Chapter 4: The Fourth Alpha
1587 Words
“Take your hands off my mate.”
Every wolf in the room froze.
My heart slammed against my ribs as I stared at the stranger standing in the doorway.
I was still caught between Rhaen and Kaelor, my body burning from the strange bond that had nearly brought me to my knees only moments ago. Soren stood a few steps away, watching me as if he expected me to disappear.
Now there was another Alpha.
And he had just called me his mate.
“No,” I whispered.
The stranger’s silver eyes locked onto mine.
The reaction was immediate.
Heat ripped through my chest.
I gasped and grabbed Rhaen’s arm.
My wolf surged forward with enough force to make my vision blur.
Mate.
The word echoed inside me.
I hated it.
I hated how my body recognized him before my mind had even decided whether he was dangerous.
Rhaen pulled me closer.
“Zevran.”
The stranger’s expression hardened.
So they knew him.
Somehow, that made this worse.
Zevran stepped into the room. He was tall and broad, dressed in black, with a faint scar cutting through one eyebrow. He carried himself differently from the brothers.
Rhaen commanded.
Kaelor challenged.
Soren watched.
Zevran looked like a man who had survived things nobody else knew about.
His gaze dropped to Rhaen’s arm around me.
A low growl rolled from his chest.
“I said let her go.”
“She stays where she wants to stay,” Rhaen replied.
For once, I appreciated the answer.
I pushed gently against Rhaen’s arm.
He released me immediately.
Zevran noticed.
His eyes narrowed.
I folded my arms across my chest. “Can somebody tell me why another Alpha walked into this house claiming I belong to him?”
“You don’t belong to me,” Zevran said.
That surprised me.
“But you are my mate.”
Kaelor laughed without humor. “That sounds better.”
Zevran ignored him.
“Show me your wrist.”
I instinctively covered the crescent mark.
“No.”
His expression changed.
Not anger.
Pain.
“I need to see it.”
“Why?”
“Because if I’m right, we have a much bigger problem than four Alphas fighting over one woman.”
Silence followed.
Four.
My stomach tightened.
“You already know?”
“I suspected.”
Kaelor stepped toward him. “You suspected what?”
Zevran looked at me.
“That she isn’t an ordinary wolf.”
Something cold moved through my body.
I remembered the ritual chamber.
Draven’s hands.
The symbols drawn around me.
The way he had whispered that I was worth more than an entire pack.
I had thought he was insane.
Now I wasn’t sure.
Slowly, I uncovered my wrist.
Three dark lines curved beneath the crescent mark.
Zevran stared at them.
Then he held out his hand.
“May I?”
The simple question unsettled me more than a demand would have.
I hesitated before placing my hand in his.
The second our skin touched, fire exploded through me.
I sucked in a breath.
Zevran’s fingers closed around mine.
His eyes flashed silver.
My wolf pressed forward.
Mine.
I pulled in a shaky breath.
The feeling was stronger than before.
It was frightening, but beneath the fear came something else.
Attraction.
Sharp and unwanted.
His thumb moved across my palm.
Barely a touch.
My breath caught anyway.
Zevran noticed.
So did the others.
Rhaen growled.
Kaelor muttered a curse.
Soren looked as if he wanted to punch someone.
Heat crawled up my neck.
“This is ridiculous,” I said.
Zevran still hadn’t released my hand.
“Do you feel the bond?”
“Yes.”
The word slipped out before I could stop it.
His jaw tightened.
Then pain tore through my wrist.
I cried out.
Zevran released me immediately.
Rhaen reached me first.
“Avelyn.”
“I’m fine.”
I wasn’t.
The crescent mark burned.
I watched in horror as another line slowly appeared beneath the first three.
Four.
Nobody spoke.
My chest tightened.
“No.”
Kaelor stared at the mark.
Soren’s face had gone pale.
Rhaen looked at Zevran.
“What is she?”
I stiffened.
“She has a name.”
Rhaen looked at me. “I know.”
“Then use it.”
Something softened in his face.
“Avelyn,” he corrected.
Zevran stepped closer but kept his distance.
“She’s Eclipseborn.”
The word meant nothing to me.
Kaelor clearly recognized it.
“That bloodline died centuries ago.”
“That is what we were told.”
I looked between them. “What does Eclipseborn mean?”
Zevran’s attention returned to me.
“Wolves born under a rare lunar convergence. Their bonds were different.”
“How different?”
“They could have more than one true mate.”
I looked down at the four lines.
My stomach dropped.
“No.”
Soren gave a quiet laugh. “That was my reaction too.”
I glared at him.
His mouth twitched despite the tension.
Somehow, that tiny bit of humor helped me breathe again.
Zevran continued. “The last known Eclipseborn woman was bonded to four Alpha wolves.”
I stared at him.
“What happened to her?”
Nobody answered.
Fear crept back into my chest.
“What happened?”
“She died,” Zevran finally said.
The room seemed to shrink.
“And the Alphas?”
“They died too.”
My throat tightened.
“All four?”
“Yes.”
I stepped away from them.
The attraction, the heat, the strange pull between us suddenly felt less romantic and more like a death sentence.
“I don’t want this.”
Rhaen moved toward me.
I raised one hand.
He stopped.
“I escaped one man trying to use me,” I said. “I am not going to become some prophecy for four more.”
“You’re not,” Rhaen said.
“How can you promise that?”
“Because whatever the bond says, you choose what happens next.”
I searched his face.
He meant it.
Some of the panic inside me eased.
Then Zevran said, “There’s something else.”
I closed my eyes.
“Of course there is.”
For the first time, his mouth almost curved.
Almost.
“What?”
“The Eclipseborn bloodline did not simply disappear.”
Kaelor’s expression sharpened.
“What are you saying?”
“I think someone destroyed it.”
A chill ran through me.
Zevran looked at my wrist.
“And whoever did it may know she survived.”
Draven’s face flashed through my mind.
I could almost smell the incense from the ritual chamber again.
“What if Draven knew?”
Zevran’s eyes hardened.
“He probably did.”
Disgust curled in my stomach.
For months I had believed Draven wanted me because he was obsessed with controlling me.
Maybe I had never been a woman to him at all.
Maybe I had been something valuable.
A key.
A weapon.
Rhaen noticed my expression.
His voice softened.
“He won’t touch you again.”
“You can’t know that.”
“No.”
He moved closer.
“But if he comes for you, he goes through us first.”
My eyes lifted to his.
Something warm moved through my chest.
Dangerous warmth.
His gaze dropped briefly to my lips.
The bond tightened.
My heartbeat changed.
I hated that he noticed.
I hated even more that Zevran noticed too.
His silver eyes darkened.
Jealousy.
A strange thrill traveled through me before common sense returned.
Four Alpha mates.
Four powerful wolves.
And apparently all four were capable of becoming possessive.
Perfect.
“I need air.”
Soren headed toward the door.
“I’ll come.”
“No.”
He stopped.
“I need five minutes without an Alpha following me.”
Kaelor raised an eyebrow.
“Only five?”
I almost smiled.
“Maybe ten.”
I walked outside before any of them could argue.
Cold air touched my burning skin.
The moon hung above the trees, pale and enormous.
For the first time all night, I breathed.
Then the door opened.
I turned.
Zevran stepped outside.
I stared at him.
“You have a strange understanding of the words leave me alone.”
“I’m not staying.”
“Good.”
He stopped several feet away.
Then his expression changed.
The teasing disappeared.
“Avelyn.”
Something in his voice made my stomach tighten.
“What?”
“When our hands touched, I felt more than the mating bond.”
I swallowed.
“What did you feel?”
His eyes shifted toward the dark forest.
“Someone searching for you.”
Fear crawled over my skin.
“Draven?”
“I don’t know.”
A howl suddenly echoed in the distance.
Zevran’s head snapped toward the trees.
Another howl answered.
Then another.
Rhaen burst through the door behind us.
“Inside. Now.”
“What is it?”
Kaelor appeared behind him.
His face was grim.
“Rogues crossed the northern boundary.”
My blood turned cold.
Soren stepped outside, holding something in his hand.
A piece of black cloth.
He handed it to Zevran.
A silver crescent had been stitched into the fabric.
Zevran went still.
“What?” I asked.
He looked at me.
For the first time since meeting him, I saw genuine fear in his eyes.
“They aren’t rogues.”
The howling grew closer.
“They came for you.”
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