Fated to Four Brothers

Not only is Loraine rejected by whom she believes was her true mate, she is also given away as tribute for a treaty between her pack and another pack. What Loraine does not expect is to find out that she has not just one but four second-chance mates. Loraine is convinced she has to choose one out of all the brothers to end up with, but the problem is that she is attracted to all of them. Is picking more than one of them an option? What happens when she finds out the four Alphas are her true mates and not the Alpha who rejected her before?

The Rejection

Today is a good day for me. Not only did I just get my wolf, but I also got to bind with my mate and live forever with him. For me, this is one of the best days of my life because I have been looking forward to this day forever.

“C’mon, Loraine. Get your ass moving or we are going to be late.” My best friend, Jennifer, calls out to me, and I flip her away.

I can’t seem to step away from the mirror. I want to appear perfect for him. I can already imagine the look on his face when he sees me standing in front of him in the tight-fitting, curving, accentuating ball gown I have chosen.

Anxiety is causing me to break out in sweats, and I know I have to calm myself down or I’ll ruin the little makeup I’ve managed to put on.

My best friend appears beside me suddenly and pulls me away. “That’s enough!” she says sternly. She has taken up the role of being a mom to me ever since my parents passed away in an auto crash two years ago, and the role fits her well.

After all, she’s a bit older than me, and she cares a lot about me.

“Everyone’s waiting.” She snaps, pulling me towards the door. “You don’t want to keep the entire pack waiting.”

I try to struggle out of her grip and run back to the comfort of my mirror, but her grip on my wrist is too tight. Jennifer has always been the strong one among us both, so I know that my actions are futile.

Although I’m ecstatic to meet my mate and finally be bound with him, I’m also really shy, and the thought of the crowd of people waiting for me behind those doors whose eyes will be on me as soon as I step into the room is overwhelmingly choking.

‘I’m right here.” Jennifer whispers in my ears reassuringly, and my stiff shoulders release some of the tension they have been holding, but not all of it. I tighten my grip around her arm more than I should, and I notice from the corner of my eye that Jennifer is pulling a face, but she does not complain or move to stop me.

We stop in front of the door, and Jennifer gently lets go of my arm. “You can do this.” She purrs affectionately. Then she rolls her eyes. “I don’t know why they have to make such a fuss about a mere binding ceremony. Inviting the entire pack as though its something big and making you feel so nervous.”

"It's customary in our pack.” I remind her, just in case she has forgotten. “We always do this for everyone who is meeting their mate for the first time. You too will do it when you meet him.”

She sighs. “At least I won’t be a nervous wreck like you.”

A minute later, Jennifer is gone, and I am left alone to face my fears. Taking a long and deep breath in, I pull the double doors open and mentally prepare myself for the onslaught of eyes, which I know would be resting on my form.

Walking towards the moon priestess, who is standing on a platform that, for some reason, resembles an alter, is like walking on an aisle towards your groom. The only difference in this case is that I have no escort and my groom is not standing on the alter.

I have never met my mate before. I might have met him since our pack is quite small, but I don’t know who he is. That is why the ritual is organized every month so girls who get their wolves can also meet their mate.

I have an idea who I think it might be, and as I walk slowly towards the platform, I lock eyes with him. It is only for a few seconds, but I feel like it lasts for eternity. My breath is knocked out of him as I meet his forest green eyes, and my body explodes with different kinds of emotions.

My wolf, who I am yet to name, is prancing about inside of me, eager to go over and smell him; maybe even a little cuddle would be nice.

But when I blink again, I am standing right in front of the priestess, and her all-seeing eyes are appraising me. My breath catches in my throat, and anxiety snakes up my arm. I have never been this close to the priestess before, and now that I am in front of her, I feel as though I have gone through all levels of hell.

There is a frown on her face, and her lips curl up as if in disgust as she studies me. I want to stop and ask her if there’s any problem, but then I know that is not right for me. The ritual for meeting your mate has several rules that are to be adhered to strictly.

She starts the ritual soon after, chanting some tings in a language I don’t understand and in-between asking me several questions that I don’t think should be mentioned here. After thirty minutes of impatience, she finally concludes and turns towards the crowd.

“The Goddess has given her reply.”

There are a few murmurs and nods that go around the crowd, and she waits until it dies down before speaking again.

“Loraine Kellen.” My heart skips a beat at the mention of my name. “Your true mate is to be Gordon Graylock. Alpha of the Withall Pack.”

I had known it for quite some time—I have no idea if it’s the same for other werewolves—but to hear it confirmed like this from no other person but the priestess catapults me to another level of ecstasy.

I am overjoyed to the point where I almost did not hear when she said that I could either accept or reject the bond. But who, in their right senses, will reject a bond with someone as perfect as Alpha Gordon? He is everything a woman could ask for.

Kind, a great leader, and most of all, perfect in every sense of that word.

I want nothing but to

“Alpha Gordon Graylock.” Again, my heart misses a beat at the sound of his name. At this rate, I might end up in the healer’s ward, or worse, a hospital. “Would you please get over here?”

I shift my eyes towards where he is seated and watch as he slowly pulls himself from his seat. When I say he is perfect, I mean every word of it. His eyes are riveted on my form as he strides towards us, and that makes me blush even harder.

When he stops in front of us, I feel as though all of my world has stopped too. But when he says the next words, I feel my world drop to the ground and shatter into a million pieces.

“I, Alpha Gordon Graylock...” I squeeze my eyes shut and clench my hand tight beside me. “Reject you, Loraine Kellen, as my mate and Luna of the Withall pack.”

The pain of rejection

“I, Alpha Gordon Graylock, reject you, Loraine Kellen, as my mate, and Luna of the Withall pack.”

WHAT?!

I can’t hide the surprise that makes its way to my face or the pain and hurt that follow. His eyes are cold and detached as they stare me down after that proclamation, and I am left wondering if this is the same man whom I have always known as kind and good.

I open my mouth to choke out words, but the priestess beats me to it.

“Loraine Kellen, you have been rejected by your mate.” as if I did not just hear it loud and clear and in front of the entire pack. “You can either accept or decline his rejection, but bear in mind that declining his rejection might be risky for both you and your wolf.”

Tears pour down my face, and I immediately wipe them away. My wolf has folded herself away into a corner. I’m sure that she is even more hurt and shocked than I am. We had both been anxious for this day.

The mate bond starts to break slowly. I can feel it. It’s like being ripped apart slowly, and once I accept the bond, there will be nothing left but emptiness.

“I, Loraine Kellen...” the words get stuck at the back of my throat. I clear my throat and try again. I am trying as much as possible not to sound broken and weak, even though right now I am all shades of broken.

“I, Loraine Kellen, accept your rejection as your mate and Luna.” I hold back the tears that threaten to fall. I want to ask why he is rejecting me. He would not even give me a chance, but he is gone as soon as the last words leave my mouth, as though standing in front of me was a punishment, and I just released him from it.

I continue holding back my tears till the rest of the pack members, including the priestess, take her leave after saying several things, which I pay no attention to until I get to my room. Once I am in the privacy of my room, I break down and bawl my eyes out.

After hours of crying, falling asleep, waking up, and repeating the cycle all over again, I decide to confront Gordon and demand he give me a reason for rejecting our bond without even giving us a chance.

Without dusting myself or checking in the mirror to make sure I am at least decent-looking enough to go out, I storm out of my room, which for some reason is in the pack house, towards Gordon’s room.

His room is in a part of the pack house that I have never ventured to before, but I am somehow able to find my way around the maze-like twists and turns till my feet stop in front of a thick mahogany door, which is quite distinctive from the rest of the rooms in the pack house.

Both my guts and my wolf tell me that this is the Alpha’s door, so without waiting for fear to grip me and cause me to second-guess myself, I knock on the door once, then twice. I am about to knock again when the door swings inward, and I am shocked by the sight that greets me.

Jennifer is standing in front of me with nothing but a short, flimsy towel around her waist, which does nothing to hide her tanned skin. My mouth hangs open, and for the second time today, I fail to form words.

We stand there for what seems like hours before Jennifer breaks the silence.

“Loraine,” her eyes shift to my dress. I imagine that I am a mess. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

Of course, you didn’t. My wolf retorts angrily. But is that the best you can say in this situation? What happened to defending yourself?

I am about to say something when Gordon appears behind her. He whispers something in her ears, and Jennifer retreats back into the room, and I am regaled by his full-half nakedness. His chest is in full view, directly in my nose. It takes everything in me to stop me from lunging at him and strafing him right there.

I shake the thoughts away. This whole wolf thing is still new to me, so it's hard to separate my thoughts from those of my wolf.

“Why are you here?” His voice is even more frosty than when he rejected me in the hall. I feel chills run down my spine. “I thought I made myself clear when I rejected whatever bond I have with you.”

“But…”

“Is there anything else you want to say, or is this it?”

He’s a jerk.

I completely agree with you.

Is she why you rejected me?” The fact that, after finally finding my voice, that is the first thing I can ask.

Of course, dumb ass, she is the reason he rejected you. It's so obvious that even the blind can see it.

“I rejected the bond because you are weak and ordinary. My pack deserves someone more than that as a Luna.” He looks at me, and the looks he gives me say he’s disgusted by me. "Jennifer, on the other hand, is different. Not only is she beautiful, but she is also mature and a leader. You’re just a child who only got her wolf yesterday.”

The words sting more than they should. I cannot decide what to feel because everything overwhelms me at once. I am still feeling the shock of seeing my best friend with the man who just rejected me, and I’m getting rejected for the second time in a day.

“Hoe long has this been going on?” the tears I have been holding fall. “How long have you been sleeping with my best friend?”

“Does that matter?” he sneers at me. “But since you want to know so badly, then I’ll tell you. It has been happening for as long as I can remember because I love her and so does my wolf. Now, if you don’t mind, I'd like to go back inside. Jennifer does not like to be kept waiting.”

With those words, he shuts the door in my face. Only now do I realise that we had not been alone in the hallway. There are a few people with their heads poking out of their doors, and once the Alpha leaves, they all return back to their various rooms.

Good, leave. My wolf whines. I should find a name for her soon. There’s nothing to see here.

I return to my room and begin to arrange my things. Alpha Gordon has made it clear. The only thing that had been keeping me in this pack had been my best friend, Jennifer, and the prospect of finding my mate. Now that I have lost both, there’s no need to stay here anymore.

I have finished packing my bags and am about to roll my things and myself out of the apartment, which I will share with my best friend when Jennifer returns. Her eyes were immediately drawn to my packed bags.

“What are you doing, Loraine?”

The pain of rejection

“I, Alpha Gordon Graylock, reject you, Loraine Kellen, as my mate, and Luna of the Withall pack.”

WHAT?!

I can’t hide the surprise that makes its way to my face or the pain and hurt that follow. His eyes are cold and detached as they stare me down after that proclamation, and I am left wondering if this is the same man whom I have always known as kind and good.

I open my mouth to choke out words, but the priestess beats me to it.

“Loraine Kellen, you have been rejected by your mate.” as if I did not just hear it loud and clear and in front of the entire pack. “You can either accept or decline his rejection, but bear in mind that declining his rejection might be risky for both you and your wolf.”

Tears pour down my face, and I immediately wipe them away. My wolf has folded herself away into a corner. I’m sure that she is even more hurt and shocked than I am. We had both been anxious for this day.

The mate bond starts to break slowly. I can feel it. It’s like being ripped apart slowly, and once I accept the bond, there will be nothing left but emptiness.

“I, Loraine Kellen...” the words get stuck at the back of my throat. I clear my throat and try again. I am trying as much as possible not to sound broken and weak, even though right now I am all shades of broken.

“I, Loraine Kellen, accept your rejection as your mate and Luna.” I hold back the tears that threaten to fall. I want to ask why he is rejecting me. He would not even give me a chance, but he is gone as soon as the last words leave my mouth, as though standing in front of me was a punishment, and I just released him from it.

I continue holding back my tears till the rest of the pack members, including the priestess, take her leave after saying several things, which I pay no attention to until I get to my room. Once I am in the privacy of my room, I break down and bawl my eyes out.

After hours of crying, falling asleep, waking up, and repeating the cycle all over again, I decide to confront Gordon and demand he give me a reason for rejecting our bond without even giving us a chance.

Without dusting myself or checking in the mirror to make sure I am at least decent-looking enough to go out, I storm out of my room, which for some reason is in the pack house, towards Gordon’s room.

His room is in a part of the pack house that I have never ventured to before, but I am somehow able to find my way around the maze-like twists and turns till my feet stop in front of a thick mahogany door, which is quite distinctive from the rest of the rooms in the pack house.

Both my guts and my wolf tell me that this is the Alpha’s door, so without waiting for fear to grip me and cause me to second-guess myself, I knock on the door once, then twice. I am about to knock again when the door swings inward, and I am shocked by the sight that greets me.

Jennifer is standing in front of me with nothing but a short, flimsy towel around her waist, which does nothing to hide her tanned skin. My mouth hangs open, and for the second time today, I fail to form words.

We stand there for what seems like hours before Jennifer breaks the silence.

“Loraine,” her eyes shift to my dress. I imagine that I am a mess. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

Of course, you didn’t. My wolf retorts angrily. But is that the best you can say in this situation? What happened to defending yourself?

I am about to say something when Gordon appears behind her. He whispers something in her ears, and Jennifer retreats back into the room, and I am regaled by his full-half nakedness. His chest is in full view, directly in my nose. It takes everything in me to stop me from lunging at him and strafing him right there.

I shake the thoughts away. This whole wolf thing is still new to me, so it's hard to separate my thoughts from those of my wolf.

“Why are you here?” His voice is even more frosty than when he rejected me in the hall. I feel chills run down my spine. “I thought I made myself clear when I rejected whatever bond I have with you.”

“But…”

“Is there anything else you want to say, or is this it?”

He’s a jerk.

I completely agree with you.

Is she why you rejected me?” The fact that, after finally finding my voice, that is the first thing I can ask.

Of course, dumb ass, she is the reason he rejected you. It's so obvious that even the blind can see it.

“I rejected the bond because you are weak and ordinary. My pack deserves someone more than that as a Luna.” He looks at me, and the looks he gives me say he’s disgusted by me. "Jennifer, on the other hand, is different. Not only is she beautiful, but she is also mature and a leader. You’re just a child who only got her wolf yesterday.”

The words sting more than they should. I cannot decide what to feel because everything overwhelms me at once. I am still feeling the shock of seeing my best friend with the man who just rejected me, and I’m getting rejected for the second time in a day.

“Hoe long has this been going on?” the tears I have been holding fall. “How long have you been sleeping with my best friend?”

“Does that matter?” he sneers at me. “But since you want to know so badly, then I’ll tell you. It has been happening for as long as I can remember because I love her and so does my wolf. Now, if you don’t mind, I'd like to go back inside. Jennifer does not like to be kept waiting.”

With those words, he shuts the door in my face. Only now do I realise that we had not been alone in the hallway. There are a few people with their heads poking out of their doors, and once the Alpha leaves, they all return back to their various rooms.

Good, leave. My wolf whines. I should find a name for her soon. There’s nothing to see here.

I return to my room and begin to arrange my things. Alpha Gordon has made it clear. The only thing that had been keeping me in this pack had been my best friend, Jennifer, and the prospect of finding my mate. Now that I have lost both, there’s no need to stay here anymore.

I have finished packing my bags and am about to roll my things and myself out of the apartment, which I will share with my best friend when Jennifer returns. Her eyes were immediately drawn to my packed bags.

“What are you doing, Loraine?”

Bound by nothing

“What does it look like I'm doing, Jennifer?” I retort. “I never expected something like this from you, of all people. But since it happened, it's only been proven that I have nothing here, so I’m leaving.”

She shakes her head, and I feel the sudden urge to slap her. Her motherly act is beginning to get on my nerve. QUIT ACTING LIKE MY MOTHER, GODDAMMIT!

“Loraine, seriously. You have to think about what you are doing now. You know, leaving the pack like this nullifies your membership in this pack. You risk losing everything you have worked so hard for.”

I tilt my head and ask, “Have I not already lost everything? I told you I suspected that the Alpha was my mate because of the pull I had towards him, but you forgot to mention that you both were already seeing each other.”

“I didn’t think you were actually going to be his mate, and I did not want to hurt your feelings.”

“Yeah, of course. Even in the end, you were thinking about me. Which is why you spent four hours in his room consoling him and not the actual person who got rejected, who, by the way, is your fucking best friend?” I scream at her.

I pull my luggage to the door. “I don’t care what you say, Jennifer. I’m leaving. You’ve gotten what you’ve wanted, right? Now stick with it.”

“You are going nowhere, Loraine.” I glance up at the new voice to find Alpha Gordon standing just outside my door. Thankfully, he has put on a shirt—though tight and framing his toned muscles—and looks quite decent.

I clench my hand into a fist. “What do you mean? I have every right to leave this place if I want. I get that you are Alpha of this pack, but that does not mean you can stop me from leaving.”

“There’s supposed to be a ball today, did you forget?”

I must admit that I had forgotten all about it. The ball was to celebrate the pack since today marks five years since Alpha Gordon became Alpha following the death of the previous Alpha, his father. All members of the pack are to be in attendance; omitting oneself for any reason was not an option.

“That does not affect me. If I leave your pack before it's time for the”

Gordon does not let me finish my statement before interrupting me. “You are attending the ball, Loraine, and it is final.” He turns around and begins to walk away, then stops as if recalling something.

“And try to look nice. There would be important guests at the ball, and I want to introduce you to all of them.”

He rounds a corner and disappears after the statement. I don’t know what just transpired, so I look to Jennifer for help, but it appears as though she is even more clueless than I am. Still, I return my already-packed luggage to my room.

The Alpha has issued a command, and while I was still a member of his pack, there was no way I could go against them. Also, I wanted to know what he meant by what he said. I was curious enough to actually dress up. I picked up the nicest gown from my rack and spent the entire evening making sure I appeared appealing.

If Alpha Gordon was really serious and was going to do what I was thinking, then I was ready to forgive him.

Several hours later, I stood in front of my dresser, admiring what I had done with myself. My olive skin glistened in the dim light, and my waist-length jet black hair fell in waves around my shoulders.

My reflection in the mirror told me I was an exact replica of my mother, who was quite beautiful during her days. I had not only inherited her ocean blue eyes but also her high cheek bones, full cupid-shaped lips, olive skin, height, and curves.

I was beautiful, but it seemed beauty was not enough when it came to Gordon.

Grabbing my purse, I stepped out of the apartment and made for the venue, which was a large hall two floors down from where my apartment was located. I had not seen Jenifer since our confrontation several hours ago, but I did not want to be bothered by her.

When I got to the ballroom, it was already packed with both members and non-members of our pack. Several eyes turned to me, but not the eyes of the man I wanted.

His eyes, though, were riveted on the form of a certain young lady who was gracing the dancefloor with her beauty and dance, which made her look like a true Luna. For a moment, I was envious. I wanted all of that attention for myself.

I wanted Gordon to look at me the way he looked at her. It was as though she was all that existed in his world.

Heat began rising to my cheek, and I felt as though my heart would burst out of my chest, so I looked away. Coming here was a mistake. I must have been a fool for thinking anything was going to change.

Turning around, I bump my face first into a solid wall, but when I glance up, I see that it is not a wall that I have bumped into—because I was beginning to wonder when the wall moved—but a chest, and attached to it is a neck holding the most stunning face a man can ever have.

His hands move to my back to steady my feet so I don’t go crashing into the ground, and my wolf whines inside of me. His eyes drink in my face, caressing every part of my face with those intense pupils, and I feel an overwhelming urge to squeal and run away.

“Are you okay, miss?” He asks, and I find myself sinking deeper into his honey and milk voice.

Before I can answer, another hand closes around my arm and snatches me violently from the gentle hands pressed warmly to my back.

“She is fine. Please forgive her clumsiness.” Alpha Gordon’s voice returns me to earth. Although his eyes and focus are on the kind stranger, I can feel the anger radiating off of him in waves. “Loraine can be such a klutz sometimes.”

The stranger says something, but I don’t listen because my attention is drawn to Gordon’s fingers, which are still tightening around my arm. When I look up, the stranger’s eyes are on my face, and then they shift to Gordon’s fingers gripping my arm.

Perhaps it was only the light or my imagination, but I could have sworn that I saw a dark shadow cross his face. But it was gone as quickly as it appeared.

Gordon drags me away before I have the chance to dwell on it. He takes me to a quiet part of the room, where he flings me unceremoniously on a plush cushion.

“Maybe I should not have invited you here.” He spits, his eyes blazing with fury. “Jennifer always told me how clumsy you are, but I did not know it was this bad.”

I opened my mouth to say something in my defence, but no words came out.

A treaty between four kings

A Treaty Between Four Kings

The rest of the night up until the moment when Alpha Gordon climbs up the podium to greet his pack and the guests and make the announcement passes without hitch. Alpha Gordon has warned me to steer clear of other people in the room since I have turned out to be a walking and talking time bomb, and I am doing just that.

Yet my eyes keep being drawn to the group of four elegant men in the room, one of whom saved me the other time. He’s looking at me too, and heat rises on my cheek. He’s not engaged with the other perfect-looking guys in his group; instead, he’s focused on me.

I think he’s about to make a move when Alpha Gordon starts his speech, snagging all of the attention in the room.

“I want to start by thanking you all for making the time to be here.” He starts, but his eyes are focused on only one person in particular. Although our bond is almost gone, it still hurts to see that he is not even the least affected by all of this.

“This is five years since I took over from my father as Alpha of the Withall Pack, and we’ve been growing. Concerning that, there are two announcements I would like to make today.” He smiles slightly, and my heart misses a beat, although it's obvious the smile is not for me.

Get yourself together. I tell myself.

“First is my marriage to Jennifer Archard, who will be the Luna of my pack.” My eyes cloud over, and it suddenly becomes hard to breathe. He’s going to marry her right after rejecting me and our bond? Is this why he demanded that I stay back and attend the ball?

To humiliate me right after humiliating me.

Tears drop from my eyes, but I wipe them away immediately. I turn around to leave—there’s no need to stay here—when I hear the next announcement that takes me stumbling on absolutely nothing and landing flat on my buttocks.

“Secondly, is our treaty with Alpha Hunter Moonridge of Greenhill Pack?" That is not what caused my shock. But the next words that he says. “And to cement or relationship, I am offering, I am offering him Loraine Kellen of Withall Pack.”

All eyes turn to me. I feel as though the best thing that can happen now is for the ground to open up and swallow me whole.

***

Hunter’s POV

I don’t like parties, especially ones in a pack as small as Withall, but there is a very good reason I am attending this one. I glance at the watch on my wrist—it was a gift from Preston and quite expensive.

“I still don’t understand why we have to go to this thing.” Kris whines for what I think is the hundredth time. He is the youngest of us and obviously not the most social. Well, I don’t blame him; he is just like the rest of us.

“I mean, I understand why you have to go, but why us?” He continues, “We are not the ones Alpha Gordon is about to make a treaty with, and I’m not even Alpha yet.

I resist the urge to roll my eyes at him. I wish that sometimes he would act maturely, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

“You are going there to support your brother and also receive the gift of a treaty," I answer, trying to keep the frustration out of my voice.

“Anyone of my brothers can do that. There’s Preston and”

I throw him a look, and that shuts him up the entire time I dress up and through the ride to Withall. The ball has just begun by the time we arrive, and I see Alpha Gordon, a young, handsome man in his mid-twenties, standing with a certain Raven-haired beauty.

Killian leans in and whispers. “That is the lady whom he recently engaged. Jennifer Archard. Her father is the Lycan king’s beta.”

The corner of my lips curls up into a smirk. “They are a good match.”

The scent filters into my nose, and my wolf begins to jump around inside of me. It seems that he too has caught a whiff of the scent, which smells like:

“Lavender and cinnamon.” Kris and I say the word out loud together, and I glare at him.

“What did you just say?” He gives me a weird look and turns away immediately. “Kris –”

Again, that scent wafts into my nose, seizing up every part of my body.

Mate. My wolf jumps excitedly, and I try to calm him down.

I glance around the room, checking for who the source of the scent is, until I eventually find her standing at the entrance, clutching a small purse in her hand, and looking completely out of place in the elaborate banquet Alpha Gordon has made.

“Who is she?” I lean into Preston and ask. Coincidentally, he also has eyes on the same woman. In fact, all of my brothers are looking at her, including Killian, who I always thought was not into women.

“Do you smell that too?” Killian asks. “I thought it was just me.

Kris makes a low grunting sound but otherwise keeps his opinions to himself.

“I think all of us smell it, and I also think we all know what that means.” I don’t have to say it out loud for them to understand that we might be sharing a mate. This scared-looking girl seems as if she’s about to leave her heart on the ground and run away.

“She is Alpha Gordon’s mate.” Preston announces, and all eyes in our group snap to his face. “But it looks as though he rejected her or she, him. Their bond is fading away.”

I have no idea how he senses these things, but I believe him anyway. Preston has always been right about things, and I have no reason to doubt him.

I glance over at Alpha Gordon, who has not taken his eyes off his engaged Venus since we arrived at the ball, and wonder why he would leave someone as beautiful as her for the other one. Physically, the girl he chose was nowhere compared to the one he rejected, and he still rejected her.

After doing the hard math in my head, I realised that I understood why he did what he did.

Before I have time to think about what I’m doing, I’m standing behind her, and she is suddenly turning around. We bump into each other, and my arms close around her small waist too quickly. My wolf purrs inside of me, eager to come out and meet our mate.

“Are you okay, miss?” I ask; my voice is husky and dry. I shift her away from myself gently, just to regain some semblance of balance, but that does not help, and my hand is still wrapped around her waist.

Before she has the chance to reply to me, Alpha Gordon arrives on the scene and pulls her away from me. My wolf gives a low, threatening growl, but I calm it down.

“She is fine.” He answers on her behalf. “Please excuse her clumsiness. Loraine can be such a klutz sometimes.”

Loraine. My wolf sings the name repeatedly.

A treaty between four kings II

A Treaty Between the Four Kings II

Hunter’s POV

I have wanted her as soon as I set my eyes on her in that hall, and now that I have her, I still want her. She is not entirely mine, and that disturbs me. The way in which she had come with us after Alpha Gordon’s announcement also disturbs me.

After the little show of dragging her out of my sight, I had met him privately to tell him I was interested in the woman he rejected, but I had not imagined he would humiliate her that way in front of all his pack members.

Making a spectacle of giving her to me as spoils for the treaty. Not only did he hurt me, he also deeply wounded my pride, and I don’t think I could ever forgive him for that.

I lean towards her, but she scuttles away. “Are you okay?”

She does not reply. There is plenty of fear in her eyes, and that hurts me too. To think of all the things she might have been through at the hands of that jerk.

“We will get to my house soon.” I continue. “So, you can relax. Me and my brothers will never hurt you.”

Not with what you mean to us.

She glances up at me but says nothing. Her hands are wrung together on her thighs, and the noises she keeps making affect me. My wolf is going berserk inside of me, and the longer I stay in close proximity with her, the more my control slips.

“You should be thankful my brothers are not here.” I joked to lighten up the mood. “I’m sure they would have devoured you by now. They don’t have as much control as I do.”

I realise too late that my words have done the opposite of what I actually wanted.

“That’s not—that’s not what I mean.” I stutter. “You know what? We’ll talk about this when we get home.”

Loraine’s POV

Alpha Hunter’s home is a mega-mansion the size of a village. When the driver pulls up in front of what looks more like a tourist centre than a home, Alpha Hunter immediately opens my door for me and lets me out gently.

Again, I feel a tickle where his hand touches my skin, and for a brief moment, I don’t want him to let go until I realise what situation I am in.

Gordon, that jerk.

“You will stay here with us—my brother and me—until we have figured out what is going on.”

I swallow the fear that’s bubbling inside of me. “What do you mean by what’s going on?” My voice cracked. “Is something going on?”

His brows furrow, and he opens his mouth to say something, but his brothers arrive.

“Let’s go in,” one of them says. “Kris would take you to your room. We’ll come to you shortly to explain what is going on. We are sorry for what happened.”

I swallow hard. Are they really apologising to me for this, or am I dreaming? These extraordinarily gorgeous men, whom I have just been given as a fucking gift, are concerned about me.

“It’s alright, Preston.” Alpha Hunter says. “I’ll take her to her room.”

He places his hand on the small of my back and guides me into the house.

The grandeur of the mansion takes my breath away. I don’t have time to admire the high ceilings, glistening chandeliers, and wide-open space before he leads me up a flight of stairs and through a narrow hall.

“This would be your room.” He turns towards me when we stop in front of a room. “I’m really sorry about what happened back there. Alpha Gordon can be quite... well, he hasn’t been known for being the most considerate person.”

He takes a step back and encourages me to go in with a nod of his head. “Please make yourself at home. I assure you, my brothers and I are most civilised.”

I nod, still too overwhelmed to say anything.

“Good. Rest up. I’ll see you later. The chef will bring your meal up for you.”

With that, he spun, and he was gone.

The room that I’ve been given is spacious with elegant décor and a plush bed, which I immediately fall into. After everything that has happened, I’m tired and sore, and all I want to do is sleep off, but just as I’m about to do that, there’s a knock on the door.

I wonder if that’s the chef Alpha Hunter talked about. Before I wonder too long, the door swings open, and indeed, a chef walks in with a tray of mouthwatering delicacies, followed by one of Alpha Hunter’s brothers.

“Well, I see you are comfortable.” He says it with a smile, which tugs at my heart.

I assume he is the youngest of the brothers because he looks around my age, while the others look quite older than me. Alpha Hunter is way older.

“Place that here.” He glances at me. “Is that alright for you?”

I give a curt nod. Once the chef has arranged the meal to his taste and left, he takes a seat beside me, and for some reason, my wolf seems to go berserk inside me.

“I am Kris.” He smiles again. I want to tell him to stop smiling if he cares about my heart, but I don’t. Why should he care about my heart?

“I should have been the one to bring you to your room.”

“Oh.”

“This must be quite overwhelming for you.” He pulls the tray of food close to me. “Eat up. We need you to be fat for this.”

I glance up at him, alarmed. “What?”

“Hehehe… joking. I’m joking. But do eat up. We want you to be as comfortable as you can be. You are one of us now.”

“That is what’s frightening.” I answer. “Why are you guys being so nice to me?”

He shrugs. “I’m not supposed to talk about this with you."