Chapter 2

The night smelled like blood.

Wolves were chasing. Their growls were close, too close.

My mother stopped, bent, and held my face. “Listen to me,” she said quickly. She pushed me toward a hole under a fallen tree, covering me with leaves. “Stay here. Don’t come out. I’ll come back for you.”

I shook my head, crying. “Mama…”

My mother pressed a finger to her lips. “Be brave.” Then she ran into the noise.

I hid, hugging my knees. The sounds outside were awful…snarls, bones breaking, screams.

Then came my mother’s voice, sharp and cut off too soon. Silence followed.

Blood dripped through the roots above, into my hair. I touched it. My fingers came away red. My mother’s blood.

I wanted to scream, but I couldn’t move. I waited, but no one came. No one called my name.

When I crawled out, the ground was full of dead bodies. My mother was gone.

A tall man with silver eyes found me. The Alpha. His voice was rough when he said, “You’re safe now.”

I just clung to him. I had no one else.

“Wake up, girl!” A harsh voice snapped me out of it. My eyes flew open. The Luna stood over my bed, sneering, with bare teeth from a horror movie.

My heart still raced from the dream. The same dream that never left me.

I relived it every night, I never had peace.

That was the night I started to live in this house, With his sons… the quadruplets.

“Are you deaf girl! We have tons of things to do..”

“I’m coming ma’am” I said, hurrying to put on the worn dress i always wore for chores

“It’s my sons birthday in a few days, God I need to get a lot of things ready…” her voice trailed as she went to the kitchen.

I wasn’t going to school, not when the Luna’s sons birthday were in a few days, my birthday too actually, i should be happy. I’m turning eighteen, i should be able to shift but i hadn’t felt my wolf for the first time, it looks like it ran away from me just as other people did. The only thing that gave me hope was my escape. The escape Eli and I planned and have been planning ever since.

My job started in the boys’ wing. The quadruplets.

I carried a tray with water and towels, pushing the heavy door open.

The room was the same as always… half chaos, half luxury. Boots scattered on the floor, blankets kicked off the beds, the smell of wolves thick in the air.

Asher was the first to notice me. He was already half up, rubbing sleep from his eyes, hair sticking out in all directions. “You’re late,” he muttered, grabbing a towel off the tray, but his voice wasn’t cruel. More like a brother annoyed. “Next time, wake us before Luna comes storming in.” He always tried to look out for me, even in small ways. Well, so I thought.

Adrian leaned against the headboard of his bed, his sharp eyes fixed on me like I was dirt on the floor. “Don’t bother defending her,” he said flatly to Asher . “She’s useless even when she’s on time.” His words cut clean and cold, the way they always did.

Axel was already dressed, pulling on his boots. He didn’t even look my way, just muttered, “You’re standing in the middle of the room again.” Quiet, serious, the one who never joined in the mocking but he never stopped it either.

Then there was Aiden. Still stretched out across his bed, a lazy grin spreading across his face as soon as he saw me. “Morning, sunshine,” he drawed, his voice smooth, teasing. “Did you dream of me again? You’re blushing… I can tell.” He laughed when I stiffened, clearly pleased with himself.

I kept my eyes low, setting the tray down. “Here’s your water,” I whispered.

Aiden snorted. “Try speaking like you have a voice. No wonder no one takes you seriously.”

My throat tightened, but I stayed silent. Family. That was what they were supposed to be to me. But standing here, tray trembling in my hands, I had never felt further from it.

Aiden’s eyes narrowed as if my silence annoyed him. “Don’t look at me like that,” he muttered, his tone low and sharp. “You’re nothing here, Aria. Don’t forget that.”

“Stop” I suddenly whispered, not knowing what came over me.

“Did you say something?” Aiden asked suprised

“I..i” i started to stutter, fear creeping into my hands as he walked slowly towards me.

“Speak loud when you’re talking to me, you think you can say something and now cower in fear?” I could smell the anger off him as his brothers looked on, a little surprised.

He moved fast to the front of me with his wolf speed which startled me so much i pushed him a little but the force he fell with didn’t seem like i pushed a little. It felt like the quadriplets pushed him.

There was silence as all stared at me.

“I.. i swear it wasn’t me.. I didnt do that.. i .. i just pushed a little, i.. i was scared” i said, running towards Aiden to help him up.

“Don’t touch me!” He pushed me away, scratching my skin with his claws.

He looked flustered as his brothers help him up

They turned and walked off, leaving me standing in the middle of the hallway with everyone’s eyes on me. Heat crept up my neck.

I lowered my gaze and hugged my arms tight. I could feel the sting on my skin where he shoved me earlier. But when I brushed my fingers against it, the sting was gone.

The bruise on my arm had already faded.

I blinked, my heart hammering. It wasn’t the first time, but every time it happened, the same fear twisted through me.

If anyone saw…

I quickly tugged my sleeve down, hiding the skin, forcing myself to keep walking like nothing had happened. But inside my chest, a thought echoed heavy and loud…

“Something’s wrong with me. And if they find out…”

But the weight of eyes pressed against me. I glanced up.

One of the quadruplets Axel was leaning against the wall, arms crossed. His expression unreadable, his gaze fixed not on my face but on my arm.

My stomach dropped.

He’d seen.

I froze for half a breath, waiting for him to sneer or call it out, but he didn’t. He only tilted his head, as though he’d just uncovered a secret.

The corner of his mouth twitched…not a smile, not quite. Something sharper.

My pulse hammered.

Before I could speak, before I could turn away, Axel pushed off the wall and took a slow step toward me.

“You heal fast,” he said softly, just for me.

Whatever noise in the hallway noise faded.

“Axel… I” my throat closed up.

He knows.