Aren’t you guys on the run or
something? Does the General know you’re here?”
“She may have
tried to explain to you, that we’re happy doing this now,” Aiden replied. “It’s
not for nothing. We can actually use our abilities for good in this world.”
“And we get
paid well too,” Lara added.
“They’re not
just making you say that are they?” I asked skeptically.
They both
laughed and shook their heads. “Not this time.”
I stepped
away from them, not knowing how to express myself. Or what I should be trying
to express. Perhaps I should be happy…?
“You do
realize these are the same people who held our family hostage for three years,
don’t you?” I blurted out.
“It all
worked out in the end,” Lara said softly.
“Did it?” I
challenged.
Aiden moved
in close to me. He put his hand around my waist and moved in to kiss me.
“Oh my God –
you guys!” Lara shrieked. “Gross!”
Our lips
didn’t touch though.
Aiden looked
back to our sister and smiled at her. “Fooled you.”
“Oh my gosh!”
Lara gushed. “Was that – was that a joke?”
“Yeah,” I
said hurriedly and tried to laugh.
“Not funny,”
she muttered.
Aiden pressed
his lips together and now she could see there was something up.
“Oh man,”
Lara said. “I’m so out of here.”
She shifted
into her bird and then flew away into the sky.
“Uh-oh,” I
said. “Should we have –?”
“She’ll be
okay,” Aiden cut over me. “Now how about that kiss after all?”
“Maybe some
other time,” I said stepping back from him.
“I’ll take
you up on that.”
He hopped on
his motorcycle and revved the engine. The bike slowly purred up along the road
beside me.
“Want to go
somewhere with me?” he asked.
I glanced
back. “No thanks.”
“Just to muck
around. To have a good time. I won’t try anything, I promise.”
I stopped.
“What is your deal, Aiden? Do you like me or not?”
“What you
think?” he grinned back. “Come along for the ride and find out.”
I shook my
head and went on my way, but he continued to follow me.
“Pretty
please,” he taunted. “Come on, I’ll do anything you ask.”
“No,” I said
firmly.
“Please,
Bianca, I’m serious.”
I stopped and
looked into his eyes, not knowing what I would see.
And I still
didn’t know. Whether he was serious or joking or something else entirely.
“When my bear
dreams at night,” Aiden whispered. “He always goes out to find you.”
I swallowed.
I think he
had me.
After all his
shit, he had me again.
Once I was on
the back of his bike, the wind racing past, and world opening up – I leaned
into his ear and asked: “Where are we going?”
“Someday,”
Aiden said, “Someday I’ll tell you.”
And for some
strange reason I knew…
That day
would never come.
ALSO
BY ROSETTE BOLTER
SHARED BY
THE DRAGON CLAN
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NW436ZC
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