The Mage and Her Men

Chapter 4

QUINN

I felt like the earth should open up and swallow me up as the lady's dark brown eyes bore into mine. For a split second, I glimpsed a flicker of disdain in her eyes but it soon disappeared as she smiled.

"Babe!" She called out.

Babe? Alpha Caspian had a girlfriend or was she his mate? Bloody hell! What had I done? And why did he touch me when he had a mate? Did he just cheat on her with me?

Shit! This wasn't the wildness I was talking about. I quickly recoiled out of his arms as the lady made to hug him. Even as Caspian hugged her, his eyes were still trained on me and a mischievous smirk curled up his lips.

He must feel satisfied that he used me now. So much for being wild. I chided myself as I walked stealthily to the door, and I was about to open it when the lady's voice stopped me.

"Babe, who is she?" she asked.

Wait a minute? She wasn't angry that her boyfriend cheated on her? What the hell was going on in this pack? I slowly turned to look at them.

"She was brought in yesterday by Xavier," he explained.

"Hmm. Xavier sure has a good taste. She's hot,” she replied.

"That's why I f*****g want her. A threesome sounds fun, right?"

A soft gasp tore out of me as I listened to their conversation. Threesome? What the heck were they talking about in my presence? What exactly did this man take me for?

I wanted to speak when the lady approached me with a smile. "I'm Cora,” she said. "You?"

"I'm Quinn,” I replied as I took her hands in a handshake.

The moment our hands made contact, I felt a tiny buzz in my head, and for a second, it felt like the world came tumbling down and crashing. My head was spinning as I struggled to remain focused. I felt an odd energy exude out of her, but I couldn't comprehend what it was.

"Are you okay?" Her voice jolted me out of my subconscious state.

I was huffing and puffing when I got myself. "Sorry, I feel a bit sick."

"It's alright. Anyway, there's a masked ball later this evening. The maids will come to your room and dress you up. See you later!" she said to me.

I took a deep breath of relief as I left the room. What was that strong energy that exuded from Cora back inside? Why did I always feel weird after touching people in this pack?

Different thoughts competed for attention in my mind even after I had settled in my room. Everything that happened afterward seemed hazy in my memory because soon, it was evening and about four maids entered my room to dress me up.

***

"Thank you so much," I told the maids as they left.

I picked up the mask on the bed and went to check out my look in the full-length mirror. I almost screamed in shock at my reflection. All my life, I had never dressed up this way since it would only make my pack members detest me more.

My dress was a long black number and it had glittery gold highlights all over it. My fingers played along the seam line but a noise soon distracted me and I caught the reflection of a mask in the mirror.

It was that same man with the black attire from earlier and he was staring at me like he had something to say. I turned sharply to look at him properly, but he whirled past me like a gust of air, leaving the door slightly ajar.

How could anyone be so extraordinarily fast?

Clutching the bodice of my dress, I traced his scent which still lingered in the air. As I approached the staircase, his scent grew stronger and I quickly doubled up the stairs when I noticed a door that was slightly open.

I was about to go inside when a strong hand suddenly grabbed my wrist, spun me around, and pinned me against the wall. I slowly raised my head to look at the man and I could immediately tell he was another of the triplets, Alpha Hector. He had a frosty look on his face.

My heart shot to my mouth when he brought out a knife from his pocket and pinned it to my neck. "Who the hell are you? And how did you manage to open the pack's secret armory room?"

My panic gripped me as I racked my brain for the right thing to say. Should I just tell him that I saw a masked man in my room and then I followed him down here?

"You can't tell him about the masked man!" Aurora, my wolf screamed in my head.

I suddenly felt an indescribable urge to protect the masked man. The connection I felt to him was too strong. Maybe he could be the answer to the weird feeling I’d been having.

"Speak!" he bellowed and a chill rippled down my spine.

I cleared my throat awkwardly and said the only reasonable thing that came to mind. "I…I thought it was my room."

A sinister smile crawled up his handsome features. "I could just cut off your throat and tell everyone I thought you were an assassin, right?"

From the look on his face, I knew he could do it. "I'm telling the truth. I lost my…"

"What’s the problem?" a voice asked from behind me.

It was Alpha Xavier.

Oh, thank goodness, I thought, sighing in relief as I bowed curtly to greet him.

He pulled me to his side and regarded Hector with a raised brow. "What's going on?'

Hector squinted his eyes at me, then at his brother. "I caught this lady opening the secret armory room."

"She's new here, so I doubt she even knows what room it is." He turned to face me. "Did you see someone going in?"

My breath caught in my throat and I swallowed hard in my throat. "I didn't see anyone. I thought the room was mine."

Hector still looked skeptical, looking like he didn't believe what I said but he let it pass anyway and smiled. "I'm Alpha Hector and I'm guessing you're the little princess from the Blood Moon pack." He extended his hands and I took it.

His eyes raked over my dress and settled back at my cleavage. I cleared my throat as I felt my cheeks go red. Why were all three of them like this? I quickly withdrew my hands.

***

A few minutes later, I was walking into the ballroom with Xavier's arms around my waist. He introduced me to many guests and then the music started to play.

Suddenly, someone yanked Xavier's hands away from my waist. It was Alpha Caspian and he had a murderous glint in his eyes.

He trained his eyes on me. "May I have a dance with you, little princess?"

I was at a loss for what to say, and then Xavier quickly stood in front of me. "As you can see, brother, we were just having a dance."

Caspian's gaze went dark. "Why do you sound like she belongs to you? Seems like you're forgetting that she was brought here as a repayment for the debt owed to our pack."

"I brought her here!" Xavier growled, refusing to back down.

Caspian bared his teeth, revealing his canines. "She belongs to me since I'm the most senior Alpha. I have to finish what I started with her, and you have no right to stop me."

Their voices were loud enough to attract everyone's attention. I felt extremely uncomfortable listening to them and dizziness suddenly slammed into my guts. I felt a spasm of pain jab at my head as I staggered backward.

Just as I was about to hit the floor, strong arms wrapped around my waist, and their scent wafted into my nostrils. My wolf perked up immediately. The scent was intoxicating and I instantly knew who it belonged to.

The masked man from earlier.

I suddenly felt my body become lighter and it felt as though I had teleported out of the ballroom. I was in a dark room and the thick stench of blood hung in the air. A voice drew my attention.

Caspian.

He had a bloodied knife in his hand, and he was holding it against a man lying lifeless on the ground. The man's eyes suddenly fluttered open and it looked exactly like Xavier's, only it was a darker shade of green.

The pain subsided and I snapped out of the trance, and then I recoiled out of his arms. As I opened my mouth to thank him and get a proper look at his face, something totally unexpected happened.

"Mate!" The words tumbled out of my mouth, shocking me and everyone present.