Chapter 3

LILA'S POV 

"You brought an army to our territory?" Marcus roared, his Alpha aura flaring out like a physical force.

I felt it hit me, that commanding power meant to make wolves submit. Three years ago, it would have brought me to my knees.

Now, it just pissed me off.

"I brought protection," I corrected calmly, letting my own power rise to meet his. "I'm not stupid enough to walk back into the den of the men who rejected me without backup."

The air between us crackled with energy, two opposing forces colliding.

Marcus's eyes widened slightly. He could feel it. They all could.

I wasn't supposed to be able to resist an Alpha's command. Especially not four of them.

"This is an act of war," Ethan said, his voice deadly quiet. Somehow, that was more terrifying than Marcus's shouting.

"No," I said, forcing myself to look at him even though being this close to him made my chest ache. "This is me making sure you can't throw me out again."

"We should have killed you when we had the chance," Marcus growled, taking a step toward me.

The bond snapped.

Pain exploded through my chest, white hot and vicious. I gasped, my hand flying to my heart.

Marcus stumbled backward, his face twisting in agony as he clutched his own chest.

"What the hell?" he choked out.

"The bond," Davian said quietly, his analytical eyes watching both of us with disturbing intensity. "It's protecting her. If we try to hurt her, it hurts us too."

"That's impossible," Ethan said, but I could see him processing, calculating. "Broken bonds don't work like that."

"This one does," I said, catching my breath. The pain was already fading, leaving behind a dull ache. "Three years of not accepting the rejection changed things. The bond adapted."

I watched the realization hit all of them at once.

They couldn't hurt me without hurting themselves.

And judging by the fury on Marcus's face, that knowledge was killing him.

"You manipulative little..." Marcus started.

"Careful," I warned. "You might want to finish that sentence, but trust me, you won't like what happens if you do."

Ethan's phone rang, cutting through the tension. He answered it with a sharp, "What?"

I watched his face as he listened, and saw his jaw clench tighter with each passing second.

"We'll be there in five minutes," he said, then hung up. Those grey eyes fixed on me with cold fury. "Your wolves are threatening our guards."

"Then I suggest you let me go talk to them," I said calmly.

"You're not going anywhere," Marcus said.

I turned to look at him, really look at him, and something inside me twisted.

He was still beautiful. They all were. Four identical faces with those sharp features and grey eyes that had haunted my dreams for three years.

I hated that I could still feel attracted to them after everything they'd done.

"Then your guards are going to have a very bad night," I said, pushing down the unwanted feelings. "Because my people don't take kindly to threats."

"Your people?" Ethan's voice was dangerous, and I felt it slide down my spine like a physical touch. "You've been gone three years and you come back with an army. Where did you even find fifty wolves willing to follow you?"

I smiled, and I knew it wasn't kind. "I found them in the same place you threw me. In the woods, rejected and left to die. Turns out, I'm not the only wolf your kind has discarded."

Silence fell over the room, heavy and suffocating.

"You built an army of rejected wolves," Davian said, and there was something that might have been respectful in his voice.

"I built a family," I corrected, my voice hardening. "People who understand what it's like to be thrown away. Who knows that just because someone rejected you doesn't mean you're worthless."

"Lila," Callum started, and the way he said my name made something in my chest crack.

"Don't," I said, holding up my hand. "Don't say my name like that. Like you care. You lost that right three years ago."

"I do care," Callum said, taking a step closer. "I never stopped caring. Lila, I tried to stop them that night. I told them it was wrong."

"But you didn't stop them," I said, and I heard my voice break slightly. "You stood there and watched Marcus drag me to the border. You watched me beg. You did nothing."

"I'm sorry," Callum said, and I could see tears in his eyes.

"Sorry doesn't fix this," I said.

Before anyone could respond, the front door burst open.

A woman rushed in, blonde hair wild and green eyes flashing with anger.

Sophia Reed.

Of course. The girl who'd been trying to get her claws into one of the quadruplets since we were teenagers.

"What is she doing here?" Sophia demanded, pointing at me like I was something disgusting she'd found on her shoe.

"That's none of your concern," Ethan said coldly.

"Of course it's my concern," Sophia said, moving closer to Ethan. She placed her hand on his arm possessively, and I felt a surge of jealousy so strong it nearly choked me.

I hated that I felt it. Hated that I cared who touched him.

"I'm your..." Sophia started.

"Nothing," Ethan cut her off, shrugging off her hand. "You're nothing to me, Sophia. I've told you that a hundred times."

I shouldn't have felt satisfaction at watching Sophia's face flush with embarrassment. But I did.

"But she gets to come back?" Sophia's voice rose, shrill and desperate. "After three years? After you rejected her?"

"Sophia, leave," Callum said, his voice tired.

"No," Sophia said stubbornly. "I have a right to know why the omega you threw away is standing in your house like she belongs here."

"I don't belong here," I said, speaking directly to Sophia for the first time. "I never did. But unlike you, I'm not here begging for scraps of attention from men who don't want me."

Sophia's face went red with rage. "You bitch."

She lunged at me.

I didn't move or flinch. I just waited calmly.

Marcus caught Sophia before she could reach me, his hand wrapping around her arm hard enough to make her cry out.

"Get out," Marcus said, his voice a low growl. "Now. Before I forget you're a member of this pack."

Sophia wrenched her arm free, tears streaming down her face. "This isn't over. The council will hear about this. About her bringing rogues into the territory."

She turned and stormed out, slamming the door so hard the windows rattled.

"That's going to be a problem," Davian said quietly.

"She's right about one thing," Ethan said, turning back to me. "The council won't allow an army of rejected wolves in our territory."

"Then it's a good thing I don't answer to your council," I said.

"You're in our territory," Marcus said, moving closer. Close enough that I could smell him, that familiar scent that used to make me feel safe. "You answer to us."

"I don't answer to anyone anymore," I said, even as my body betrayed me, leaning slightly toward him without my permission. "That's what freedom means."

"This isn't freedom," Ethan said, stepping closer from the other side. Now I was surrounded by them, Marcus and Ethan on either side, Callum and Davian blocking the exits. "This is chaos."

"Maybe I like chaos," I said, my voice coming out breathier than I intended.

The bond was screaming now, three years of separation making it desperate to close the distance between us.

I could feel it pulling at me, trying to make me step closer, trying to make me touch them.

"We need to go to the border," Callum said, his voice strained. "We need to see what we're dealing with."

"Agreed," Ethan said, but his eyes were still locked on mine.

We walked out of the house together, and I was hyperaware of them surrounding me. Marcus on my left, close enough that our arms almost touched. Ethan on my right, his presence overwhelming. Callum behind me, and Davian ahead, leading the way.

Every wolf we passed stopped and stared, whispered and pointed.

When we reached the northern border, I saw my wolves waiting.

Fifty of them, just like I'd promised. All of them were strong, trained, ready to die for me if needed.

And at the front stood Thea, the healer who'd saved my life three years ago.

"Lila," Thea called out. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I called back, and I felt the quadruplets tense beside me.

They were taking in the sight of my wolves, assessing the threat.

"This is impossible," Marcus muttered.

"Nothing is impossible," I said. "You just have to want it badly enough."

Ethan was staring at the wolves with that calculating expression I remembered too well.

"Call them off," he said.

"No."

"Lila, this is our territory. You can't just bring an army here and expect us to accept it."

"I don't expect you to accept anything," I said, turning to face him fully.

The moonlight caught his features, making him look almost dangerous. Beautiful and dangerous.

My heart stuttered in my chest, and I hated it.

"We need to talk," Ethan said, his voice dropping lower. "Privately."

"There's nothing to talk about."

"Yes, there is," Callum said, moving closer. "Please, Lila. Just give us a chance to explain and fix this."

"You can't fix this," I said, but my voice wavered.

"Let us try," Callum said, and the desperation in his voice made my chest ache.

I looked at all four of them. At the men who'd destroyed me and remade me into something they couldn't understand.

"One hour," I said finally. "After that, my wolves and I are leaving."

"Where will you go?" Davian asked.

I smiled. "Anywhere but here."

We walked back toward the pack house, and with each step, the bond pulled tighter.

My skin felt too hot. My heart was racing. And I couldn't stop noticing things I shouldn't notice.

The way Marcus's muscles moved under his shirt. The intensity in Ethan's eyes. The gentleness in Callum's expression. The quiet strength radiating from Davian.

Whatever happened in the next hour would change everything and I wasn't sure if I was ready for it, but ready or not, it was happening.