Chapter 4 Chapter 4
MIRA
The scent of roasted meats and spiced wine filled the air. Laughter echoed through the grand hall, rising with the music and crashing against the stone walls like waves. Men in fine suits, women in shimmering gowns—the whole pack had come to celebrate Alpha Darius’s birthday.
I stood at the edge of it all, balancing a silver tray against my hip. My borrowed dress itched, and the cheap shoes bit into my heels, but I didn’t complain. I didn’t speak unless spoken to. My job tonight was to serve. To be invisible.
I kept my head down and moved through the crowd like smoke. Faces blurred. Voices melted. I barely heard them. I only listened for three things — Zane’s laugh, Luca’s voice, Jax’s footsteps.
But I hadn’t seen them. Not yet.
Maybe they’d forgotten me. Or maybe the gods were done playing cruel games.
A heavy silence rolled through the hall as Alpha Darius rose from his throne-like chair at the head of the room. The music cut off. Even the chatter stilled.
He raised his glass. “Another year older,” he said, voice rich with that theatrical pride all Alphas wore like a crown. “Another year stronger.”
The pack roared in response.
His smile dropped and turned colder. “But strength means little without legacy. Without an heir.”
I froze, tray balanced midair.
Alpha Darius’s gaze slid over the room, slow, calculating, hungry. And then it landed on me.
I didn’t breathe.
For a second, it was like being skinned alive. That look. I remembered it. From the woods. From before the red moon. He had given me away with that same cold look.
His eyes didn’t stay long. But it was enough to make it feel like I couldn’t breathe.
“The one who gives me an heir,” Darius continued, “will become my successor. The next Alpha of the Firestorm Pack.”
The crowd murmured. The triplets had always been equally ranked. No one knew who he favored.
From a velvet-lined box, Alpha Darius pulled out something. A stone. Black at first glance, but when he held it up to the chandelier light, it shimmered with moonlight. Pale silver veins ran through it like it was alive.
The Moonstone.
I backed away instinctively, almost tripping over my own feet.
“This stone,” Darius said, “will reveal their fated mates. The women the goddess has chosen to carry the next Alpha’s bloodline.”
I didn’t know where to look. My heart beat louder than the silence.
He turned to his sons. Zane, with his ever-charming smile. Luca, quiet and unreadable. Jax, sharp and still like a loaded weapon.
They stepped forward. Each touched the stone.
Nothing.
And then—
A sharp, unnatural pull twisted in my chest.
I gasped.
The Moonstone pulsed in Darius’s hand, glowing bright and white. The crowd broke into gasps. Whispers. Shuffling feet.
Someone said my name.
I was still holding the tray. My hands trembled. The drinks rattled.
Alpha Darius turned back to me.
His smile was like a death sentence.
“Well,” he said slowly. “Looks like fate has a sense of humor.”
Everyone turned.
Eyes. So many eyes.
Triplet sons of the Alpha. Three mates. One girl.
Me.
“No,” I whispered, stepping back.
But it was too late. They stared at me like I was some miracle. Or maybe a curse.
Zane’s brows rose in disbelief. Luca blinked slowly, almost stunned. Jax’s lips parted, but no words came. Their eyes all fixed on me—and I hated it. I hated the way they looked at me like I was theirs already.
My grip slipped.
The tray crashed to the floor, shattering glasses.
I turned and ran.
Skirts tangled in my legs. People gasped as I shoved past them. My breath came fast, too fast. I didn’t know where I was going—just away, away, away.
But I didn’t make it.
A hand clamped around my wrist. Another around my waist. I was dragged backward, my feet scraping stone.
“No—please—” I thrashed. “Let me go!”
Fingers bit into my arms as they hauled me back into the center of the room. My legs kicked wildly, breath hitching in panic.
My eyes found Alpha Darius.
He was already walking toward me.
Tall. Calm. Amused.
The crowd parted like sea around him.
Tears stung my eyes as he stopped in front of me, his shadow swallowing me whole. My body trembled uncontrollably.
“Is this how you show gratitude?” Darius asked, voice smooth like oil and just as choking. “Three sons. Three mates. A gift from the goddess herself.”
“I’m not—this isn’t—” My voice cracked. “I didn’t ask for this.”
He leaned in, his hand gripping my chin hard enough to hurt. “You should be happy, girl. Any other wolf or human would be.”
My stomach twisted.
“But if this is how you act,” he went on, louder now for the room to hear, “then I can’t allow you to roam freely.”
Silence.
He turned to his sons. “She’ll be moved into your quarters. She is not to leave until one of you has bred her. Or all of you, if the goddess wills it.”
I choked on my breath.
The room spun.
He released me, and I stumbled back a step, then turned to the triplets for one last hope. One last prayer.
But none of them moved.
Zane tilted his head, almost curious. Luca’s mouth curled into something unreadable. Jax looked like he was trying not to smile.
They said nothing.
They did nothing.
They were happy.
———-
I was dragged through the halls like a prize animal.
The stone beneath my feet blurred into a smear of cold and heat. My throat was raw from sobbing. No one looked at me. No one helped. Just whispered. Watched. Congratulated.
The room was large. A single bed. A heavy oak door that clicked shut the moment I was thrown in.
It locked.
The sound of the bolt made my stomach drop and I sank to the floor, panting. Chest tight, body shaking.
This couldn’t be real.
I was supposed to avoid them. Stay quiet. Keep my head down and serve drinks. That was all.
Not this.
Not this.
I crawled to the bed eventually. Curled into the corner and stared at the door until my eyes burned. Time moved too slow—minutes, hours—I didn’t know.
Until I heard it.
A key in the lock.
I sat up, heart jumping to my throat. The door creaked open. Then clicked shut again and the scent of wine and woodsmoke filled the room.
Footsteps.
They were in.
Zane moved first. His shirt was undone at the collar. His cheeks flushed with drink. Luca came in second, silent, watching. Jax last, closing the door behind them with a soft thud.
The lock turned.
Zane stepped in first.
His eyes met mine, with that calm softness as he took a step forward. “You don’t have to be scared,” he said, shutting the door behind him. “We’re not going to hurt you.”
Luca slipped in behind him with a crooked grin, his eyes dragging over me like he’d been waiting for this moment. “She always runs when we get too close,” he said, like it amused him.
Jax came in last.
He didn’t speak. He just turned the lock again with a slow, quiet motion and leaned against the door, arms folded. Watching. Blocking the only way out.
I backed up until my spine hit the headboard.
“You were always running,” Zane said softly, like it hurt him a little. “Back at the house. At school. Every time I looked at you… you’d disappear.”
“Always pretending you didn’t feel it,” Luca added, stepping closer. “But we know you did. You still do, don’t you?”
“Don’t,” I breathed, throat tightening. “Don’t come near me.”
Luca raised a brow. “What, scared we’ll bite?”
I flinched, and Zane’s expression shifted, almost apologetic. But he didn’t stop moving.
“Mira,” he said gently, “you know the Moonstone doesn’t lie. We’re bonded. Fated. It chose you for us.”
Chosen.
As if I had any choice.
Luca dropped onto the edge of the bed, his tone lighter now. “You’ve got three mates, sweetheart. That’s lucky, isn’t it?”
I stared at them, at all of them crowding the room now. Blocking the door. Their eyes on me like I was something already theirs.
“No more running,” Luca murmured. “You’re home now.”
My pulse skittered. The window rattled. I could feel myself slipping, sinking into that place I’ve been trying for weeks so hard to climb out of.
It was happening again.
The locked door. The eyes. The pull I couldn’t escape.
Only this time, they weren’t chasing me through the woods.
They’d caught me.
And they weren’t letting go.