MARIA.
It looked like a dream—no, not even a dream, but a place suspended somewhere within the depths of my consciousness. Everything around me shimmered, unreal and hazy, as though I were floating between waking and sleep. I had shifted recently, my body still unfamiliar to itself, and I hadn't realized my wolf was capable of this—of pulling me into such a vivid, lucid space while I hovered on the edge of awareness. I couldn't move. I couldn't open my eyes. Yet somehow, impossibly, I could hear.
Every word reached me with sharp clarity.
The voices around me were tense, layered with urgency and restrained fury. They were arguing, low, dangerous voices colliding with one another—and I knew, instinctively, that these were the same ones who had just saved me. Their presence pressed in from all sides, heavy and commanding, but instead of fear, a strange sense of recognition stirred within me.
Their scents hit me next.
Strong. Distinct. Overwhelmingly familiar.
My wolf reacted before my mind could catch up, a sharp, instinctive surge that rippled beneath my skin. It stirred restlessly, pacing, bristling, as if it had sensed a threat long before I was ready to face it. The reaction stole my breath, leaving me frozen in place as awareness slowly, unwillingly, followed.
I knew that scent.
The certainty settled heavy in my chest. I had known it before—there was no mistaking it. I had stood near it once, close enough that it had filled my lungs when I breathed in. Close enough that its presence had pressed against me, powerful and undeniable, brushing my senses like a silent warning I hadn't understood at the time.
My thoughts scrambled now, colliding and slipping through my grasp. Memories surfaced in fragments—half-formed impressions, flashes of recognition without context. I reached for them desperately, trying to anchor them, to make sense of what my instincts already knew.
Where could I have…?
The question barely finished forming before the answer slammed into me.
Oh no.
The realization crashed down with brutal clarity, leaving no room for doubt or denial. It echoed through me, loud and merciless, reverberating through both mind and wolf.
The quadruplet Alphas.
The words alone carried weight, and the moment they surfaced, everything aligned with sickening precision. The scent. The power. The warning I had felt but ignored.
"No, wait! Isn't she…?"
The voice broke off abruptly, cut short as if the speaker had been struck by the same truth now thundering through me.
"Mate!" one of the brothers echoed, his voice raw, stunned, reverent.
"She is our mate."
'What? their mate? How is that possible? I couldn't even feel anything!'
Strong hands touched me then. Damien. I felt him even before I heard him. He slowly turned my face toward his, his presence dominating the space between us. His breath hovered just inches from my skin, warm and steady, sending a shiver through my unresponsive body.
"Isn't she the Beta's daughter of Frostmoon pack?" Damien's voice echoed, dark and disbelieving, before it dropped into a growl as he turned toward his brothers—possessive, conflicted, and dangerous all at once.
"Definitely, she looks the same even after five years!" Adrien replied as he squatted, cupping my chin harshly on his palm.
"She is definitely a spy, let's kill her!" Davian roared, stretching his claws, his stance ready to slaughter.
"Don't Davian!" Aidan, the oldest amongst the quadruplets, echoed, "That's all the more reason we should keep her close, letting her die is too easy."
He turned to the guards beside him, "Take her to the Pack, she is our Personal maid."
"Personal maid?"
Oh no. Wasn't I their mate? What was I even thinking? Wasn't that what the bond had screamed the moment I laid eyes on Darren? Yet Darren hadn't rejected me nor had he acknowledged the mate bond. It was there, heavy and undeniable, but untouched, as though it didn't exist at all.
Moon Goddess, what is going on?
Who in their right mind would take their mate and turn her into a personal maid, only to treat her harshly? The very thought made my chest ache. Then again, I almost laughed bitterly at myself. Darren was already the perfect example of cruelty wrapped in authority. If anyone could do something so heartless, it would be him.
Adrien chuckled lightly, the sound cutting through me like a blade. A sly smirk curved his lips, cold and amused.
"Nice idea, Aidan," he said. "We would make her suffer."
The words sealed my fate.
That was it—leaving one form of suffering only to be thrown into another. A hollow laugh echoed inside my head, though no sound escaped my lips. At that moment, I found myself wishing they hadn't saved me at all. I wished they had simply left me to die in the hands of the rogues. Death would have been kinder than this slow, deliberate cruelty.
The quadruplet Alphas were known for their ruthlessness. Their name alone inspired fear across packs, whispered with dread and caution. I had heard the stories—how merciless they could be, how they showed no weakness, no mercy. I suppose I had been foolish to think I would be any different.
Now, I was about to experience it firsthand.
Hands gripped my body, rough and unyielding, dragging me away without care. My back scraped against the thorny grass, sharp pain biting into my skin with every pull. I wanted to fight. I wanted to scream. I wanted to move.
But my body refused to obey.
I willed my limbs to react, begged them to respond, but they remained lifeless, heavy, useless. I lay there like a log of wood, empty and broken, allowing myself to be dragged wherever they pleased. The bond pulsed faintly inside me, confused and aching, offering no strength—only pain.
Within my consciousness, everything blurred and my mind numb, my heart weighed down by despair. I had no idea what awaited me next, no clue what kind of torment they had planned. All I knew was that my fate now rested entirely in their hands.
And whatever it was, it wouldn't be merciful.
I lay there, silent and unmoving, awaiting whatever destiny had in store for me at the hands of the ruthless quadruplet Alphas.