Mated To My Bullies

Chapter 11: "The Choice of Monsters"

POV: Maya

The sound of bones breaking echoed through the arena, and for the first time since Marcus had injected me with that green poison, I felt something crack inside my chest.

Stephen had just landed a devastating blow to Nathan's ribs, and Nathan was on his knees, coughing up blood. The silver restraints they'd been forced to wear had weakened all four brothers, but they were still fighting like their lives depended on it.

Because they did.

"Enjoying the show?" Marcus asked from beside me in the viewing box. He'd moved his chair closer to mine, close enough that I could smell his cologne mixed with the scent of other people's fear.

I didn't answer. I couldn't. Because watching Stephen's fist connect with Karl's jaw, seeing the way Elijah moved like a predator circling wounded prey, seeing Nathan struggle to stand up while blood poured from his mouth, it was doing something to me that I didn't understand.

The serum had taken away my ability to feel guilt, remorse, fear. It had made me cold and calculating, turned me into the weapon Marcus wanted.

But it hadn't taken away everything.

"They're going to kill each other," I said, and my voice sounded strange. Not flat like it had been for days, but... tight. Strained.

"That's the idea," Marcus replied cheerfully. "Though I suspect they won't quite go that far. They're still brothers, after all. But close enough to decide a winner."

Down in the pit, Karl had managed to get Stephen in a chokehold, but Elijah was moving behind them both, ready to strike whoever came out on top. Nathan was back on his feet, but barely, his hand pressed against his ribs where Stephen had hit him.

They looked like animals. Desperate, furious, beautiful animals tearing each other apart.

"Tell me, Maya," Marcus said, leaning closer. "Which one are you rooting for?"

The question hit me like a physical blow. Which one?

Stephen, who had saved me from drowning even though he'd dismissed me as a charity case afterward? Karl, who had held me down but whose eyes had shown regret? Nathan, who had looked at me like I was something precious even after I'd shot him? Elijah, who had suggested they'd be better off without me but whose scent had always been the most comforting of the four?

"I don't care," I said, but the lie tasted bitter in my mouth.

"Don't you?" Marcus's voice was soft, almost hypnotic. "Look at them, Maya. Really look. They came here for you. All four of them, separately, because each one thought he was the only one who truly loved you. They're willing to destroy each other for the chance to claim you."

"They don't love me," I said. "They just want to possess me."

"Is there a difference?"

The question made something twist in my stomach. Because watching them fight, seeing the desperation in their movements, the way they kept glancing up at the viewing box to see if I was watching, maybe there wasn't a difference. Maybe their twisted, possessive, controlling love was still love. And maybe I felt something for them too.

The realization hit me just as Stephen threw Nathan across the arena. Nathan hit the wall hard and didn't get up this time. Karl roared and launched himself at Stephen, but Elijah was there, grabbing Karl from behind and locking his arms.

"Two down," Marcus said with satisfaction. "Just Stephen and Elijah left. The cold, calculating alpha and the quiet killer. My money's on Elijah."

But I wasn't watching Elijah. I was watching Nathan, who was trying to crawl toward the others despite what had to be broken ribs. I was watching Karl struggle against Elijah's hold, his face turning red as Elijah cut off his air supply. I was watching Stephen realize that his youngest brother was about to kill Karl, and seeing something break in his eyes.

"Stop," I whispered.

"What was that?" Marcus asked.

"Stop!" The word came out as a scream, and every head in the arena turned toward the viewing box.

That's when I realized the reinforced glass in front of me had spider-web cracks running through it. Cracks that hadn't been there moments before.

"Fascinating," Marcus breathed. "The emotional response is triggering physical changes. The serum is evolving with her psychological state."

I pressed my hand against the glass, and the cracks spread wider. The alpha essence in my bloodstream was responding to whatever was happening inside my chest, making me stronger as my emotions came flooding back.

"Maya!" Stephen's voice echoed through the arena, raw and desperate. "Maya, don't.."

His words were cut off as Elijah released Karl and moved toward him instead. But Stephen was looking up at me, not at his approaching brother, and I saw the exact moment when Elijah's fist connected with his temple.

Stephen went down hard, and he didn't get back up. Something snapped inside me. Not broke, snapped. Like a rubber band that had been stretched too far.

The glass exploded outward as I punched through it, and I dropped twenty feet to the arena floor without even feeling the impact. The crowd was screaming, but I couldn't hear them over the sound of my own heartbeat.

Elijah was standing over Stephen's still form, breathing hard, looking like he couldn't believe what he'd just done. Karl was unconscious against the far wall. Nathan was trying to drag himself toward Stephen but couldn't make it.

"Maya," Elijah said, and there was something broken in his voice. "I didn't mean... I didn't want to..."

"Get away from him."

The words came out in a growl that didn't sound human. Elijah stepped back, his eyes wide.

"You can't be here," he said. "The guards, they'll.."

"Maya!" Marcus's voice boomed through the arena speakers. "Return to your cell immediately, or I'll have all four of them shot."

I looked up at the viewing box where Marcus was standing, his face red with fury. Then I looked around the arena at the guards who were raising their silver weapons, all pointed at the brothers.

"Choose," Marcus commanded. "Save one of them and let the others die, or come back to me and I'll let them all live. But you have to choose. Now."

The guards' fingers moved to their triggers.

I looked at Stephen, unconscious and bleeding on the arena floor. Nathan, broken but still trying to reach his brothers. At Karl, motionless against the wall. At Elijah, standing frozen in horror at what he'd done.

The choice should have been impossible. But as I stood there, feeling the alpha essence burn through my veins and my newly awakened emotions tear at my chest, I realized it wasn't.

I'd already chosen.

I moved faster than the guards could track, grabbing the nearest one and snapping his neck before he could fire. The silver weapons opened up then, bullets flying through the air where I'd been standing milliseconds before.

But I was already moving, already killing, already becoming the monster Marcus had made me.

Three guards died before Marcus's lieutenant, a massive man with scars covering his arms, stepped into the arena with a weapon I'd never seen before. Something that hummed with electrical energy and smelled like ozone.

"Stand down," he commanded, his voice amplified by some kind of speaker system. "Return to your cell or watch them burn."

The weapon was pointed at Stephen.

I didn't hesitate. I couldn't hesitate.

The lieutenant was fast, faster than the other guards, but the alpha essence made me faster. I ripped the weapon from his hands and drove my fist through his chest before he could scream.

When I pulled my hand back, it was covered in blood and something that might have been his heart.

The arena fell silent except for Stephen's labored breathing.

I dropped to my knees beside him, my hands shaking as I touched his face. His eyes fluttered open, focusing o

n me with difficulty.

"You chose me," he whispered, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

Then his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed in my arms.