Their Secret Obsession (A Reverse Harem)

Lottie POV

I sat in the car, my hands gripping the steering wheel tightly as I bombed it down dark country lanes, the night swallowing up the beam of our headlights. The road was a serpentine twist through the heart of nowhere, bordered by looming trees that danced eerily with the

wind. It was the perfect setting for a horror movie, but for me, it was just another backroad shortcut.

"You are going the wrong way," Liam huffed beside me, his fingers digging into the dashboard and door, knuckles white with tension.

"Am I?" I asked and couldn't help but smile, relishing the moment. Here was Liam, a big bad Alpha, a Sparrow brother, a man who was a paid killer for the royal family, visibly unnerved by my driving.

"Have you never been on a roller-coaster, Liam?" I teased, glancing his way with a playful smirk.

"Yes, and it wasn't as scary as this ride," he shot back, his voice a mix of amusement and genuine fear. "Slow down, goddess, give me strength."

"Pussy." I laughed, but reluctantly, I eased off the accelerator slightly, but the thrill of speeding along these hidden lanes was too good to give up completely.

"You need to turn around. You are going the wrong way." Liam insisted again. His voice was so high and squeaky it had Sage growling inside my head.

"We're not going the wrong way," I corrected him with a hint of nostalgia in my tone. "I spent years sneaking out to clubs, bars, and parties because Kane and Knox were so strict with Lilly and me. I know all the shortcuts that others don't."

"You rebel." He laughed uneasily, his fingers grasping tighter at the fabric of the car.

"Someone in this family needs to be," I teased with a sideward smile as memories flickered through my mind-Lilly and me, giggling as we lost the boys on these very backroads when we were just kids. They never could keep up, and that freedom felt just as exhilarating now as it did back then. Liam, clearly not reassured, pulled out his phone, and I couldn't resist the curiosity.novelbin

"Who are you texting?" I asked, trying to keep my tone uninterested despite the fact I was desperate to know more about him.

"A girl," he replied, his thumbs moving swiftly over the screen.

"Why?" I asked, my tone laced with suspicion. Part of me couldn't shake the feeling that he might be warning Chase and Adam about our little outing despite his promise not to.

"Because I want the girl to know I love her before I die." He glanced at me, a small smile playing on his lips. His words made me chuckle, the tension in the car lightning just a bit.

"You're such a sap, Liam," I said, shaking my head but with a smile tugging at my lips. Encouraged by his dramatic declaration, I finally took pity on him and slowed the car further, the darkness of the country roads now just a backdrop to our unlikely adventure. After a moment's silence, driven by the night's shadows whispering through the trees around us, I decided to dig a little deeper.

"Who is this girl to you?" I asked, glancing over at Liam.

"She's just a girl I met on a recent

work trip." He answered cautiously; I understood the subtext

immediately-on one of his

missions. As paid hitmen for the net

royal family, trips like these were not leisure but dangerous assignments cloaked in secrecy. And it was most likely the case that it was a

forbidden love.

"Do not ask. He won't want to lie to you, and it will put him and her in danger." Sage's voice echoed in my mind, a stern reminder not to probe too deeply into the darker aspects of Liam's duties.

"Do you love her?" I shifted my approach; curiosity tinged with concern. Looking over at him, my lips twitched with amusement as Liam seemed to ponder this, his gaze fixed on the winding road illuminated by our headlights.

"I'm not sure. I don't know what love is," he finally admitted, his voice a mixture of confusion and resignation. His response made me gasp.

"How do you not know what love is?" I pressed, unable to hide my shock. He sighed a deep sound that seemed to pull from a well of sorrow.

"My mother was murdered just after I was born. I never experienced her love, and no one really showed me tenderness until I met Adam and Chase. But that's different-it's more about bonding over duty than love."

I nodded, my heart aching for him and the stark reality of the life he and my brothers had been forced into a life shaped by duty and danger, where affection was often a casualty.

"I'm wrong." He announced into the

quiet car, and I knew before I turned to look at him that he was smiling have loved, but what I feel for this girl... it's different from that." But then he surprised me, his voice softening. t

Curious and confused, I looked at him, waiting for him to explain.

"It's because the only time I've felt love was with you, Lottie. And I don't feel the same way towards Liv as I do towards you." His admission was earnest, filled with a vulnerable honesty that was rare for Liam.

I smiled, touched by his words, even as I fought the tears that welled up at the thought of his solitary life.

"Ha, that's probably a good thing," I managed to joke, trying to lighten the mood and hide the emotional turmoil his words stirred within me. "Incest is frowned upon even with us wolves." I added with a smirk. "We are not just wolves baby sis.. we are royals, never forget that." He added his hand squeezing mine as it drifted to m belly.

"I love you too." I acknowledged, "But

just because you let me drive." I

added with a wink as I put my foot down and rushed through back roads, knowing we were mere moments from my destination The

conversation drifted off as the road stretched on, leaving us both enveloped in the quiet

understanding that unfolded in the dark comfort of the car.