Four

Jax

I was still trying to make sense of what had just happened.

My brothers and I had been accused of not attending regional meetings. Garrick especially thought we acted snobbish. We couldn’t hide our resentment for him and his rundown shanty of a pack, and coming here was a last-minute decision.

Surprise hit me like a punch when I found my mate in the same place I loathed.

Here. In Blackwood Fortress, of all places. A pit that reeked of filth. A place where cruelty was entertainment.

And she was an omega servant.

That part didn’t matter. Alpha, omega, titles, ranks. None of it meant a damn thing when the bond snapped into place. This was a gift. The goddess didn’t hand mates out like favors.

But she claimed she had no wolf and couldn’t feel the bond.

And then there were my brothers, who I was so close to strangling for daring to claim her.

“She’s my mate too.”

Riven’s words from the mind link kept circling my head, refusing to settle.

Worse was Kain.

Kain, who buried his heart with his late wife. Kain, who swore he was done with love, done with mates.

What kind of sick joke was this?

The moment the girl ran and Garrick’s desperate sister realized Kain wasn’t giving her attention, I rounded on my brothers.

“If this is some kind of sick joke, end it now.”

Riven’s calm gaze met my stare. “It’s not.”

I stepped closer, poking his chest. “You expect me to believe both of you felt it? That we’re supposed to share one woman?”

Kain didn’t look at me. He was still staring at the servants’ corridor, like the girl might walk back out.

“Answer me,” I snapped. A few drunk nobles glanced our way. I didn’t care.

“Yes,” Kain said dryly. “I felt it. And I won’t share her, least of all with my brothers.”

A violent rage twisted in my chest.

“You must be out of your mind to think you can claim my mate,” I said. “She’s mine. I said it first. You both heard me.”

“Lower your voice, you fool,” Kain warned. “You’re being watched.”

I forced myself to take a breath, then another, and swallowed the urge to put my fist through the nearest wall.

I turned and walked away without another word, heading for the side corridor.

They followed.

We found a storage room filled with crates and broken furniture. I slammed the door shut and spun on them.

“Explain. Now.”

Riven leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms. “First of all, stop transferring your frustration onto us, Jax. Can’t you even see that this is not ordinary? We need to check her to make sure she doesn’t carry the triple mark.”

I stared at him. “What mark?”

“The triple mark,” Kain said, like it was common knowledge. “If she has it, she’s cursed.”

The word hit wrong.

Riven continued. “It’s extremely unusual for one woman to be bound to three mates. And then it becomes deadly if she carries a mark. Every recorded woman with that mark drove her mates to killing each other.”

I felt cold.

“That’s a cooked-up tale,” I said with a scoff, but it sounded thin even to me. “I don’t care if she’s from Hades. She’s mine, and I’m not sharing.”

“Jax.” Riven’s tone went patient, like he was trying to reason with a child throwing a tantrum. It made me want to punch him. “If she has the mark, keeping her could destroy all of us. Everything we’ve built. Our people.”

“I don’t care,” I repeated. “The goddess gave her to me.”

“This isn’t about you,” Kain said, stepping forward. His presence filled the room. Alpha of War. Commander of the largest fighting force in three territories. The wolf that other alphas had nightmares about. “This isn’t just about you and what you want.”

“She is mine,” I shot back. “Didn’t you swear on your mate’s grave that you’d never take another mate? So why does this suddenly matter to you?”

Kain flinched like I’d hit him.

“Watch your mouth.”

“Or what?” I was being reckless and I knew it, but I couldn’t stop. “You’ll kill me?”

“Enough,” Riven cut in. “Fighting each other proves nothing.”

I stepped back and forced myself to breathe.

“She can’t even feel the bloody bond.”

Riven frowned. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“She said she doesn’t have a wolf,” I went on. “Maybe it’s broken on her side.”

“Or she’s lying,” Kain said.

“She’s a servant in Garrick’s pack,” Riven said. “She was cornered by three alphas in public. Of course she’d deny it.”

Garrick.

The thought of him made my blood burn.

I’d read the reports. His territory was rotting from the inside out. He taxed his people into starvation and spent the money on parties and expensive imported wine. Selling his own people and calling it a necessity.

And she’d been living under his roof.

“I’m buying her tonight,” I said.

Riven stiffened. “Jax.”

“If you do it openly,” Kain said, “Garrick will see weakness. He’ll raise the price. Or refuse, just to provoke you.”

“I don’t care,” I said. “And if he tries to stop me, I’ll kill him. I’ll burn this whole fortress down if I have to.”

The room went silent.

And I meant every word.