HER FOUR MATES

New Territory

Lyra’s POV

If I thought my brothers were protective before, it was nothing compared to how they acted after our kitchen confession three days ago.

And I mean nothing.

“Absolutely not,” Darius said firmly, blocking my path to the training grounds.

“It’s just combat practice,” I protested. “The same combat practice I’ve been doing for two years.”

“With males from other packs,” Marcus pointed out, appearing at Darius’s shoulder like a backup dancer in a very possessive boy band.

“Males who might get ideas,” Zane added, joining the wall of overprotective testosterone.

“About touching you,” Kael finished, completing their ridiculous formation.

I stared at them. “You realize I could take any of those guys, right? I learned from the best.” I gestured at them. “You four made sure of that.”

“That’s not the point,” Darius said.

“Then what is the point?”

“The point,” Zane stepped closer, his voice dropping to that tone that made my knees weak, “is that now that we’ve admitted how we feel, the thought of anyone else putting their hands on you, even in training, makes us want to commit murder.”

“Multiple murders,” Marcus clarified helpfully.

“Very creative murders,” Kael added with a grin that was probably supposed to be reassuring but mostly looked unhinged.

I shook my head, but I was fighting a smile. “You guys are insane.”

“Insanely in love with you,” Darius said, and the way he said it, so matter-of-fact, like it was just a basic truth of the universe, made my heart skip.

“Okay, that was actually smooth,” I admitted.

“I have my moments.”

“Fine,” I sighed dramatically. “I’ll skip combat practice. But I’m not skipping the ceremony planning meeting, and before you even start, ”

“We’ll come with you,” all four said in unison.

“Of course you will.”

The ceremony planning meeting was being held in the main hall, and it was chaos. Representatives from a dozen different packs had arrived early, and everyone had opinions about everything, the decorations, the food, the music, the seating arrangements.

But mostly, they had opinions about me.

“The Elxra girl is certainly… cherished,” I heard one of the visiting alphas murmur to another as we walked past.

“Four mates vying for her attention,” the other replied. “She’ll have her pick, that’s certain.”

“If the Moon Goddess blesses any of them,” the first added. “Though with bonds that strong, how could she not?”

I felt my cheeks heat. It was one thing to know the pack gossip about us, but hearing outsiders discuss it was different. More real somehow.

“Ignore them,” Marcus said quietly, his hand finding the small of my back.

“They’re just jealous,” Kael added. “Their females probably don’t even like them, let alone look at them the way you look at us.”

“And how do I look at you?” I asked, genuinely curious.

“Like we hung the moon,” Zane said softly.

“Like we’re your whole world,” Darius added.

“Like you’re trying not to jump our bones in public,” Kael said with a grin.

“Kael!” I hissed, glancing around to make sure no one heard.

“What? It’s true! You have this look you get, especially when one of us is training shirtless, and, ”

“I’m going to murder you,” I whispered.

“See? There’s that look right now.”

I was definitely blushing now, but I couldn’t really deny it. Ever since our kitchen confession, the careful barriers I’d built around my feelings had crumbled completely. Now when I looked at them, I didn’t try to hide what I felt. The want, the love, the absolute certainty that they were mine and I was theirs.

“Focus,” Marcus murmured in my ear as we took our seats at the planning table. “We need to get through this meeting, and then…”

“Then?”

“Then maybe we can discuss what Kael mentioned about jumping bones,” he said with a wicked grin.

I nearly choked on my own spit.

The meeting felt very long. We discussed flower arrangements, traditional foods, and the order of ceremonies. I could feel everyone's attention on me. Zane drummed his fingers on the table in time with my heartbeat. Darius’s eyes rarely left my face. Marcus rested his hand possessively on the back of my chair. Kael played with a strand of my hair that had come loose from my braid.

Small touches. Stolen glances. The kind of careful intimacy that said everything without saying anything at all.

“And of course,” Elder Patricia was saying, “we’re all hoping for multiple matings from the Elxra pack this year. It’s been far too long since the Moon Goddess has blessed you with bonds.”

Alpha Magnus nodded gravely. “The Goddess will choose as she sees fit. But yes, we have high hopes.”

His eyes found mine across the table, and I saw the love there, the hope, the quiet confidence that his sons, that my boys, would find their happiness.

“Especially for young Lyra,” another elder added with a kindly smile. “Such a sweet girl, and so devoted to the pack. Surely the Goddess sees how she’s blossomed here.”

More murmurs of agreement around the table. Everyone seemed so certain, so confident that in just over a week, everything would fall into place perfectly.

I saw Zane looking at me and he smiled. It was a soft smile meant just for me. It showed me he wasn’t worried and that he believed everything would turn out fine.

Marcus squeezed my shoulder gently, and Darius shifted closer in his chair. Even Kael stopped playing with my hair to give me an encouraging thumbs up under the table.

They were so sure. So confident that the Moon Goddess would see what we all felt and bless it.

And honestly? So was I.

How could she not? What we had was rare, precious, pure. We weren’t some casual fling or political arrangement. We were a family who’d grown into something more, something deeper than most people ever found with just one person.

“Just think,” Kael whispered as the meeting finally started to wind down, “in ten days, this will all be official.”

“All of it?” I whispered back.

“All of it,” Zane confirmed quietly. “No more pretending, no more hiding. Just us.”

“Just us,” I repeated, and it sounded like a promise.

As we walked back to the pack house, surrounded by the easy chatter of my four… whatever they were now, I felt lighter than I had in years. Everything was falling into place. The ceremony was planned, the packs were gathering, and in just over a week, the Moon Goddess would confirm what we all already knew.

We belonged together. All of us.

What could possibly go wrong?