The "Boy" Mated to Five

Chapter 4

Two months into my new life as a servant and the punishments had gotten worse.

Much worse.

Fresh scars laid over old ones as my back ached. I had received so many beatings now…I knew it was only because I had my wolf why I had lived through all of them.

My hands shook as I scrubbed the main hall floors when the front doors burst open. Heavy boots stomped across my freshly cleaned marble, and I looked up at whoever was tracking mud through the pack house.

I would be quickly blamed and punished again if anyone saw it.

Fear raced through me.

I moved to clean up the tracks when I saw who it was.

Ethan.

My older brother.

He was standing there wearing his military academy uniform. His eyes swept the hall until they found me. I watched as his eyes widened as he took me in.

I knew what he saw.

Small, frail, dressed in the servant's brown clothing, with a scrub brush in hand, I was a sad sight.

"What the hell is this?" His voice was deadly quiet.

I slowly got to my feet, wincing slightly as the movement. I watched as his eyes continued scanning me from head to toe.

Gone was the bright, energetic sister he'd left behind months ago. In her place stood a hollow eyed girl who'd learned to make herself invisible.

"Ethan," I breathed. "You're home."

"Explain. Now." He crossed the space between us in three strides, his hands gentle as they cupped my face, his eyes cataloging every change. "What happened to you?"

Before I could answer, Alpha Thorick's voice boomed from the top of the grand staircase.

"Ethan Greene. Welcome home." The Alpha descended slowly, his expression carefully neutral. "I see you've encountered our newest servant."

"Servant?" Ethan's voice dropped to a growl that would have made our mother proud. "This is my sister. The Beta's daughter,” he said as if the Alpha needed a reminder.

He was playing with fire, I knew, but internally I felt relieved that he seemed to be on my side.

"Was the Beta's daughter," Alpha Thorick corrected. "She's been stripped of her rank for her cowardice resulting in the death of our Luna."

The temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees.

"Cowardice?" He turned to me, his eyes searching mine. "Elara, tell me what happened."

My throat felt raw as I recounted the rogue attack, our Luna’s sacrifice, her orders to run for help. Ethan listened without interruption, his expression growing darker with each word.

"So you followed a direct order from our Luna," he said when I finished. "And for that, they demoted you to servant?"

"She abandoned my mother to save herself," came a new voice. Silas appeared at the top of the stairs, his face hard. "Your sister is a coward, Ethan."

The change in my brother was instantaneous. Military training kicked in as he moved up the stairs faster than human speed, grabbing Silas by the throat and slamming him against the wall.

"Guards!" Alpha Thorick roared, his voice shaking the rafters.

Heavy footsteps thundered from multiple directions as pack warriors rushed toward the staircase, but Ethan didn't release his grip.

"Say that again," Ethan snarled, his voice deadly soft. "I dare you."

"Stand down, Ethan Greene!" Alpha Thorick's command crashed through the hall like a physical force. "Release my son this instant or face execution for treason!"

The guards reached the stairs, weapons drawn, but they hesitated slightly. Ethan was no ordinary pack member, not only was he the Beta’s son, but he was highly trained and stronger than most.

"Your sister," Silas choked out, "ran while my mother died."

Ethan's grip tightened, completely ignoring the weapons aimed at him. "My sister followed orders. Something you'd understand if you had any tactical training whatsoever. A messenger's job is to carry information, not to die uselessly in battle."

"She could have fought—"

"Against three rogues?" Ethan's laugh was harsh. "She would have died, and then your mother would have died trying to protect a corpse. At least this way, help was coming."

"But it was too late," Silas whispered.

"That’s not Elara’s fault," Ethan replied coldly, still not loosening his grip despite the death sentence hanging over his head.

"You have three seconds to release my son," Alpha Thorick snarled, his aura pressing down like a crushing weight, "or these walls will be painted with your blood."

"Ethan, stop!" I cried. "Please stop before they kill you!"

“The Luna should have been properly protected,” Ethan seethed.

The accusation hung in the air like a physical thing. Silas's face went white, and the tension in the room reached a breaking point.

"How dare you," Alpha Thorick's voice was barely controlled rage. "RELEASE HIM NOW!"

Ethan slowly loosened his grip.

Every guard had their weapon bearing down at him, waiting for their Alpha's word to end his life.

"How dare you come into my house," Alpha Thorick continued, his voice shaking with anger, "assault my son, and accuse me of failing my mate?"

Ethan turned to face the Alpha, warriors still trained on him from all sides.. "I'm not accusing you. I'm stating facts. Why is it that only the Luna had come to find Elara? How did she end up facing those rogues on her own?"

"You forget yourself, boy," Alpha Thorick snarled, stepping closer, his Alpha aura pressing down like a crushing weight. "I am your Alpha."

"You are not my alpha," Ethan snarled.

The words echoed in the sudden silence.

His eyes narrowed at the Alpha. "I serve the Lycan King now.”

Ethan glanced at me. "And I've seen enough to know that this pack is rotting from the inside out."

Father chose that moment to appear, drawn by the shouting. When he saw Ethan defending me, his face twisted with anger.

"Ethan, what are you doing?” he said as his eyes took me in. “This disgrace of a girl has brought shame on our family—"

"That girl is my sister," Ethan cut him off. "And you're no father of mine if you can't see what they've done to her."

Father's face went purple. "I forbid you to—"

"You forbid nothing," Ethan said coldly. "I'm taking her with me when I leave."

"You can't," Alpha Thorick interjected. "She's bound to this pack as an Omega Servant. She has duties—"

"Then I challenge that ruling," Ethan growled.

The Alpha's eyes narrowed. "You would challenge me for a servant?"

"I would challenge anyone for my sister."

The standoff stretched for long moments.

Finally, Alpha Thorick spoke."If you take her, you both will be rogues. Enemies on sight."

"Better rogues than cowards," Ethan replied, pulling me closer to him protectively.

The Alpha snarled at us but I felt a stinging pain within me as the pack bonds broke.Gone was the faint link that had remained since the day I had been stripped of everything.

Now there was just complete and utter silence.

And after all that had happened, there was nothing more peaceful.

~0~

As we left the pack house, my few possessions bundled in a cloth bag, I caught a strange scent clinging to Ethan's uniform. I filed it away as something to ask about later.

We shifted into our wolf forms at the edge of the pack grounds.

Ethan's massive brown wolf was easily twice the size of my smaller frame.

The journey to the border took a few hours of steady running. We passed the crystal stream where I'd learned to fish, the training grounds where I'd first shifted, the meadow where the Luna used to gather herbs.

Each landmark a final farewell to what used to be my favorite place in the world but which had now become a painful memory.

Ethan stayed close, matching his pace to mine despite his longer legs. Occasionally he would brush against my shoulder with his muzzle, a gesture of comfort that reminded me I wasn't alone anymore.

.

When we finally reached the pack border marked by ancient stones, we shifted back to human form.

I mentioned what had been gnawing at me. “I know everything happened so fast, but I think we should go back for Finn.” The thought that our father would take out his anger on him because we had cut ties with the pack worried me.

Ethan looked away into the distance. “I thought of it,” he admitted. “But going back now when we’re considered rogues by the pack, would be dangerous.”

I bit my lip, tears welling in my eyes as guilt tore at me. “We shouldn’t have left him,” I said.

Ethan ran a hand through his hair. “I know Elara. But we can’t go back now.” He looked away. “Besides Finn is all father has left now. He’ll be okay. He is the last remaining heir after all.”

I nodded. He was right. With Finn being the only heir, father wouldn’t dare to harm him now.

I still felt guilty for abandoning him, but couldn’t help the relief flowing through me that this chaos might have actually led to his protection.

"Where are we going?" I asked, glancing at the stone markers that had defined my world for so long.

Their weathered surfaces were carved with the Red Moon Pack's symbol.

Beyond them lay the vast wilderness, endless forest stretching toward distant mountains. The air smelled different here, wilder, carrying scents of unknown territories and freedom on the cooling breeze.

Ethan smiled for the first time since his return.

"Somewhere you’ll be safe,” he replied, his smile growing.

For the first time in months, I felt a sensation other than despair

I felt hope.

But as our journey continued, the relief of being freed wore off.

I felt the itch of the scars on my back from the beatings I’d received. The scars would never fully disappear thanks to the silver they’d used to make sure I would always carry the mark of my punishments.

More and more rage spread through me as I thought of the horrific things I had endured all because they blamed me for something I couldn’t control.

I hated them.

I hated them for everything they had done to me.

And I would make them pay for it all.