[Xanthea]

Luna Meesa’s face lost all color.

“What? Alpha…”

He raised his hand, silencing her.

“We don’t have time for arguments. It’s an order and I expect you to follow it.”

With that, he left the room.

Luna Meesa shot me an outraged gaze. She flounced in front of me and slapped me across my face.

The stinging pain pulsed through my cheek like a thousand needles, overwhelming my senses.

“Are you happy now?” She snarled at me. “You’ve finally destroyed my family! You and your filthy blooded mother!”

I peered blankly at the floor. A mix of emotions crashed upon me, strangling my heart with their unforgiving claws.

Her grip tightened on my broken arm as I stifled my cries into mere whimpers. For the first time in my life, I felt as if I deserved the pain.

The royal doctor lowered his gaze. It was nothing new for him. After all, he was the one to heal me for eighteen years after every time they broke me. He never asked about my wounds. All he did was treat me, keeping his mouth shut just like today.

She grabbed my cheeks with her other hand, her nails dug into my cheeks. My eyes stung with tears at the pain. I clenched my jaws to arrest the sob in my throat.

“Useless and burdensome, as you always were…”

“Mother!” Nathalia burst into the room, breaking into tears. “I don’t want to marry them! I don’t want to die! Mother, please do something!”

I had expected Nathalia to unleash her anger on me, but she clung to Luna, sobbing bitterly. We shared the same fear in that moment and maybe that was what bound us.

Nothing really matters when you can see your death right on your doorstep. Especially not when death was coming to marry you and take you away to the underworld as an offering.

Another agonizing hour passed, with Nathalia’s sobs and cries echoing the fatal silence of the palace. She was in another room, but I could hear her painful cries all the way to my room.

I didn’t know what the royal doctor had injected into my hand, but the pain had lessened. I gently cradled my broken hand, wanting to feel relief, but restlessness gnawed at my chest with every passing second.

The air inside and around the palace was thick with a kind of fear that came with the threat of an impending tsunami. A fear of destruction with no escape. All we could do was let the tsunami pass and hope to still be alive once it had.

I was left alone in the room, forgotten now that everyone’s attention was on Nathalia.

The sound of the clock had become much more pronounced and so did the hurried footsteps in the corridors.

I rose from the bed and paced near the dressing table, fidgeting with my fingers as restlessness grew wilder in my chest.

I wanted to go back home to my mother, her diaries. Maybe then I would find some courage.

My head snapped up as my room door creaked open.

This is what I feared the most. He is going to be mad again! He'll hurt me again.

With bated breath, I looked at Nikolai, who wore a deep frown when he entered the room. But his face turned impassive as he took me in.

His eyes widened in a daze as his gaze traveled down my body to my wedding gown, lingering on each detail.

My heart hammered against my ribs.

“I didn’t tell Alpha about my arm. I promise. He… sort of… found out on his own. I didn’t tell him anything about you or the car thing…” I spoke in a breath, well aware of what was coming regardless of my words. He wasn't going to trust me.

He stepped closer and I shut my eyes, my body trembling.

He is going to hit me…

But he stopped. I glanced at him, confused.

His gaze flickered briefly to my breasts, with a sneer he gritted his teeth and stormed out of the room without a word.

I took a quick gulp.

What just happened?

The voices in the corridors grew louder and more rushed. So did my heartbeats.

I looked at the watch. It was ten minutes to midnight.

I could no longer sit back in that room. I walked out of the room. Walking some distance in the corridor, I heard Nathalia whimpers.

“Brother please. Do something. Please… they’ll kill me. You know them, they are devils,” Nathalia clutched Nikolai’s hand, pleading.

She was dressed in a sparkly white wedding gown, adorned in the best of diamonds. Something she always flaunted, something that no longer held value. I lowered my gaze. At least there was someone she could plead with.

I would have to bear it silently. A knot formed in my chest, tightening with Nathalia’s cry for help.

“They are in the pack, you should… prepare yourself, Lia. Stop crying. You need to look… good for them,” Nikolai said, clenching his jaws. An unfamiliar powerlessness lingered in his eyes.

Nathalia broke into silent sobs. She had been crying for hours now. Her eyes were red, her voice hoarse, but she kept pleading sometimes with Luna, sometimes with Nikolai. Both of them could only listen.

“It’s all my mistake.” Nathalia slumped against the wall. “It’s karma. That is why this is happening. It’s all my fault. I broke her hand. It was my idea…”

I widened my eyes, feeling a strangling pain throb in my chest at her words.

“I am the one to blame. It’s all my fault…” she slumped against the doorframe.

As the clock struck midnight, the main clock chimed loudly. Nathalia’s eyes widened, tears streaming down incessantly.

“No, no.” She ran into her room, slamming the door behind her.

A sudden gravity filled the palace as the air crackled with power and dominance. The demon lords, the triplets, had arrived.

Nikolai banged on her door. “Lia! Open the door! Lia! Don’t do this! Shit!” He mumbled, punching the wall helplessly.

For a moment, he remained calm, probably mindlinking with the Alpha. Then, with a forceful push, he opened the door and dragged Nathalia out.

She was no longer screaming. Suppressed sobs were the only sound that escaped her lips.

I watched it all hiding behind the wall.

Nathalia’s teary gaze met mine before she was dragged away, and her face kept flashing in my eyes as if it might remain imprinted in my mind forever.

I pressed my hands over my mouth, breaking into tears. Leaning my head against the wall, I slumped to the floor.

Holding my aching head in my hands, I cried until I could no longer fight the weight of my own conscience.

With the support of the wall, I got up. Lifting the hem of my wedding gown, I ran as fast as I could with my sprained ankles in the empty corridors of the palace.

Everyone had gathered in the ballroom for the marriage ceremony. Even the maids were nowhere to be seen.

I ran through the web of corridors, finally stopping when I reached the backdoor of the ballroom. That was the place from where the bride would enter the hall. I could feel the heavy aura lurk in the air.

Panting, I hesitated for a moment before finally making up my mind.

I saw Alpha waiting with sobbing Nathalia, hidden in the darkness. I didn’t dare glimpse whatever ceremony was going on in the ballroom.

The ballroom had been hastily decorated for the marriage ceremony, yet it looked gothically beautiful.

Dark clouds rumbled in the sky with thunder and lightning, adding to the frenzied ambiance.

The crowd surrounding Nathalia parted to make way for me.

Luna Meesa’s bleary gaze fell on me, but she didn’t react with hostility as usual.

I stepped closer to them.

Nikolai blocked my path to Alpha and Nathalia.

“What are you doing here?” He spoke through gritted teeth. “Came here to enjoy our suffering?”

I met his eyes, my voice unwavering. “Only you can find happiness in someone else’s suffering, not me.”

Nikolai frowned; rage dimmed in his eyes with a glimpse of tears.

Gulping down the lump in my throat, I passed by him and everyone else until I was face to face with Nathalia and Alpha.

I looked into Alpha’s eyes.

“I offer myself to the demon lords. Please let Nathalia go,” I said.

The crowd seemed to gasp in unison. Nathalia stared at me in shock.

“Now enters the bride with Alpha Valdimir,” a voice echoed from within the ballroom.

Everyone stood frozen until Luna Meesa yanked Nathalia away from Alpha.

“Thea… daughter…” Alpha looked at me, his eyes unreadably warm.

Raising my hand over my head, I pulled down the veil over my face. Lifting my right hand as high as I could, I placed my hand over Alpha’s arm.

Alpha didn’t say another word.

I had nothing to lose, and my death would be no one’s loss. I never had a family. No one would cry at my death. I would no longer be the reason for someone’s pain.

If I was lucky, I might meet my mother. Maybe then I could apologise properly for disappointing her. In the end, I couldn’t fulfil her dreams. The very day I had already lost everything that meant something to me.

‘You can live with regrets, but guilt… it kills you every day you live.’

Mother’s words flashed in my head.

Nathalia stumbled to me, proffering the bouquet of Forget-me-nots in my hand with her trembling hands. She dropped her gaze when I looked at her through the veil as I took the bouquet from her hand.

I shut my eyes and inhaled deeply as the lights fell on me.

Alpha held my hand gently as we strutted down the aisle. The ballroom filled with decent claps. My gaze remained fixed on the red carpet beneath my feet.

My steps faltered halfway to the altar.

A dark stain crawled from the hem of my gown all the way up to the fabric on my chest and sleeves, turning the white wedding gown into a black gown. Even the veil over my face had turned black.

A shudder ran down my spine as the Forget-me-nots in my hands turned into a bouquet of red spider lilies. I almost dropped the bouquet, my chest heaving faster.

Steeling my heart and tightening my grip around the bouquet of spider lilies, I made my way to the altar.

Alpha let go of my hand at the foot of the altar.

Three figures stood on the altar.

[Xanthea]

Squalls gushed into the ballroom, announcing the arrival of a storm. I stood near the foot of the altar as they swirled around me.

A quiet gasp escaped my lips when a swift wind fluttered my veil off my face.

Entangling with the free strands of hair, the winds tucked them behind my ear.

My breaths shivered when I realized it wasn’t the touch of the air that brushed past my cheeks. Goosebumps ran all over my body as another zephyr caressed my neck.

I parted my lips, letting out a silent, shaking breath.

‘Sweet.’ A whisper kissed my ear.

Pressing my lips together, I gulped hard.

Seconds felt like an eternity as I lifted my eyelids.

Maybe those seconds were enchanted, or maybe my existence had come to a halt. But something surreal lingered in the distance between us when my eyes locked with the three demon lords.

I half-gasped and half-gaped at the three of them. My heart pounded faster and faster as the three of them gazed back at me with their dark and cold eyes, holding the mystery of the night.

The power they emitted was so overwhelming it made my existence seem insignificant.

They were dressed in shades of gray and black three-piece suits that hugged their well-built and tall frames in all the right places, highlighting their chiseled features that only enhanced their otherworldly sinful charms.

Their sharp jawlines and palely handsome faces drew me into a blank space and their alluring eyes trapped me in an abyss. I could feel my fear amplifying with every heartbeat. Danger lurked in their eyes and it appeared they had already possessed my heart, my body, and my soul.

There was no escaping them, but I wasn’t sure how long I would survive them. Or maybe there was no survival in this marriage at all. There was only surrendering. Surrendering my life, my fate and my destiny to them.

As long as I surrendered to the three of them, I might survive.

“Requesting the bride on the altar.”

The voice of the man, dressed in a hooded black robe from head to toe, brought me out of the triplet’s bewitchment.

Stalling my breaths, I gingerly walked up to the altar. It felt as if, even if I breathed the wrong way, they would break me apart.

I didn’t dare look at any of them again.

There was no priest on the altar, but a sorcerer. In fact, there was no one anywhere close to the altar.

I glanced at Alpha, who peered at the triplets, then lowered his gaze when he looked at me.

My breath hitched as a shudder ran through my body when one triplet held my chin. He lifted my chin, making me look into his eyes. Up close, his light gray eyes were even more predatory. And my heart ran wild, just like a prey.

An unsettling dread ran down my spine, breathing in the same air as him.

His gaze dropped to my parted lips. Sucking in a quick breath, I lowered my gaze, pursing my lips. He let go of my chin and stepped back, standing in the middle of the other two.

I stood in front of them, clutching my hands near my belly even tighter.

“We are here to witness the soul pact being formed between the Infernal Triplets and the Earthly princess of the Virgo pack, princess Xanthea Virgo,” the sorcerer said. “A wedding.”

I knew a wedding with the demon lords would be anything but normal. But a pact? It wasn’t just my body they’d claim in this marriage. They’d imprison and imprint my soul with theirs.

My nails dug into my skin as tears stung my eyes.

Is this really how my life will end? A soul trapped for eternity in the shadows with no escape, no light, no salvation?

“Alpha Raven Xipher step forth and create the first soul pact with your bride,” the sorcerer said.

The Alpha standing left to the gray-eyed Alpha stepped closer to me until he stood right in front of me.

His brown eyes contemplated me. He had long hair tied in a ponytail, his hair styled in a wolf cut.

“Look into my eyes,” his deep voice cut through my chest. His words were impassive and colder were his scrutiny.

The sorcerer walked close to us and lifted a double-ended dagger between us.

I peered at the dagger that hung in the air, levitating between us. My mouth turned dry at the sight of the sharp blades.

“Princess Xanthea Virgo and Alpha Raven Xipher, I will request you to stab your ring fingers at the ends of the pact dagger,” the sorcerer said. The handle in the middle of the pact dagger had a huge gem that looked as if glowing blood was constantly flowing in it.

I stepped back, curling my fingers into fists.

Raven held my gaze, and my body stiffened. My body wasn’t under my control. I involuntarily stepped closer to the pact dagger and stabbed my ring finger at one edge of the dagger while Raven stabbed his ring finger at the other end.

The double-ended dagger sucked in our blood and the gem in the middle hilt glowed even more red.

A sharp pain ran through my body as, for a few seconds, it felt like I was having a heart attack. I struggled to breathe. Holding back my tears, I clenched my chest.

I glanced at Alpha Valdimir, pleading for help, but all he did was lower his gaze. Everyone in the ballroom stood with their heads low.

My head snapped back towards Raven. It seemed as if invisible hands were controlling my body. I looked into his eyes as the sorcerer read.

“Do you, Xanthea Virgo, entrust your body, blood and soul to Raven Xipher, your lord, your owner and your first husband?”

I bit my lower lips, letting out a moanful sob.

I wanted to run away and hide somewhere far away. A grave seemed like a safer place to belong than with the triplets.

I wish I had an option to die. But I chose this destiny for myself. I had to take the responsibility.

“I-I… do,” I said, through the pain.

“Do you swear your eternal loyalty, obedience, and submission to him and his will?” the sorcerer asked.

“I… do…” I said, breathing heavily as a feverish sensation ran up my spine.

“Do you promise to accept the punishment if you breach the first two vows?”

I knit my brows as tears trailed down my cheeks.

“I… do!” My words came out as a moan.

“And do you, Raven Xipher, tie your soul to hers?”

“I do,” he said, stoically.

I stumbled back as I got back the control over my body and I instantly withdrew my finger from the dagger’s pointed end.

“Alpha Ezra Xipher step forth and create the second soul pact with your bride,” the sorcerer said.

This time, the eyes that forcefully locked with mine were deep blue. He had short, frivolously styled hair. A mischievous glint flashed in his eyes when he saw my tears. My body was under Ezra’s control. I was losing control, even over my tears.

I stabbed my ring finger again at one end of the dagger while Ezra stabbed his ring finger on the other end.

“Do you, Xanthea Virgo, entrust your body, blood and soul to Ezra Xipher, your lord, your owner and your second husband?” the sorcerer said.

I accepted the same vows with him as I had with Raven.

“And do you, Ezra Xipher, tie your soul to hers?”

“I do,” he said in an amused tone as he took me in.

“Alpha Asher Xipher step forth and create the third soul pact with your bride,” the sorcerer said.

Ezra stood back while the gray-eyed man with ruffled shoulder length hair.

With him, my body was more under my control and he waited for me to stab my ring finger with the dagger’s end instead of forcing me to do it.

“Do you, Xanthea Virgo, entrust your body, blood and soul to Asher Xipher, your lord, your owner and your third husband?”

The pain during the vowing process was no less excruciating, but at least I was ready for that pain now.

“I do…” my voice was weak.

“And do you, Asher Xipher, tie your soul to hers?”

“I do,” he said, holding my teary gaze.

“I pronounce their souls pacted. In the words of the earthly realm, I pronounce them married!” The sorcerer said, and polite claps filled the ballroom.

The double-edged dagger in the sorcerer’s hands turned and twisted itself until it took the form of a pointed thorny crown with glowing blood adorning it as gems.

“Alphas, I request you to place this crown on your bride’s head and seal the pact for eternity,” the sorcerer said.

The triplets held the crown and placed it on my head together. Its thorns and pointed ends pierced through my skin and hair. I could feel blood trail down my forehead, over my face.

I shut my eyes, feeling my blood leave behind its fleeting warmth on the cold skin of my eyelids.

The crown got heavier and heavier on my head. It felt like I would be buried right under its pressure. Every inch of my body was throbbing with pain like I had never felt before. It was worse than having a broken hand.

My soul was tearing apart, and I could feel it in my veins.

The ballroom spun before my eyes.

My vision faltered and so did my struggle to fight the pain and stand strong when I was breaking from inside. My chest heaved faster.

Before my failing body hit the ground, Raven grabbed my upper arms. Ezra held my shoulder while Asher’s firm arm wrapped around my waist as my back rested against his chest.

“You can’t be weak, wife. You now have three husbands to please. Tonight’s the night we claim you. You can’t let a simple wedding tire you, for our nuptial night holds trials far more demanding.” Ezra whispered huskily, tucking my hair behind my ear. My heart pounded with its left over strength as I shook my head slightly.

“Please…”

I succumbed to the darkness before my words could find their voice.

[Xanthea]

‘It's tragic how we spend most of our lives on the streets just to search for a small place we could call home. Just to return to it and feel at peace while carrying chaos in our minds. But once you find your home — you’ll know and that’s what makes this journey worth taking.’

***

A caressing, hypnotic fragrance slowly enveloped my senses. It was a sophisticated blend of jasmine, patchouli, and hints of exotic spices.

With every breath, the scent seemed to suffuse deeper and deeper in my body. My pulse quickened, and I could feel the heat crawl up my cheeks.

A trembling breath escaped my parted lips as something soft, like a feather, gliding down my neck, sending tantalizing goosebumps all over my body.

With the fragrance that dazed my mind and relaxed my body mixed three prominent scents that I could never mistake. They were there in the room with me. The demon lords.

I could feel the silk bedsheet and the bed beneath my palms. But I couldn’t open my eyes because of the blindfold.

I panicked subtly from the inside, but I was too scared to show it.

I gulped hard, bringing my shoulder closer to my neck as I felt a chilly breath run down my cleavage.

My body responded to their vanishing touches; a tingling sensation charged along my skin. I felt a surge of energy coursing through me, a gentle desire to live and a cruel reminder that I might die the next second I upset them.

I had to stay strong, and this was something I could not resist or deny even if I wanted to. All I could wish for was for it to end as soon as it could.

My breaths hitched as the silk blanket that had been covering my body until now slid down with every intention of tracing every inch of my skin. I could still feel a thin fabric around my body, so hopefully I wasn’t naked yet.

One of them tried to hold my wrist but in an impulse I pulled it from their grip.

The air crackled with their dominance and I knew I had displeased them.

Maybe if I just lie down and let them do what they want with me, at least I wouldn’t upset them.

My heart ravaged in my chest as I held my trembling hands close to my breasts.

I bit my lips. My breaths ceased in my lungs as one of them grabbed my wrist and made me sit on the bed.

I reached out to touch my blindfold when I felt the air around me flush with their maddening pheromones. My hands limply fell to my side.

They didn’t want me to take off the blindfold. But why? Not being able to see them only added to my nervousness.

My whole body was burning. The fever felt as if it were breaking every bone in my body. I instantly grabbed my broken right hand to feel the pain, but there was none. Even my ankle was healed.

Still, something in my body didn’t feel right. It felt like I was in heat but a heat that was ten times stronger than all the heats I had had in my life.

I squeezed my thighs together, feeling the discomfort between my legs grow. I clenched the bedsheet with one hand and the fabric over my chest with the other, panting.

“Fuck, that made my cock throb, little toy.”

My head followed the direction of the amused, deep voice that held a dark tease behind every word. That was probably Ezra.

“Why don’t you open your pretty legs and let us know how wet you are for us?” Ezra asked. This time, his voice had a rugged groan, as if he was holding himself back from doing something dangerous.

“You heard him. Didn’t you?” A stoic voice came from my left. Raven. There was a harshness in his voice. Hatred in his tone, as if I disgusted him.

I hugged my knees close to my chest. Knitting my brows, I shook my head.

“Please…” I don’t know why I begged them, even when I knew it was useless.

“Hey! Hey! Don’t fucking tell me you are a virgin, little toy!” Ezra’s tone lit up with a dangerous excitement.

“I—I am…” My words shivered out of my dry lips.

Ezra broke into laughter. “Damn!”

The next second, I flopped on the bed, my wrist pinned over my head.

My heart raced in my chest. A hand trailed up my thighs, sliding the hem of my dress to my belly.

“Ah! Wait! Please…” I spoke through broken breaths. His firm grip on my inner thighs pulled my knees apart. My core throbbed as he grinded his hips against mine.

“You made us wait enough, my virgin toy. How dare you hide this dirty little pussy from us? You deserve to be punished by my cock.”

I thought I had prepared myself enough for this, but now that it was about to happen, I was trembling. My tears disappeared somewhere within my blindfold.

My heart pulsated against my ribs as I clenched my fists.

“Back off, Ezra. Not now.” A husky, authoritative growl came from my right. Out of all the voices, hearing Asher’s voice settled down my heartbeats. And I don’t know why.

With a disappointed grunt, Ezra backed away from me, leaving me disheveled and open to all their gazes.

I closed my legs and sat up on the bed again, burning with shame. Now I was grateful to the blindfold. At least I could see them looking at me.

Heat flared deep in my abdomen. Ezra’s touch was still fresh everywhere on my body.

“Take off your clothes, omega,” Raven commanded.

I clenched my dress over my thighs.

“If you make me repeat, I will tear them off you and defile that lowly body of yours. This is already a waste of time, anyway,” Raven said.

Shivers ran down my spine at his raw threat. I knew he hated me, and deep down, I knew it was because I was an omega. I slowly rose to my knees and slid the strings of the dress down my shoulders. I pulled the dress down over my breasts and then down my legs.

Now I was completely naked to their burning gaze that I could feel on my skin. I gulped hard, trying to hide my breasts, but two hands seized my wrists at the same time and pulled them away from my body.

I bit down a sob at their bruising grips.

Another pair of hands gripped my ankles, pulling them apart.

Two of them cupped my breasts, playing and teasing my hardened buds. My back arched as I opened my mouth, moaning as they pinched and circled my nipples between their fingers.

I could feel my juices trail down my slit. I couldn’t understand what was happening to me or why it felt so sinfully right. Now that it was going to happen, a dark desire took over me.

“You are such a fucking whore, omega. We barely touched you and you are dripping wet already?” Raven scoffed, painfully squeezing my breast.

The pain rushed through my body, making me feel a hunger I never knew existed inside me.

“We are going to take turns with you. You’ll have to tell who is eating your cunt. If your answers are right, we will fuck you like you want and if they are wrong, we will fuck you like we want,” Asher said. “I hope you are ready, Xanthea.”