Chapter 6

Riven – POV

"Fuck this."

That was the first thing out of my mouth after the bond hit.

I shoved a hand through my hair, jaw clenched so tight I thought I'd snap a damn tooth. The pull was still crawling up my spine like a parasite I didn't ask for.

I glared at Damian.

"You felt that shit too, didn't you?"

He didn't answer.

Didn't need to.

Of course he fucking did.

Lucas let out a low whistle. "Well... this day just keeps getting better."

Kael stood stiff as a damn statue, face unreadable, but I knew better. I could feel it—the confusion, the pressure, the way it settled in your gut like a ticking time bomb.

An omega.

Ours.

Fated.

What the actual hell?

"She's unconscious," I snapped, gesturing to the girl lying in Damian's arms like a shattered porcelain doll. "Doesn't know who we are. Doesn't know what she is to us. And we're standing here like it's fate's fucking gift basket."

Damian's voice was low. Controlled. Too controlled.

"She asked for help."

I rolled my eyes. "She didn't ask for four pissed-off Alphas to be soul-bonded to her."

Kael finally spoke, voice clipped. "We're not leaving her."

"Did I say we were?" I growled. "I'm saying—this is a disaster waiting to happen."

Lucas snorted. "Isn't that our specialty?"

I turned on him, ready to snap, but Damian stepped between us before it got bloody.

"We deal with it," he said. "We protect her. That's it."

I looked down at her again—tiny, wrecked, fragile—and felt my wolf stir like a damn fool.

Fated.

To her.

This was going to be a fucking nightmare.

Damian adjusted the girl in his arms like she was weightless and turned without another word.

"I'm heading to the pack hospital," he said over his shoulder. "You guys can follow if you want."

Then, right before disappearing into the trees, he added, "And Riven... if it's a problem, you can stand outside."

I let out a sharp laugh—cold, humorless.

"Fuck you too, Alpha."

He didn't respond.

Didn't even flinch.

Just kept walking like he owned the goddamn ground beneath him. Which, to be fair, he technically did. But still.

Kael glanced at me, raising an eyebrow like he was waiting for the explosion.

Lucas, smug bastard that he was, just grinned. "So... are you standing outside, or are you coming to stare at your mate in denial?"

I growled low in my throat. "One more word and I'm knocking that stupid smirk off your face."

Kael shook his head and started after Damian without a word. Lucas followed, still laughing under his breath.

I stayed behind for a beat longer, running a hand down my face and exhaling hard.

This wasn't supposed to happen.

I didn't want a mate. I didn't need a mate. And definitely not one that was fated to all of us. That shit sounded like the setup to a terrible joke.

But that pull...

It was real.

And it wasn't going away.

With a snarl, I shifted and bolted after them.

Standing outside wasn't my thing anyway.