The Game Of Quadruplet Mates
Chapter 35

I know how this can cause significant distress. I've tried to reduce this as much as I can. It's just one line.

Thank you and be safe.

Jeremy, Age 16 (Ajax is 21)

"Have you heard of this monster everyone is talking about?"

My eyes fluttered open, blinking away the sleep from my eyes. I sat up, repressing a yawn as I edged towards the door of my makeshift room. School was just about to start and crowds of students rushed towards their classrooms. The perks of living in school meant I never had to rush, I could take my time and wake up a few minutes before the bell.

I stretch, my limbs hitting the four walls surrounding me. The small storage unit I call home used to fit me easily, but each year there was another inch of space lost to my growing body.

But I would gladly take that rather than live with... them.

Her.

And her new life.

"Yeah. He's a killer. I heard he likes to burn bodies and rip people's heads off. It's super brutal. The pictures of his victims are everywhere."

I've heard of this 'monster' too. He came out of nowhere with his name unknown, his origins a mystery and no one has lived long enough to give a description of him. All that is known is he's a he.

Rumors ranged from a real actual monster, to a rogue trying to make a name for himself.

Whatever he is, the reports about him are gruesome.

And if I had the luxury of being afraid, I would be frightened like all the rest.

But how could I be afraid of that when the real danger was already with me?

"He has a particular taste for people from the city. So far, all his victims are from the city pack. He watches from the borders, always waiting."

Everyone shuddered but leaned in to hear more. I leaned in as well, pressing my ear to the door, wanting to know more. It's not as though I had friends to learn this from. The helpers hated me for being from the city and the city despised me for being a half blood. So I had no one.

I was alone.

"I heard a man patrolling the borders encountered him. The monster came from the shadows and the patrol was found an hour later with a hole in his chest, his heart gone as if it had been punched out of him."

There were a lot of these. Patrols missing from the borders and found again with either their bodies burned, head decapitated or missing a body part or two. The worst of this was that the body parts always turn up later. Sometimes in the mail or on top of someone's bed or the most recent screamer; in our food.

I was there when a teacher opened his lunch box to replace broken fingers in them.

They were fingers of a patrol in the borders but the school was at the heart of the city pack.

It scarred half the school and everyone was sent home.

No one could catch him. I doubt they know where to start. He's a shadow, untraceable.

And he worked alone.

At least, that's what people theorize.

How else could a group slip past the patrols?

Normally, people would feel better knowing there's only one, but this was not the case for this man.

"The body parts never come back whole. There's always a piece missing. What do you think he does with it?"

Many think he's from the city pack, one of our own that turned into a mass murderer, but it truly was just a mystery and it's been happening for a while now.

The Alpha can't seem to do anything about it.

"Eat it, of course. He's a monster."

Monster.

I know what monsters look like and unless he looks anything like my mother, then I doubt he is.

Waiting for all of the students to go inside their rooms, I pushed open the small door of the storage and slipped out into the hallway. I wouldn't really go to school if I had a choice, but the Alpha required it, for no blood of his would ever be stupid. It already looked bad on him to have a half breed as a nephew, he didn't need me to be illiterate too.

Suddenly, I'm shoved to the ground, a foot kicking me on the back.

"You know the city pack would be perfect if we didn't have such filth crawling out of the sewers like this." Konstantin stared down at me with a smile so broad it must hurt him. He was always on the hunt for me, always ready to show everyone his dominance. Konstantin is dressed to impress as always, looking like it took a dozen helpers to dress him. His clothes are made of the finest fabric, his perfume imported, his shoes foreign and his entire ensemble worth at least ten farm packs. Maybe more. Perks of being the son of the wealthiest family. In the city pack, wealth meant power and he was the most powerful. "I mean it just looks bad, doesn't it? All of us here, pure and perfect, and then Jeremy comes in with his dirty blood."

His words would hurt more if he didn't repeat them five times a day. I've now grown accustomed to his harsh words and even harsher treatment, like it was nothing.

I was ready to walk away, tired and just ready to let things go, when she appeared from the opposite side of the hallway.

For where Konstantin was, she followed.

Much like her father, the smell of money turns her on.

"His life is sad enough." Cora cuts in, ever present wherever Konstantin was. She stuck to him like glue, desperate for his attention. Exactly like Konstantin, my cousin is dressed as though she's ready for a grand party, her chin always up and her eyes always sharp. "I mean who would live in an old supply closet? Does your mommy not want you home?"

Always the mother.

Cora and Konstantin loved to hit where they knew it would hurt, where they knew it bled the most.

They were both surrounded by their little army of minions who hackled at everything they said. Their eyes all held that same cruelty, that same hatred.

Sometimes I wonder; what did I ever do?

What did I possibly do for them to be like this? Did I want to be born? Did I want any of this? They act as if I chose to be here.

I kept to myself. I avoided them as much as possible but they always sought me out like vultures ready to feast on me.

Konstantin grabs me by the shirt, acting big and mighty. "You're a mistake. Remember that, pretty boy."

I merely stared at him, unmoved.

My silence angers him as he shakes me. "How does it feel to be a child of r a p e? How does it feel that your entire existence is disgusting? If I were you, I would already throw myself off a building- oh wait. You already did that. And more."

I pressed my lips thin, covering the scars of failed attempts at taking my own life. I want to defend myself. That my mother was never raped. She was a spoiled brat that wanted to have fun at the Games and took a particular liking to a farm boy. But I stayed quiet. Defending myself wouldn't do anything.

What did they expect from me? What else did they want? Haven't I gone through enough? Shouldn't I have a moment of peace? Just once? I take bullshit from everyone every single day.

The Alpha relentlessly pushes me to do better, to represent him well, and when I do this, Cora and Konstantin jump to the attack every time, offended that I have to be in their presence and that I was better than them because Goddess help them if they're stuck with a one. For I am still a one and everyone here kills ones. Konstantin, in particular, has been forced to train with me, to spar with me, our skills pitted against each other. I was his personal punching bag, which unfortunately hit back. Because I was told to.

Because the Alpha loved seeing two kids fight and bleed, trying to win his affection the most.

Only I didn't even want it.

Not anymore.

I have already gone down that path, trying to be the perfect son for my mother, trying to show her that even if she didn't want me, I could be the son she's proud of. I have followed everything they've ever asked of me. The Alpha enjoyed himself as he toyed with a little boy desperate for affection.

All I ever got in return was even more hate.

From everyone.

I was too good? I cheated.

I was bad? I'm a disgrace.

But today, I was just over it. I was done with it all. "Your mouth is full of s h i t, Konstant- s h i t. Leave me alone."

That does it.

His eyes darken, enraged and before I know if, he tackles me to the ground, hitting me with all he's got.

I hate to be like them. I hate to act high and mighty because rank is meaningless to me, especially when it isn't earned, but I do it anyway because I know it's a sore subject. Because if there's one thing Konstaint hates, it is the reminder that even if I am only half of him, I am still better. "Angry that you can't hurt me? Angry that your punches are weak? You've always been s h it, low blood. All you have is money, but not skills. You'll never be better than me. You remember that."

He wanted to remind me that I was a mistake? Then I'll gladly remind him that this mistake is better than he ever will be.

Grinning, I easily tossed him to the side, his body thrown against the wall. He gasps, growling and seething as he tries to get himself up, but I'm on him, my own anger taking over me as I start kicking and clawing and punching.

There was just so much hatred.

So much pent up anger in me.

And when I looked up to see my reflection on the marble tile floor, seeing the blood on my face and the crazed expression, it scared me.

For I have become what the Alpha has always wanted.

To be like him.

I step back, panic rising in my veins. Konstantin was groaning, clutching himself and all the people he called friends could only stare in horror as I walked past, pushing my way through. I've always known what I'm capable of, but I hate using it, especially when I know it pleases the Alpha.

My uncle.

I don't go to class like I should have, hiding in the boiler room of the school. I tucked myself between steaming machines, holding myself tight as I waited for the worst.

Konstantin always cried.

He would demand his father to come and get him.

And then the worst would come for me.

His father will demand my mother.

The last thing she wants is to be summoned for me, her mistake, which is exactly why Konstantin does it. He knows how cruel she can be when punishing me. When we were younger, he would a bus e it, forcing his dotting father to call her for every mistake I did and she would come.

And then she punishes me like a pig she's willing to slaughter and she does it in front of everyone, unafraid to show everyone just how disgusted she was with me. She beats me bloody, using her claws or anything she can get her hands on, and every time, she will remind me of how I ruined her life.

On and on and on.

So I knew what was coming when the door to the boiler room opened and she appeared. We looked alike, which she hates. Blonde hair, nearly platinum and those bright blue eyes that everyone valued. She was pretty, the most gorgeous. Everyone says so. Except now.

When she looked like the monster in every single one of my nightmares.

"What did you do?" She said through her gritted sharp teeth.

Behind her, the door was left open and I saw an innocent looking Konstantin smirking at me as he watched on.

The blue of her eyes was gone, replaced by this darkness- this evil. "What did I tell you about calling me? Associating me with your disgustingness?"

I tried to make myself smaller, to inch away from her. "I didn't call. I swear."

She grabs me by the neck, her claws squeezing the air out of me, her nails embedding into my skin. "You're a disgrace. A pitiful reminder of a mistake that shouldn't be. Why can't you just d i e already? Haven't I prayed enough for that? Shouldn't the Goddess grant me my wish?"

I don't fight her. How could I?

She's my mother.

Something about this makes her even more angry as she shoves me into the boiler, burning my skin as she holds me there. I sizzled like meat as I cried out, but she only held me there with a mere frown on her face.

When that didn't satisfy her, she takes a steel pipe from the floor and starts hitting me with it, over and over. I would like to think that after years of this, I would be numb to everything but it just hurt so much. Tears spilled from my eyes and this yet again further angers my mother.

"Do you know who they're making Beta?" She growls, kicking me to the wall. "As if you haven't done enough for my image."

I didn't get to reply from all the screaming that I was doing.

"Answer me!" She hit me harder, lifting me by the shirt once more to press me against the hot metal. "I said, do you know who they're making Beta?"

"N-no." I said as my skin burned off.

"Konstantin! They're making him Beta. Over you!" My mother had a deranged look about her. "It was supposed to be yours! All yours for the taking! But they gave it to him. Are you happy now? You're always making a fool out of me, you ungrateful brat. Why can't you just d i e?!"

The Beta position was all she had ever asked of me since I could understand her. I always thought that if I did become a Beta, she would finally be proud of me.

It was my one redemption. A rank. A position. Our bloodline would be secure.

But of course I didn't get it.

I never get anything.

"Tell me who my father is. Tell me where I can replace him" I whimpered, hopeful of a life away from this. Now that I had lost the one thing she hoped for, I was useless. "You don't want me but maybe... maybe he can take me."

A guttural laugh left her lips. "Your father? We killed him. He's gone. Much like I hope you would be."

Hope was dangerous.

Hope was a weakness.

I think I started crying even louder after that. I always wondered... I always hoped that I had someone out there.

Anyone.

She smiled, the look of her so monstrous that I couldn't breathe. "Poor farm folk are easily dealt with, you know. They disappear and no one bothers to replace them. He dared touch an Alpha's daughter. Filth touching me?"

Anyone?

Someone? Please?

"I should have gotten an abortion. I should have clawed you out when I had the chance." She says tiredly, dropping the pipe and pushing me to the ground as she stared down at me. "Tell me you're sorry."

I blinked up at her. "What did I do?"

"You were born."

I don't remember what happened next but I passed out from the pain and was left alone. No one came for me. No one ever did.

When I finally woke, I limped out of there. I do not know where I was headed exactly, but I did know what I wanted, what I had been trying for so long, and now that I know how completely alone I was in the world, I was ready for it all to end.

I did not stop walking as I went past the border, never being stopped by any of the patrols. They were probably happy to see me go as well. I was dirty blood after all... the mistake, the reminder of me was a nuisance.

And when I was deep enough in the woods, I sat, screaming. "I'm from the city pack! Blood of the Alpha courses through my veins. Kill me like you've taken everyone else. I know you're here. Be done with me."

I waited and at first there was nothing.

There was only silence.

But I stayed there, down on my knees with no tears left to shed, no thoughts left to think, nothing.

There was nothing left.

Doesn't this monster that they speak of smell blood? I was drenched in it, boiled and fried and bleeding.

And then he appeared.

He was a man so tall he nearly touched the trees, his arms were large and wide, his body taut like a deadly weapon on its own. He was marred with sickening looking scars, his tanned skin having more scars than without. I had never quite seen anyone like this before and his eyes, they were of this deep amber that looked... soulless.

I know hatred when I see it. Because I had the same look.

I knew it was him instantly, for the air was thick with the smell of death, his dangerous presence nearly sucking the air out of my lungs. The surroundings suddenly seemed to quiet at his arrival, the world itself knowing who he was and what he could do. Nothing moved.

Not even the breeze blew.

I was afraid of him. That feeling was instant. For he was a man that could inflict pain. I know this by just looking at him.

But I've already dabbled with monsters before.

And I just want it to be over.

Permanently.

I do not linger any longer. "Kill me. Please."

The man frowned, his amber eyes ever watchful."What?"

"Kill me. I'm tired of living." I said, my eyes to his. Hatred to hatred. "I know you loath the city. And I'm here. The Alpha is my uncle. I have his blood in me. You want him, right? That's what you're here for? This is the closest you'll ever get. So kill me. Take my head. Take anything. Just kill me."

My eyes fluttered close, waiting. I expected it to be quick but I stayed there, kneeling in front of this man until I couldn't help but look up at him after the seconds ticked on.

He was staring at me, his bright amber eyes in deep contemplation and just when I think he's about to do it, to end me, to give me that pleasure of d e a t h, he reaches his hand out for me to take.

"You're not alone anymore." He said, his voice devoid of any emotion, but his eyes said all the emotion for him. "Come with me."

No. This is not what I came here for.

I wanted to argue.

I wanted to fight.

I just wanted to die.

But something in this man's eyes promised salvation, giving me a taste of that dangerous hope yet again.

Before I know what I'm doing, I take his hand and he pulls me up to stand beside him.

"Let's take you home." The monster says, nodding to me with a respect that I did not know could exist.

And as I followed this man, I never knew anything else after that. I would follow him to the ends of the earth. Forever.

Because he was my hope now.