Mated to Four Heirs

Chapter twenty

LADY SERAPHINA

She had been so small.

That was the first thing I remembered.

She had bssn so impossibly small that I had been afraid to hold her at first.

Her tiny body had been wrapped in a white blanket, and her dark hair was still damp against her forehead. She hadn't cried when I first looked at her. Instead, she had opened her eyes and stared directly at me.

Silver. Her eyes had been silver. Not gray. Not blue.

Silver.

I remembered the shock that had gone through me when I saw them.

Then I had turned her over carefully, and my breath had caught in my throat.

The crescent-shaped birthmark rested against her lower back. The symbol had been faint, but there was no mistaking it.

It was the royal Moonborn mark.

I had spent years searching for that symbol. I had spent years reading ancient texts and studying forgotten bloodlines.

And now it was on my daughter.

I remembered running my fingers close to the mark without touching it.

"You are the one," I whispered.

The baby moved slightly. I stared at her. There had been no warmth in my heart then. No maternal instinct.

Only awe.

Powerful blood had been born into the world, and I was the only person who understood what that meant.

But I also understood something else.

If the wrong people discovered her existence, they would come for her.

The Council would never allow a Moonborn royal to grow up freely.

So I had made a decision.

I gave her to the humans.

They had been terrified when I first placed the baby in their arms.

I remembered the woman's trembling hands as she held Samantha against her chest.

"Who is she?" she had asked, her voice shaking.

I had looked at her. "Her name is Samantha."

The woman's eyes were filled with confusion.

"Where did she come from?"

I had remained silent for several seconds. Then I had given them the only answer they needed.

"She is your daughter now."

The woman's eyes widened. "What?"

"Raise her," I had instructed, my voice firm as I looked between them. "Love her. Protect her. Give her a normal life."

The man had stared at me suspiciously. "Why us?," he asked, not looking convinced.

I had looked down at Samantha.

"Because no one will look for something extraordinary in an ordinary home."

The woman had tightened her arms around the baby. "But who are you?"

I hadn't answered; I had simply turned away.

That was the last time I had seen Samantha as a newborn.

At least, that was what I had told myself.

I opened my eyes, and the study returned around me. The fire was still burning. The clock was still ticking.

And Samantha was still inside the crystal bowl.

Eighteen years.

I had given her eighteen years of safety. She had been allowed to attend school, make friends, laugh, dream, and believe she was human.

Everything had gone according to plan.

Until Nightshade… until the four Alpha heirs.

I slowly leaned forward.

"Now," I whispered, staring at her reflection, "you are finally ready."

The image changed.

Four faces appeared around Samantha.

Karl Blackwood. Adrian Lockhart. Darius Ash. Carla Vale.

I studied each of them carefully.

Karl was the first.

The Frost Fang heir had always been disciplined, loyal, and difficult to deceive. He was the kind of Alpha who carried responsibility like it was part of his skeleton… and he had been the first to help Samantha.

That concerned me.

Karl had already developed a protective instinct toward her before he understood what she was.

That attachment could become dangerous. It could destroy him before it destroys Samantha.

"He will be difficult," I murmured, narrowing my eyes at his image.

But difficult didn't mean impossible.

I smiled as my attention moved to Adrian.

Adrian was different. He was warm, kind, and trusting. He was the sort of person who naturally made people feel safe around him, and Samantha would inevitably gravitate toward that warmth.

"He will make her feel protected," I said softly, my expression thoughtful as I watched him smile at Samantha.

That was useful, very useful.

Then there was Darius.

The red-haired Alpha appeared in the crystal beside Samantha, his expression full of that irritating confidence he carried everywhere.

I laughed softly.

"That one is going to be trouble."

Darius was passionate, impulsive, and possessive. He didn't think before acting when his emotions became involved, and his temper could be manipulated if someone understood which buttons to press.

But there was something else about him...

He genuinely liked Samantha. Perhaps more than he understood himself.

Again, that could destroy him before it destroyed Samantha.

Finally, my eyes moved to Carla.

The smile disappeared from my face.

Carla Vale.

I stared at him for several seconds.

Unlike the others, he stood away from Samantha. He was cold, distant, and guarded. But I knew better.

"Still hiding behind your walls," I whispered, my eyes narrowing.

Carla's curse had made him afraid of intimacy. Anyone who became intimate with him died within seven days.

It was a terrible curse, but a useful one.

I had known about it long before Samantha ever stepped into Nightshade Academy.

I watched Carla turn away from Samantha in the vision.

"He will push her away," I murmured, my fingers tightening around the edge of the table.

And that was exactly what made him interesting.

Samantha had always been stubborn. If someone told her she couldn't have something, she wanted to know why.

If someone pushed her away, she wanted to understand the reason.

And if she discovered that Carla was suffering, she would try to save him.

I knew my daughter. I had watched her from a distance for eighteen years.

She had inherited more than my blood. She had inherited my determination.

Perhaps even my weakness.

Love.

I looked at the four Alpha heirs again, and then at Samantha standing between them.

Four powerful Alphas. One Moonborn. And a bond that should never have existed.

I slowly smiled.

"Everything is finally falling into place," I whispered, my eyes fixed on Samantha as the crystal light illuminated my face.

And for the first time in eighteen years, I allowed myself to believe that I was finally close to getting everything I had wanted.