LOGINMaya's POV
When I got to school, all I wanted to do was blend in as much as possible but of course my wishes went unanswered because as soon as I stepped into the gate, I was bathed with water that smelt like it had been left to marinate for days at room temperature, after it was used to wash fish or any other sea food.
“There’s our favorite little stupid puppy, I didn’t think you’d have the nerve to come back to school.” A familiar voice said and a bunch of other voices around her laugh.
I let out a sigh as I sat down on the floor, afraid to look at Allison in the eye. That would probably only result in a beating and I was getting tired of being beaten up.
Allison was the daughter of the Beta of the Black moon pack and she was one of the people my father wanted me to please to get good graces from her father. She was the most beautiful girl on campus and the most entitled. She got away with anything due to her beauty and popularity and it irked me but I couldn’t do anything about it.
“What’s the matter? Cat’s got your tongue, huh?” One of them asked
I didn’t so much as raise my head because I knew that they were going to taunt me even more if I dared to look them in the eye.
They continued to poke fun at me, laughing as they pulled my hair from behind and slapped my face. I felt humiliated and angry but I didn’t dare show any of my feelings to them.
“I think she smells great, what do you think Allison?” One of her friends asked in a mocking tone.
“A befitting smell for a riffraff like her.” Allison smirked.
They all laughed at her unfunny joke. It wasn’t long till I heard the voices of four very familiar people behind me.
*What is going on here?” The first one asked. I Instantly knew who he was.
Stephen, an Alpha along with his three other brothers were behind me. I trembled at the thought. What were they doing in class so early? The last thing I wanted was to be seen like this by the most popular quadruplets in school.
They were handsome and the Alphas of the most prestigious pack. They had shifted at 16 and ever since then girls had flocked towards them like bees.
“Just having little fun with the little miss whore here, Stephen.” She said in a wicked tone.
I thought at the time that Stephen would save me from this mistreatment. He was after all my first love and we had dated for a while until Allison had spread a rumor that I was my father’s friends whore.
He'd broken up with me without asking questions and I didn’t blame him. I would have broken up with me too.
“Ah, I see.” Nathan laughed. He was the last of the quadruplets and was known for his antics, pranks and playboy tendencies. He had more girlfriends than his brothers and some of the girls even knew about each other.
“Interesting.” It was Karl who spoke this time, the second eldest and most reserved. He barely spoke but when he did, it was always either cutting harsh truth or stone cold reality. I had only seen him laugh once.
“Not really brother, more like funny.” Elijah said. He was the second to the last born and more violent than all of them. He’d gotten into more fights than the number of days that he had been a college student.
“Stop it Allison. There’s no reason to be so mean so early in the morning and on the first day too “ Stephen to my surprise was the one to speak up for me.
“Oh, I thought you’d be very happy seeing your whore of an ex-girlfriend getting the treatment she deserves or are you still in love with her?” Allison taunted and her friends burst out into laughter.
“Shut the fuck up Allison, I’m not in love with her. Never have.” His words stung but I didn’t let it show otherwise, I’d be made to look stupid again. I couldn’t show my emotions to these people or they’d taunt me with it.
“Prove it then. Here,” Allison handed him a bucket of water. “You know what to do,” she smiled wickedly.
Stephen growled and took the bucket of dirty water from her without batting and eyelash and poured it on me. The girls laughed out loud at my sorry state and I sat there as the tears mixed with the dirty water.
"Nicely done," Allison purred, running her hands over Stephen's chest. "You're almost as alpha as your brothers now."
Stephen looked about ready to punch her but Karl stopped him.
“Calm down buddy, it’s best we go to class, bro.” Karl patted Stephen on his chest from behind and Stephen nodded as if coming to his senses.
“And you, I better not see you taking any of the classes I’m taking or I swear to the moon goddess, I’ll fuck you up.” Stephen glared at me before storming off. I sat there in a pool of dirty water and cried before eventually pulling myself up and going to the bathroom to clean up.
I stared at my reflection in the bathroom mirror as I washed up, not only did I stink, I was soaking wet. Suddenly, I didn’t feel like going to class anymore. What was the point? I’d just be bullied more by Allison and her bands of bullies and I was to tired to take anymore beatings or humiliations. I needed to cool of, even if it was just a bit.
Done with cleaning up, I entered into one of the toilet stalls to hide until I had collected myself enough to attend classes and signed up for them.
Less than five minutes after I had hidden, Allison and her bands of bullies walked in, laughing hard at something. Or maybe someone?
“It would be so cool, wouldn’t it?” One of Allison’s friends quipped.
“I know,” Allison responded with a burst of pride in her tone.
“Anyway, Stephen is definitely going to be the one I marry. He has no freaking idea that I’m no longer a Virgin but I could always just lie to him. He’s not the smartest tool in the shed, you know? “
I gasped at her revelation. She was sleeping with other people apart from Stephen? Why?!
Stephen was the most handsome guy on campus along with his other brothers. It was hard thinking of any reason why Allison would have sex with someone else.
“Someone is here!” One of Allison’s minions yelled out and my eyes widened as I realized I was the someone.
Shit!
Before I could think, the door flung open and I gasped at the look on Allison’s face.
“You dirty whore! What are you doing here?” She grabbed me by my hair, dragging me out of the stall and pushed me to the ground.
I screeched, as the pain spread all over my scalp.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.” I begged, tears spilling from my eyes from the impact of their blows.
She kicked me on my stomach and ordered her minions to beat me up, there on the bathroom floor.
My screams, I knew, could not be heard by anyone and even if they could be heard, they wouldn’t bother trying to save me because it was me. I was the school dustpan and as long as Allison was in control, I was fair game to everyone.
“Please, I didn’t hear anything,” I tried to save myself by lying but that was a terrible move because Allison pulled me by the hair again and hit my head against the tiled ground.
Pain seared through my entire face and I screamed.
“That’s enough!” Allison finally said, her voice echoing in the bathroom.
“Take her to the pool area.” She commanded and I felt myself being dragged by multiple hands towards the pool that was behind the bathroom. The hallway was awfully quiet except for a few people and none of them even tried to help me. They all just watched as Allison and her band of bullies dragged me through the ground like a rag doll.
I was so badly beaten that I couldn’t even ask for help.
As soon as we got to the pool area, I began to protest even though my voice was merely a whisper because of the fact that Allison had stepped on my throat.
“Dunk her head in the water,” Allison commanded with an icy cool voice and two of her minions did as they were told.
Without hesitation, they dunked my head into the pool water, I shook, trying to get them to let me go but they wouldn’t let go.
I tried holding my breath but I was unable to for very long as I was starting to suffocate under water.
As I let go of my breath, the pool water rapidly moved into every orifice in my body and slowly, I began to drown. I started to drift away into darkness.
This was really it? I was going to die? Surprisingly, I didn’t feel anything but peace. Maybe dying wasn’t so bad after all.
My lungs were already filled with water and I was already almost passing out when by a miracle, I was pulled out of the water.
“what the fuck do you think you are doing Allison?!”A familiar voice bellowed. I was barely conscious but I could tell the owner of that voice anywhere even in my sleep. It was the same voice that I had listened to for two years before our break up.
Stephen?!
Elijah's POVMaya broke the kiss. She gasped for air, pulling her hands back from my hair and shoved her palms hard against my chest, trying to push away.I didn't let her go.Instead, my arms locked tighter around her waist, pulling her closer until there was no space left between us.My hands slipped downward, sliding beneath the warm water to press against her hips and lifting her slightly as my fingers moved gently against her skin.Deep inside my head, my wolf went feral. It clawed at the base of my skull, howling a possessive command:‘Claim her. Bite her neck. Mark her as ours right now.’The urge was intoxicating. The scent of her skin, heightened by the water and our skin-to-skin contact, clouded my rational mind.She wasn't just my mate; she was bound to Stephen, tied to Karl' and Nathan and shared among the brothers.Marking her right here, in the middle of the woods, would shatter the little peace of the pack and start a bloody war between us."Elijah... stop. Please," May
Stephen's POV."Congratulations, Alpha Stephen! An heir to secure the Red Moon bloodline!""A brilliant political move, bringing stability just in time for the council summit!""The pack rejoices with you!"I stood in the center of the grand ballroom, surrounded by a circle of pack elders and high-ranking officials.They slapped my back and beamed with grins, ignoring the darkness in the room.Allison’s public pregnancy bomb had detonated successfully, turning the high council gathering into speculation and praise.My jaw was locked so tight my teeth ached. I didn't say a word in response to their congratulations.I simply stared straight ahead. Where was Maya?That question burned through my mind. I had watched her slip away from the ballroom moments after Allison’s announcement, her face pale with humiliation and betrayal.My wolf had clawed at the back of my mind, screaming for me to chase her, to drag her back and to explain, even though I didn't even understand the nightmare All
Maya's POVThe door of Elijah’s car closed shut and sealed us inside.I had spent the entire drive sitting stiffly against the passenger door, my arms crossed tightly over my chest as I glared out the bulletproof window.I expected him to drag me back into the castle or lock me away in another one of his training rooms.Instead, he had driven past the guard posts, pushing deeper into the forest that bordered the pack territory until the vehicle came to a stop beneath a black tree.He had killed the engine, gotten out and dragged me by the hand through the twisting forest without uttering an explanation.The distant sounds of howling sent shivers down my spine and I was about to ask when he walked us into a clearing.Standing at the edge of an impossibly beautiful lake.The moonlight casted a silver sheen across the surface of a wide, perfectly still lake that was hidden deep within the trees.The water looked ethereal, glowing with something natural.I had been caught up in the breath
Maya's POVMy breath caught in my throat as I stared at Allison.Her face was flushed with her hands resting over her stomach as she soaked in the shock of the assembly.Around us, the murmurs began.High-ranking delegates, allied pack leaders and council members shifted uncomfortably, their eyes darting between Allison, Stephen and me.An heir. A potential bloodline continuation for the Alpha. In the hierarchy of pack politics, an unborn child changed every calculation on the board.I turned my head slowly to look at Stephen.He was frozen with his jaw locked so tight a muscle twitched beneath his skin. His eyes were fixed on Allison but he didn't say a single word. He didn't deny it immediately and he didn't confirm it.He simply narrowed his gaze and his silence, throwing the entire ballroom into deeper confusion."Prove it," a council elder shouted from the edge of the crowd, breaking the silence. "A claim like that regarding the Alpha's bloodline requires immediate verification.
Stephen's POVThe grand ballroom of the Whiston castle was packed to capacity.Allied pack leaders, regional delegates and high-ranking council members filled the space, moving across the hall.The atmosphere was wrapped in a luxury but the tension in the room was obvious. Everyone knew the political balance of the district hinged on this night.It was the quadruplets' joint birthday celebration.I stood at the raised head table overlooking the ballroom, followed by my brothers. Karl stood to my left, dressed in a suit and chatting politely with a visiting delegate from the northern territories.Elijah stood further down, his arms crossed over his chest, his gaze scanning the crowd with something dark and bored.Nathan stood quietly beside me, his instincts on high alert.I kept my eyes constantly scanning the grand doors at the far end of the hall.Despite the tight security net surrounding the castle and despite the manifests and financial records Karl had provided to clear his alib
Maya's POVIt wasn't a question or a negotiation. But a business transaction designed to push political leverage and secure the estate's borders at the expense of my freedom.Anger surged through my chest, burning hot enough to cut through the numbness of the past twenty-four hours."No," I said.My voice was firmer than ever as I stared directly into the eyes of Julian's father. "I said no. I am not marrying Julian.""Maya–" he began, raising a hand."I am done being traded like currency!" I snapped, cutting him off immediately. "You offered protection under a specific accord and you broke those terms the second your security failed. You don't get to trap me in a forced marriage just to patch up your fragile political borders!"I didn't wait for his reply. I went straight toward the doors of the study.I reached out, ready to wrench it open and walk out of this estate forever, consequences be damned.Before I could pull the door open, the door was hit from behind.The door opened inw







