The Demand

Chapter 4

The Demand

Aria’s POV

The maid, a quiet beta woman, brought me simple trousers and a soft sweater. They were clean and didn’t smell like blood. It was the most kindness I had been shown in years because usually, I was always beaten like crazy and told to work both day and night.

My mind was just confused. A White Wolf. It was impossible. It was just a story of legends. White wolves didn't exist anymore.

But the bond… I could feel it now, three different threads tied to my soul. One was a steady, cold anchor. Kael. One was a flickering, hot like fire. Damon. One was a sly and shifting and… unpredictable. Reece. It was real. All of it was terrifyingly real.

When the maid led me to a large dining hall with a heavy wooden table, they were already there.

Kael sat at the head like a king on a thorny throne, his icy gaze tracking my every step. Damon paced by the fireplace like a caged tiger. Reece leaned against a sideboard, swirling a glass of something dark, a charming, dangerous smile on his lips.

“Sit,” Kael said. It wasn’t a request.

I sat in the chair farthest from him. It didn’t matter. The air was thick with their presence, with their power. It was suffocating.

“We are the Blackthorn brothers,” Kael began, as if I didn’t know the most infamous rogues on the continent. “Exiled from our pack five years ago.”

“For murdering your father,” I whispered, repeating the story everyone knew.

Damon stopped pacing and snarled. “We didn’t kill him.”

“It was a convenient lie told by the real killer,” Reece purred, taking a sip from his glass. “But it stuck. So here we are. Kings of the outcasts. Rulers of the lawless.” His eyes met mine. “And now, apparently, your mates.”

“Why?” The question was a broken record in my mind, so I asked. “Why me? I’m no one.”

“You’re our mate,” Damon growled, his voice rough. “That’s all that matters.”

“Is it?” I looked at Kael, at the cold calculation in his eyes. “You don’t look at me like I’m your mate. You look at me like a problem.”

A flicker of something, maybe surprise crossed Kael’s face before it was gone. “You are a problem. A very complicated problem. You can stay here until you are healed. Then we will discuss… arrangements.”

Arrangements. The word sounded cold and impersonal. It sounded like a business deal. My heart ached. Was that all this was? A transaction?

“And if I want to leave?” I asked, my voice trembling.

The reaction was instant.

The glass in Reece’s hand shattered. He didn’t even seem to notice, the dark liquid dripping from his fingers as his charming smile vanished. Damon took a step toward me, a low, continuous growl rumbling in his chest. But it was Kael who was the most terrifying.

He didn’t move. He didn’t snarl. He just looked at me, and his blue eyes went from ice to something utterly feral.

“Leave?” Kael’s voice was dangerously soft. “To go where? Back to the pack that tried to kill you? To the mate who rejected you?”

He stood slowly, the chair scraping back. He walked around the table, each step measured and predatory. Damon and Reece watched and I could taste their own possessiveness from across the room.

Kael stopped behind my chair. I could feel the heat of his body. He leaned down, his lips brushing the shell of my ear, his voice a whisper that was for me alone.

“You are not leaving, Aria. You belong to us. That mark on your soul is ours even if we haven't marked you physically. Your skin will carry our scent. Your blood will sing for us.” His hand came to grab my shin, squeezing roughly. “The only place you are going is to our bed. The only arrangement we will be making is how you will scream our names when we claim you.”

I stopped breathing. His words were a violation and a promise. They should have horrified me. But a treacherous heat pooled low in my belly. The bond in my chest pulsed, not with fear, but with a dark, answering need. My thighs clenched.

What was this feeling? 

Just then, an old woman with kind eyes and long white gray hair entered the hall. “Kael,” she said softly. “You asked for me?”

Kael straightened, releasing my face. “Sage. Our guest is unwell. See to her.”

Sage’s wise eyes met mine, and she nodded. “Of course. Come, child.”

I stood on shaky legs, desperate to escape the intensity of the three brothers. As I passed Damon, his hand shot out, his fingers brushing mine. A spark of electricity shot up my arm.

“Mine,” he whispered, his voice raw as his eyes bored into mine.

Reece just watched me go, his green eyes promising that his games were far from over.

Sage led me to a quiet room filled with herbs and potions. She had me sit and began her examination, her touch gentle. She hummed a song as she worked.

“Fascinating,” she murmured, pressing a hand to my forehead. “The poison is deep. Wolfsbane, mixed with dark magic. In your food and drink, for years, I’d guess. It’s a miracle you’re alive.”

“My wolf?” I asked, hoping a fragile thing in my chest.

“She is there,” she said, her eyes twinkling. “Suppressed, but fighting. She is why you are healing so fast now that you are away from the poison. The claw marks on your side are almost gone.”

She leaned back, studying me. “Your bone structure… the silver in your eyes… the power I feel sleeping in you…” She shook her head in awe. “I have not seen its like in two centuries. The stories are true.”

My blood ran cold. “What stories?”

Before she could answer, the door to the room burst open. Damon stood there, his chest heaving, his eyes wild with anger I didn’t understand.

“Kael!” he roared, his voice echoing through the cabin. “Silverpine is at the border! Marcus is there!”

He looked straight at me, his gaze burning with a terrifying, unhinged fire.

“He’s demanding we return his mate.”