The Game Of Quadruplet Mates
Chapter 33

My father and Ajax spoke for a very long time. They both stared out the lake and at one point, I went out to give them both a cup of hot tea. It was getting cold and the two of them didn't look to be moving any time soon.

Ajax touches my cheek, a look of adoration on his face, while my father places a kiss on top of my head.

With a smile, I leave them again to get ready for the night. A lot has changed in our house and I had to navigate through it. Apart from the excessive amount of pillows and blankets and couches, the entire kitchen- we never had a kitchen before- was fully stocked with food and equipment that I wasn't familiar with. We used to have just a small fire with a pot boiling over it. Now it has handles and weird metallic things. In the bathroom, the floors are tiled and heated, a light hanging over the ceiling. Instead of the usual bucket and pitcher to scoop water, there was an operating shower that sprayed fresh hot water.

When I'm done with my shower, I replace my room and see how even that has changed. My bed has been upgraded from a hay bale with a cloth on top of it to a beautiful mattress with sheets that shined. There was yet again a crazy amount of pillows that I know Ajax personally ordered for me.

Thinking about what I should wear, I opened the newly added closet and was surprised to replace so many clothes. Some sparkled, some gleamed, some were cotton and some were lace. There was an outfit for every season and every weather. I haven't seen so many clothes in my life and I think with this many, I would never have to repeat a single one of them.

I picked out a simple dress for the night; plain white that fell a little over my knees, satin with a low neckline but covered everything that needed to be covered. It was elegant and graceful and not at all like I was showing off.

With the way people from my old pack stared at me, the last thing I wanted was to rub my luck in their faces. I didn't do anything with my hair or my face, partly because I didn't know how to and mostly because I wasn't in the Games anymore. I was home. I wanted to be the June that everyone knows.

When the sun set in the sky, my father and Ajax went back inside the house. They weren't smiling like one would hope after a long chat like what they had, but the two weren't frowning either. For both of them, that was a big improvement.

Ajax wasn't exactly the most charming person and my father often kept quiet, so their combination of personalities isn't the sunniest.

But the fact that they can be around each other now is heart warming.

"It's time." My father says, smiling as he replaces me tucked comfortably in blankets on the couch. "I hear everything is ready for you."

I don't think I'll ever get used to this.

Before, no one really cared about what I did or if I was late for things. I was invisible even in my own pack. They saw me as a girl that was abandoned and was only found by a man who was as invisible as I was. And now things are prepared for us, waiting for us.

"Shouldn't you two get ready?" I asked, feeling silly with my clothes since they're both casually dressed. At least, my father was.

"This is a celebration for you, hun. Not for us." My father answers for both of them. "And truth be told, I'm still not used to having this much clean water available. We used to shower once a week. If that." Resources, including water, are scarce but with Ajax's people here, little by little, things were getting better. For everyone. I even saw his people trying to test the water in the lake, studying how they can treat it.

I remember the days where we had to choose if the water we had was for drinking or showering. How rain, as rare as it was, was a time for everyone to come out to wash their dishes and shower at the same. Seeing my father now, in our house that's so well equipped with everything he could ever want- provided by my caring mate, I can't help but smile happily.

"You look beautiful." Ajax whispered quietly as we left the house. His eyes were a bright gold in the moonlight and it was the most breathtaking sight.

I can count on one hand how many times I've been called beautiful before, but with Ajax and the way he looked at me with such emotion, with such love, he made it more real. Like I really was beautiful. In every way.

My hand takes his, holding him tight and feeling the warmth of him. There was a fluttering in my chest as I held him and I brought his hand to where my heart was beating like crazy. Without words, because I cannot replace the right one to explain what I was feeling, I hope he understood just how much he meant to me.

Not just for what he's done for me recently.

But for the little boy that chose me over himself.

The little boy who has nothing but did everything he could for me.

I was never alone. Before and now. I had him and he had me.

It was us.

The answer to all the questions.

Ajax wraps an arm around my shoulders, bringing me impossibly closer, and presses a kiss against the side of my face.

"You have all of me." He says into the kiss as if sensing my thoughts. "Forever."

My chest felt so full like it might explode and all I could do was hold him to me, interlacing our fingers and placing a kiss on the back of his hand.

When I looked up, my eyes saw blue ones and I physically felt like someone punched the air out of my lungs as I had locked gazes with Jeremy, who was standing by the trees.

Agonizing seconds passed before the intensity of the stare broke, for his bright blue eyes blinked, and blinked again. And then... water fell from those eyes, tears falling down the side of his. He quickly wipes it away, pretending as though nothing had happened. "The coast is clear, Alpha." Jeremy says stiffly, his voice cracking.

He can't leave but he wants to.

His duty was to protect me and he was stuck here.

With us.

I can't look away from him, sucked into this despair and dread. My mark burned with such blinding pain and intensity that it took me a while to realize that this pain that I was feeling was Jeremy's. I was feeling his pain through the mark that wasn't even his. We were mates.

Fated mates.

And this moment only proved that.

I flinched away, shuddering with self loathing.

"Walk with me Jeremy." My father suddenly spoke up. "I want to know more about your time in the city pack."

When Jeremy looked away from me to go to my father, I felt like I could finally breathe. I dare not look at Ajax, but I could feel the way his muscles hardened, the tense way he walked that he saw what had happened between his Beta and I. But how do I explain such a thing?

What words could I possibly use to tell him about this?

That Jeremy and I are destined to be together? That his beloved Beta and I were everything we promised to each other?

One heart.

One flesh.

One soul.

As my mark burned, as my heart ripped itself apart and as something inside of me scream e d, I couldn't bring myself to say this, to admit this, because I had chosen Ajax and he chose me, yet everything in me says otherwise. It wasn't like this before.

But Jeremy's emotions were spilling through my mark like a tornado that swept me away and I was powerless.

I can't do this to Ajax. Not after everything he's done.

This will ruin him.

And it will kill Jeremy.

I didn't even get to appreciate the beauty of the special celebration for me because all I could think about was my mark, which made me breathe heavily. But I forced myself out of it, looking at my surroundings and desperately holding onto my mate. Everyone was here. Everyone from our tiny little pack came, sitting in chairs as they inspected the beauty of the transformed place we called home.

For seventeen years, I have never thought of our pack as beautiful. But today, it was more than just beautiful. It was our home transformed into the fairytale gardens of the Games. Twinkling lights were floating above long wooden tables that were set in this rustic decor of greens and whites. Vines that weren't there before fell from tree branches while white petal roses dusted the floor. The plates were ornate, the utensils gold, and the glasses were crystal.

Ajax spared no expense, creating a little paradise in our barren land.

But my mate has shut himself off. With no emotion at all, he walked towards the front of the celebration like he was the most powerful being of all of us and felt no need to pretend otherwise. His head was up, a frown in place, his jaw clenched. He looked every bit as powerful and monstrous as his reputation promised.

Upon our entrance, the faces of awe and amazement turned tense and uneasy.

I knew why. Ajax has always been the star of the stories told to my pack late at night when our elders tried to scare us. He was the man we whispered about with terror and now he was here, walking through the place where we once spoke of him.

The scars on his arms, on his neck and face only seemed to reinforce this notion of him. This nightmare of the nameless Alpha.

They looked at me differently too.

Like they didn't know what to make of me.

But I saw the astonishment and curiosity, the way they looked at my dress, at my body that wasn't as malnourished as before.

They were in disbelief, unable to understand.

I was supposed to be dead in their minds.

Desperate to show that Ajax wasn't just some monster, I wrapped him in an embrace, ignoring the burn of my mark, and the way the blue eyes seemed to follow my every move. Ajax's steel expression breaks at the sudden display of affection and just when I think he's going to push me away, he chuckles lowly, tugging me even closer to him and brushing my hair back.

This stunned the crowd. Their whispers combined were loud enough to be shouts.

But Ajax ignores this, his hands possessively on me as he took us to the vacant seats at the front.

My old Alpha greets us there, he bows his head forward, a guarded and hesitant look in his eyes. Larissa was behind him, urging the Alpha forward. "Alpha Ajax, I formally welcome you to our humble pack."

Ajax doesn't move at first, merely tipping his head in acknowledgement.

"We are forever grateful for your help these past few days." It took a lot for my old Alpha to say this, his pride a bit bruised but he has always been polite and fair. "It's good to have you here with our June. We missed her dearly."

As the old Alpha glances at me, I can tell he's also relieved I had all my limbs still, but also, there was a hint of pride in his eyes. He is proud of me. And it's all because I was a lost cause for him originally. He was worried. He did his best to get me that bolt of silk. Ajax surprises me by stepping forward, one hand wrapped around my waist while the other reaches for the old Alpha's hand. "Thank you for keeping my June safe and giving her a home."

His tone wasn't as friendly as it should be, but knowing my mate, this was already a miracle. I wasn't even expecting him to speak.

My old Alpha seemed to be just as surprised as I was, the mutual respect shining through both Alphas as they shook hands.

They would never be friends.

But they would be allies in some way.

"June's old home will be provided for." Ajax continued, before turning away to sit at the head of the table, bringing me along with him. "You have my word."

We sit in our respective chairs but Ajax grabs the one I'm sitting on, a few inches away from him, and deletes all the space between us by dragging me towards him until we are pressed up close.

His hand is on my thigh, he leans towards me, his lips grazing my ear. "Hungry?"

"Famished." Somehow, I feel like we weren't talking about food.

Ajax's glances behind me and in perfect sync, mountains and mountains of food are placed down on our tables. From the front, to the back, everyone had something. I could barely see anyone through the tall piles of roasted chickens, beef and pork. Along the long tables were hundreds of plates filled with lamb chops, different kinds of sausages wrapped in bacon, thick tender steaks and large pies the size of my face. Bowls of buttery dinner rolls, sliced fruit of every kind and so many mashed potatoes that were swimming in gravy. There were mushrooms and carrots and peas and salads. Everything was here.

And I could only stare at it with wonder as I heard the gasps of surprise, the shrill of excitement from my old pack that immediately dug in.

It wasn't like the Assembly, where it was elegant and beautiful and perfectly decorated. Here it was like magic, appearing out of nowhere and suddenly there was a feast that could feed us for years.

I remember the one time this happened to us when someone from our pack was chosen by a relative of another relative of an even more distant relative of a Beta, but even that wasn't as big as this. Nothing can compare to this. Maybe not even the Assembly. My eyes replace the dessert first almost instantly, blocks of brownies and cakes and ice cream of every flavor, heaps of donuts and jams and candied fruit, pudding and jellies and finally, chocolates.

I replace my hand going for that first, my fingers automatically replaceing the milk chocolate. Gravity seemed to pull my eyes across the table where my father sat with Jeremy. The blue eyes of the Beta replace mine just as I replace his, and as my eyes look at his hands, I see him clutching a bar of white chocolate.

His favorite.

My heart swooped low, remembering us in the deep part of the gardens in the Assembly and, like I had been burned, I quickly let go of the chocolate in my hands, turning away to take a chicken leg instead. But I couldn't shake his stare. It was ever present. Ever following.

I stuffed my mouth with food to keep my thoughts away from where they shouldn't be.

My fingers latched onto Ajax's hand that was on my thighs and, for a moment, I could finally breathe.

Ajax.

My Ajax.

The amber eyes of my mate gleamed at me and I smiled, remembering how strong and handsome and mine he was. Only mine.

Us.

Like I want it to be.

But it felt like gravity was really against me because it didn't take long for me to look back at Jeremy. Only this time, he's with a girl. One of the pretty ones from our pack, unmated and eager for the attention of an unmated Beta. She's talking to him, handing him a drink and fluttering her eyelashes.

I knew it was wrong and I didn't even want to feel anything about it. In fact, I should have been happy that he had someone, but instead I was hurt as the girl got closer and Jeremy didn't lean away.

He smiled, his bright blue eyes sucking the girl in.

He was beautiful.

The kind of man that could get anything he wants with a simple smile.

The expression on the girl's face was horribly familiar. For that was me. That love sick expression was mine not a few days ago when I thought it was us.

I closed my eyes, trying to ignore all of this, but it felt like my heart and my soul were at war with each other. The soul winning despite how hard the heart fought.

My hand to my neck, I sat quietly, peacefully, but there was no quiet nor peace in her heart.

And it only got worse when a familiar figure walked into the celebration. With his arm very much broken and his smile just as vile as it was before, Pete strode forward like he was the King and we were his subjects. "I heard there was a party."