Chapter 7 — Boundaries and Breaking Points

The silence after my outburst felt like a living thing—thick, pulsing, suffocating. I could hear the faint clink of silverware against porcelain somewhere down the table, but no one dared to speak. Every eye was on me. On us.

Aiden’s jaw tightened, that barely contained rage shimmering beneath his calm facade. “We’ll discuss this privately,” he said in that low, dangerous voice that made my pulse spike. It wasn’t a suggestion—it was an order.

I pushed back from the table, the chair legs scraping against the polished floor. “No. We’ll discuss it here. Since it apparently affects everyone.”

Darius’s smirk was sharp enough to cut glass. “She’s got a point, brother. Secrets only fester when kept in shadows.” His gaze flicked to me, all heat and provocation, as if daring me to keep going.

“Enough,” Kael growled, the deep rumble in his chest making the wine in my glass tremble. He leaned forward, forearms braced against the table, those storm-grey eyes locked on mine. “You’re playing with fire, little one.”

My heart pounded, but I didn’t back down. “Maybe fire’s exactly what this pack needs.”

Silas, who’d been silent until now, set his fork down with deliberate slowness. “You’re forgetting something,” he said softly, though his voice carried. “Fire doesn’t just burn enemies. It burns everything. Including the one holding it.”

His words hit me harder than I wanted to admit, but the sting of betrayal burned hotter. I crossed my arms. “Then maybe you shouldn’t have lit the match in the first place.”

Gasps rippled down the table. I didn’t care. The truth had to be spoken, even if it shattered the fragile web holding this dinner—and this pack—together.

Aiden rose from his seat, his chair toppling over with the force of his movement. “You,” he pointed at me, “are coming with me. Now.”

For a moment, I thought about refusing. Thought about sitting back down and forcing them to stew in the chaos I’d just unleashed. But the way his eyes darkened—not with anger alone, but with something dangerously close to desperation—made my feet move before I consciously agreed.

The hallway outside the dining room was dim and silent, our footsteps echoing on the marble floor. I could feel the heat radiating from him even before he turned, pressing me against the cool wall with one hand braced beside my head.

“What the hell are you doing?” he demanded.

I lifted my chin. “Asking questions. The kind you refuse to answer.”

“This isn’t the way—”

“It’s the only way,” I cut in. “Because when I ask you in private, you shut me out. Pretend nothing’s wrong. But there’s something very wrong, Aiden. And I’m not going to keep pretending just to keep you comfortable.”

His chest rose and fell sharply, the tension rolling off him in waves. “You think I’m keeping secrets because I want to hurt you?”

I swallowed. “I think you’re keeping them because you don’t trust me.”

His silence was louder than any denial.

For a moment, I saw it—the tiniest crack in his armor. Something raw and unguarded flickered in his gaze before he shut it down again.

“You don’t understand,” he said, voice low.

“Then make me understand.”

Before he could answer, the sound of boots approached. Darius leaned casually against the opposite wall, his smirk even more infuriating in the flickering hallway light.

“Am I interrupting?” he asked, voice dripping with mock innocence.

“Yes,” Aiden snapped.

Darius ignored him, eyes locked on me. “You have a knack for stirring the pot, sweetheart. I like it.”

“Go away,” Aiden growled.

“Not a chance,” Darius replied. “She deserves to hear it from more than one mouth. After all, the truth’s got four sides here, doesn’t it?”

Aiden’s grip on the wall beside my head tightened. “Don’t—”

“Oh, I’m going to,” Darius interrupted. He stepped closer, his presence like a shadow sliding between us. “You want to know why everyone’s so tense, why your questions get dodged? Fine. It’s because this little bond of yours—” he gestured vaguely between me and the brothers “—isn’t just rare. It’s dangerous. Dangerous enough to get you killed if the wrong people find out.”

I froze. “Why?”

Darius’s smirk faded. “Because no one is supposed to be mated to all four of us. Ever. The bond’s… unnatural. Forbidden, even. And there are packs out there who’d see you as a threat to be eliminated.”

Aiden’s growl was so low it made my bones vibrate. “You’ve said enough.”

“Not nearly,” Darius shot back. “She needs to know what she’s up against, Aiden. She’s not some fragile ornament you can lock away.”

“Stop talking like I’m not here,” I snapped.

They both looked at me, the tension between them a living thing.

“Is it true?” I asked Aiden.

His silence told me everything.

I stepped out from under his arm, my pulse a riot in my veins. “Then you’ve been lying to me since the moment we met.”

“Protecting you,” he corrected, but the words rang hollow.

Before either of them could stop me, I turned and walked back toward the dining room. Kael and Silas were already standing when I entered, their eyes sharp, reading every ounce of fury in my stride.

“Guess what?” I said, forcing a brittle smile. “Turns out the big bad secret isn’t just about me. It’s about all of us.”

Kael’s gaze flicked past me to where Aiden and Darius had followed. “You told her?”

Darius grinned. “Partially.”

Silas closed his eyes briefly, as if bracing for impact. “Then the clock just started ticking.”

I frowned. “Clock for what?”

He opened his eyes again, the weight in them making my stomach drop. “For the moment they find us.”

The silence after my outburst hung in the air like the echo of a gunshot. No one moved. No one breathed. The dining hall’s candlelight trembled, casting restless shadows over the faces staring at me—four pairs of sharp, predatory eyes, each belonging to an Alpha who could crush me with a word.

Lucien was the first to stand. His chair scraped back, the sound grating against my nerves. “Enough,” he growled, the authority in his voice enough to make the lower-ranked wolves lower their gazes. “If you have something to say, say it without hiding behind theatrics.”

I forced myself to meet his gaze, even as my pulse raced. “I’m not hiding. You just don’t like hearing the truth.”

His jaw flexed. “The truth, little mate, is that you’re treading dangerous ground.”

“Dangerous?” I scoffed, though my hands trembled under the table. “Maybe I’m done pretending I’m safe in a house where secrets fester.”

Damien leaned forward, his elbows resting casually on the table, though his eyes glinted with razor-sharp interest. “Careful, sweetheart. There are things in this pack you don’t want to dig up.”

My voice sharpened. “And why not? Because they might reveal what all of you are hiding from me?”

The tension thickened. I could feel the eyes of every omega and beta at the table darting between us. The bond—the cursed bond—thrummed in my veins, pulling me toward them even as my anger built walls around my heart.

Ronan finally spoke, his tone deceptively calm. “If you keep pushing, you’ll learn the hard way that we don’t take well to being cornered.”

I stood, my chair tipping slightly before settling with a dull thud. “Then maybe it’s time someone cornered you. All four of you have been circling me like predators since the day I got here, but none of you have been honest. Not about the prophecy, not about the attacks, and definitely not about what you plan to do with me.”

For a moment, silence. Then Kieran’s voice, quiet but carrying the weight of an executioner’s verdict: “You think you can handle the truth?”

“Yes.” The word left me before fear could catch up.

He leaned back, folding his arms, studying me like a puzzle he wasn’t sure he wanted to solve. “We’ll see about that.”

Lucien’s eyes flicked to the guards near the doorway. “Clear the hall. Now.”

The command was met instantly. Omegas hurried out, betas followed, until it was just me and the four of them, the heavy doors shutting behind the last servant.

Damien rose from his seat and came around the table, his steps slow, deliberate. “You’re angry,” he said, stopping just close enough for me to feel the heat radiating from his body. “Good. Anger keeps you from running. But what’s coming… you won’t be able to run from it anyway.”

“Stop talking in riddles,” I snapped.

Ronan pushed back his chair and stood, his broad frame blocking part of my escape. “Fine. Here’s something real for you, mate. The attacks on this pack aren’t random. They’re because of you.”

The words hit harder than I expected, stealing my breath. “That’s… that’s not possible.”

Kieran’s dark chuckle sent a chill down my spine. “Oh, it’s more than possible. It’s fate.”

Lucien stepped forward, his voice steady but merciless. “You carry something they want. Something that will decide the survival of every wolf in these lands. That’s why we can’t let you go, no matter how much you fight us.”

My head spun. The room tilted. “What are you talking about?”

Damien’s smirk was humorless. “The prophecy. The one you’ve been so curious about. It says the Moon’s Chosen will be mated to four Alphas, uniting their bloodlines. And that her blood will either save or destroy the packs.”

The words felt like a cage snapping shut around me. My hands curled into fists. “And you think that’s me?”

Lucien’s gaze didn’t waver. “We know it’s you.”

I took a step back, the weight of their stares pressing down on me. “You’re all insane.”

“You can deny it all you want,” Ronan said, “but the enemy won’t. They already know. And they’ll kill every wolf in their way to get to you.”

Kieran’s eyes glinted dangerously. “Which is why you’re going to stay here. Protected. Watched. Owned.”

That last word snapped the thread holding my temper in check. “I am not your property!” I yelled, my voice shaking the stillness.

Damien’s smirk widened. “That’s the problem, sweetheart. Fate doesn’t care what you want.”

I turned to leave, but Lucien’s voice froze me mid-step. “You walk out of here without hearing the rest, and you’ll regret it.”

I hesitated. Against my better judgment, I turned back.

Lucien’s expression softened just slightly, though it didn’t make him any less dangerous. “We’re telling you this because the enemy has already infiltrated the pack. Tonight wasn’t just dinner—it was a warning. Someone at that table is feeding them information.”

My pulse kicked up. “You’re saying there’s a traitor?”

“More than one,” Kieran said flatly.

The room seemed colder now. Every instinct in me screamed to get away, but another part—stubborn, foolish—wanted answers. “And what exactly do you expect me to do with this information?”

Ronan’s answer was immediate. “Stay alive. And stay close to us.”

I crossed my arms. “That sounds a lot like a prison sentence.”

Damien’s smirk returned. “Call it what you want. But if we lose you, we lose everything.”

Something in his tone told me he wasn’t exaggerating. The prophecy, the attacks, the secrets—they weren’t going away. And for the first time, I realized neither was the pull between me and the four of them.

The bond thrummed again, harder this time, as if mocking my resistance. My heart pounded. My mind screamed to run, but my body betrayed me, frozen under the weight of their presence.

Lucien stepped closer, his scent wrapping around me like smoke. “You can hate us if you want, but you’ll stay. We’ll make sure of it.”

And deep down, though I wanted to deny it, a treacherous part of me knew—I wasn’t sure I wanted to leave anymore.