June 15 2026, 10:49am
Several minutes have passed since the quadruplets made that announcement in front of everyone. Hell, it has been over forty minutes now since they announced their plan to get married to that piece of filth, Nyx’ara, so why the hell does Seraphina still feel like the words were said two seconds ago?
Why does the hurt in her chest intensify whenever the thought crosses her mind one more time?
For twenty-five years, she has walked the earth, and for twenty out of those twenty-five, she has worked dutifully only just so that she would be deserving of being their Luna. Seraphina had trained for every day of her life, she had attended the best schools and bagged impressive degrees. In combat, there was no woman walking the earth that she knew of that was as strong as she was, and for that reason, she had believed that she was the only one fit to be with the Alphas.
Other members of the pack felt so too.
Including the council members who were so old that there were only strands of gray hair left on their heads.
So what the fuck happened today?
Why has her carefully curated plan been so drastically altered because of some filthy murdering bitch?
Her hands clenched into a fist so tight, her nails formed little bloody crescents from digging into her palm for so long, and with slow sure strides, she walked to the front, smiling when the people parted before her, creating space for her to walk past.
She arrived at the front in record time, and the first thing she did was... press her hand over her chest in a gesture of feigned sorrow. Her knees hit the floor in front of Azriel who was most susceptible to her charms, and cried:
"Why?!"
But little does she know that Azriel had never for once liked her more than he liked his other usual flings.
For a moment, silence sat between them like an unseen entity, its intensity choking down on them with enough force to crush their lungs.
She majored in arts so getting tears to fill her eyes was an easy feat, but it was way easier especially since she was genuinely hurt.
She cried: "All my life, I have been promised to the four of you! I grew up thinking that I am the only one meant for you! If you wanted an heir so badly, what does it take for you to say that to me rather than bringing this bitch between us?!"
Rhys’ eyebrow twitched at her outburst, his hands clenched into fists as his eyes roved the entire length of the girl’s body. He had never really liked Seraphina, but come to think of it, he never liked anyone.
He turned to Azriel, the one who was known for entertaining her more than the rest of them. He had led the poor girl on like he leads all his flings on, but just as Rhys was about to talk to Azriel, to yell at him to fix this through their mind link, Draven’s voice rumbled through the air. He snapped;
"Rise, woman."
His voice was so sharp and so icy that it sent tremors through the crowd. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Nyx’ara flinch and something about that stayed with him more than everything else happening around him.
’She is a monster.’
’She is here to hurt you,’
He chanted in his mind, but nothing about that, absolutely nothing prepared him for the sudden flip his heart did in response.
Seraphina rose to her feet as gracefully as a cat. Her body and hair moved with the sure fluid movements of an acrobat. The silky black dress she wore hugged her body in all her curves, and as she rose, the slit on the left side of her leg rose by a few centimetres, giving the Alphas more view of her privates than they liked.
"Miss Seraphina Ashbourne, you of all people should understand that this wedding isn’t one of convenience. It isn’t one born out of love or responsibility, it is one forged from the scorching heat of vengeance. So if you cannot deal with it, you should leave at once."
Cruel. Brutal. Dark.
Those were the only words Nyx’ara could use to describe how Alpha Draven had sounded.
From the murmurs she had caught from the crowd, this lady... this Seraphina was their fiancée, so why the hell would he talk to her like this and in front of everyone?
Why can he not understand just how hurt she feels?
When her eyes lifted slightly in the direction of the four thrones, her breath caught in her throat when she realized that they weren’t looking at Seraphina, they were looking at her!
She gulped.
What now?
Why is everyone looking at her?
Slowly... fearfully, she turned her gaze away towards Seraphina and quickly lowered her eyes when she realized that she too was watching her closely.
"Our marriage to little miss murderer will only last for a year, if that would help you feel better," Azriel suddenly cut in, his eyes glinting with so much malice and so much contempt that it made Nyx’ara’s body recoil into itself.
He let his eyes drag along the girl’s body— not Seraphina’s, Nyx’ara’s— and then he continued without missing a beat; "... I think a year is more than enough time for us to break her. A year is enough for her to bear us children without you having to go through all that stress and disfigure your body... and a year is enough to make her wish and pray for her death."
The crowd cheered in agreement but all Nyx’ara could do was watch, feeling hollowed out.
She saw the smug smile that appeared on Seraphina’s lips as soon as she heard those words from Alpha Azriel, and just like that, every ounce of pity she once felt for the girl dissolved and was replaced with an irritation she could barely hide from her face.
She lowered her head, imagining clear blue skies and white cats. She closed her eyes, to think about anything... anything at all that could take her mind off this nightmare even if it was only for a moment.
She was jolted out of her reverie when she heard someone speaking overhead. She blinked, looked up, and recoiled once more into herself when she was met with four pairs of eyes.
"Now that that is settled, Nyx’ara will be moved into the main house as of today to begin her duties as our breeder. For the time being, she shall be ostracized from the pack’s meetings and celebrations. She shall be treated like the nonexistent ghost she is... but none of you..." Draven let his voice trail off as his eyes landed on Seraphina, "...none of you is allowed to lay a finger on her."
A sigh of relief slipped past Nyx’ara’s lips before she could help herself. If there was anything she feared more than being a walking baby factory then it was having to watch her back all the time.
Before she could stop herself, she bowed in gratitude, not missing the way all Alphas frowned at her as if not quite believing their eyes.
Well, they do not realise that this isn’t her first rodeo. That this isn’t the first time she will be ostracised.
Kieran shifted uneasily in his chair, and with a voice so quiet, it sounded more like a whisper, he drawled;
"We would be fine with having her around for one year right? It wouldn’t change anything right?"
Despite how small his voice was, his brothers had heard him and Rhys was the most disgusted by the hidden message behind those questions.
"She has only spent a night here," Rhys drawled, his tone grim, "...and she has managed to stir the wildest emotions in all of you. You should be ashamed of yourselves."
With that, he rose to his feet and walked out of the hall, making sure to let his shoulder brush against Nyx’ara’s as he walked past.
His body thrummed as soon as their skins made contact, and in that moment, one thing was extremely clear to him.
He was a hypocrite.
A bigger one than his brothers.
Because truth be told, she had stirred the most reactions in him in the past twenty-four hours than anyone had ever done in his twenty-nine years.
And he hated her for it.