CHAPTER 3

Karla's Pov 

 “Mate.” They all said in unison. I blinked once, twice, thrice, momentarily forgetting the pain. Mate? What did they just say? Mate? Who is their mate? Alpha Darwin? Alpha Darwin was their mate? That can't be, they just killed him, his body was on the ground. Or were they trying to claim a dead body as their mate? 

 This was crazy. I had no idea that the quadruplets had this kind of fetish. But why were they looking at me with that kind of gaze? 

 “I don't… What are you doing here? You're the one that killed him… Not… not me.” I explained, not daring to look up at them. Memories of Kai kicking me when I stared at him flashed in my head, it made me lower my head even further. 

 “I know you didn't kill him, you don't have enough power to do that.” Kai's gruff voice sounded next to my ears and I jerked up, startled by his sudden movements and my sudden movements made the wound on my back stretch and I cried out in pain. 

 “Why isn't your wounds healing? It normally does it!” Kai sounded panicked. 

 “Poison… The poison was too… it was too.” No. No. No. Dark spots began to fill my vision and I could feel myself falling. I was fainting and they were going to leave me here. I was going to die in this pathetic situation. Just as I felt myself slipping away, strong arms caught me before I hit the ground. My body was weightless in someone's hold, and despite the intense pain, I could feel the warmth of their presence.

 "Stay with us." A deep voice commanded softly, it was Axel. I tried to keep my eyes open, but the poison coursing through me made it difficult and my body was shutting down, the pain in my back reminded me of what I had to face. 

 “I won’t… leave you… here.” Axel said, his words cutting through the haze. I wanted to believe him, but I was so tired. My body was trembling, and I could barely focus on anything.

 “Karla, look at me.” His voice was more forceful now, as if he could will me to stay awake. But it was too much, the pain, the poison coursing through my veins, the confusion, it was all too much. 

 “Kai, we need to get her back.” Axel barked, and I vaguely heard the urgency in his voice, “Her wounds aren't healing because of the poison. We have to act now.”

 "She can't survive much longer like this.” Lysander said, his voice low but laced with concern, "We should have acted sooner."

 Suddenly, the world spun again as I felt myself being lifted, carried swiftly, my head lolled to the side, and I could barely make out the figures around me. The forest, the dim light, it was all a blur.

 And then, just as I was about to lose consciousness entirely, I heard footsteps approaching us, the scent of dominance filled the air, making the hairs on my arms stand on end, I recognised the aura. Only one person had this kind of authority, I forced my eyes open just enough to see him. Alpha Joan, their father, strode into view, flanked by their mother, Luna Stephanie.

 "What is happening here? Why did you all run off like that and bring this woman here? What happened to her?" Alpha Joan's voice cut through the chaos like a sharp blade. He was every bit as imposing as I had imagined, with a presence that commanded the whole clearing without effort. This was the closest I had ever gotten to see him. Such an ironic situation. 

 "Father.” Alaric began, his voice strained, "It's Karla. She's…”

 “Karla is our mate.” 

 What?! If I had enough strength, I would have jumped out of Axel's arms. Mate? So the person they were talking about back there was me? I was their mate? All four of them? How could this be possible, something like this had never happened before, it must be a mistake, they could never be my mates, after everything that they did to me! 

 If it was true, then I had to reject them. I had to reject them quickly, I would rather be mateless than have mates like them. Never. So I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out of them. I was frozen, and my vision was failing fast. 

 No. No. This couldn't be it! I needed to reject them, I needed to… reject… And that was it. My eyes rolled to the back of my head as darkness completely engulfed me and hours later, I woke up gasping for air, my heart pounding in my chest as my body throbbed with pain. The room around me was unfamiliar, but I quickly recognized the scent, Axel, this had to be his room. The low, masculine scents of leather and pine lingered in the air, and everything was impeccably neat. My back was still sore, but the sharp agony had dulled, replaced by an uncomfortable, burning ache that pulsed with every breath.

 Panic surged through me as I remembered everything, the poison, their claim that I was their mate, the impossible situation I was now in. I had to leave before they returned. There was no way I could stay here, not with them after they had tormented me for so long, and now they wanted me to accept them as my mates? The very thought made me want to throw up. 

 Ignoring the pain, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and tried to stand, my legs were weak, my knees wobbling beneath me as I tried to stand without falling. A wave of dizziness washed over me, but I gritted my teeth and forced myself forward because If I could just make it to the door, then I might have a chance to escape this place. 

 But before I could take more than a few steps, my body seized up, and a sharp, unbearable pain spread in my chest. My muscles convulsed and trembled violently, my vision blurring as I fell to the ground, my back arched in agony as wave after wave of pain hit my body, making it impossible for me to move. It felt like my insides were being torn apart, like the poison was still inside me, trying to spread it's way through my body. 

 "No, no, no." I whimpered, trying to crawl toward the door, but my legs and arms betrayed me as I curled up against my will. 

 Before I could scream from the pain, strong arms wrapped around me from behind, pulling me into a tight, secure hold, "Karla, breathe." Alaric’s voice murmured softly in my ear. His warmth surrounded me, his grip firm but gentle as he held me tightly against his chest, steadying me through the pain, "Just breathe, you're safe, okay? You're safe.”

 I wanted to fight him, to push him away, but my body didn't allow me. It was like I craved his touch. And the pain was unbearable so all I could do was to let him hold me as I trembled violently in his arms and against my will, I found myself leaning into him. 

 “It's okay. You’re going to be okay,” Alaric whispered, his voice steady, as though his calm could somehow soothe the chaos inside me. Slowly but surely the convulsions began to subside, leaving me panting and weak in his arms.

 When the pain finally eased enough for me to move, I tore myself away from him, shifting backwards until my back hit the wall. Fear spiked in my chest as I looked up, realizing all four of them were there, Axel, Kai, Lysander, and Alaric. They were all here now. 

 “W… what… What do you want with me?” I asked with a shaky breath. 

 “To talk.” Axel came forward, his voice as cold as ever, “We only want to talk.” 

 “Talk? You only want to talk? About what?” I questioned, shifting further, “I… I don't even want to hear nor talk about anything with you. There's nothing that should make us interact with each other, remember? You're the Alpha's sons and I'm just pure trash. A freak. I'm one that stains the prestige of the clan and if I wasn't here, then you all wouldn't be called a clan with a ‘Dirty Omega’ isn't that it?” I said, my voice filled with anger, “So what do you want to say to me?! Insult me?! There's no insult that I haven't heard from any of you before so just please… Just please leave me alone. I beg you. I don't want any trouble.” I clasped my hands together, tears dripping from the corner of my eyes to my chin and dropping on the floor. 

 My shoulders were trembling and for a moment, no one moved, only the wind rustling was what I could hear. But then, I heard breathing behind me, beside me, in front of me. All four of them were at my side, anger on their faces and a shiver went down my spine. 

 They were angry. I made them angry. 

 “I… I'm so… sorry. I… I didn't… I didn't mean to…” 

 “We caught the people who sold you to Alpha Darwin and they're standing downstairs, waiting for you to mete out their punishment. We can talk about the rest later, for now, come and see them.” Alaric said calmly, his soothing tone quite making me stand according to his words. I felt my body moving before I could even stop it. 

 With his arms around my waist, he ushered me downstairs where in fact, they were waiting; Bryan, Julia, along with two others that I recognised. They were also members of the clan who had forcefully taken a bit of my blood and flesh every time they saw me. 

 Alpha Joan was there too, along with Luna Stephanie and she had a look of slight panic on her face. 

 What was she panicking about? 

 “Karla… Karla please you have to understand! We did this for your own food, Aloha Darwin promised that he was going to take care of you! He promised us, we had no idea that he was going to do something like that to you! Please, you have to believe us!” Julia began to beg, tears streaming down her face. 

 “For my own good?” I scoffed, rolling my eyes “I can hardly believe that.” But before they could say anything more, I waved my hands around nonchalantly, “To be truthful, I don't think I care about whatever you want to do to them. Kill them, banish them, behead them and feed them to the wild wolves, I don't care.” I said, my eyes locking in with Alpha Joan's eyes. 

 “You're detached.” Luna Stephanie said softly, making me look at her. 

 “Detached?” I tilted my head to the side, “I guess I am.” I wasn't feeling anything. But oh I wanted to cry and shout so badly, to tell them to leave me alone but I couldn't muster up the strength to do anything. I just wanted to sleep. 

 “Then… What… What about the mate bond between you and my sons? Will you accept it?” Luna Stephanie asked hopefully and I turned to look at them, my eyes darkening. 

 “Accept it?” I said slowly, my lips twitching into a frown, “Why should I?”