The Game Of Quadruplet Mates
Chapter 41

When the door closes behind the Alpha, I replace myself running back to Konstantin's room, pushing open a door I suspected to be a bathroom, and going straight for the shower. I turned the shower to its hottest setting as I dove under the pelting rain of water without Using my nails, I digged deep and scraped at myself until I felt so raw that the water started to sting against my skin. But no matter what I did- no matter how much I scrubbed and clawed at myself, I still felt his tongue on me, his hands on me.

bothering to remove my clothes and started scrubbing my neck.

Time went on as I scrubbed at myself relentlessly, trying to feel a new sensation, even if it's pain, whatever it took just to get the feeling of the Alpha out of my neck. I didn't even know that I was crying until Konstantin, who had been in the bathroom with me all this time, closed the shower. It was still raining... until I realized it was only my tears spilling from my eyes.

He wraps me in a towel but doesn't say another word, merely standing with me. He didn't question me. It seemed this sight... this action is normal to him now.

My knees gave from under me as I sat on the floor of the bathroom, staring at nothing and thinking of nothing. I have heard of how vile and disgusting the city pack Alpha is, knowing of his sinister and malicious ways, but I never knew just how much until meeting him today. Most of my life Ajax was the monster. He was this evil, the nightmare that no one could fathom... but this city Alpha, made Ajax look like a saint. Today I learned just how awful and disgusting this man really is.

He doesn't even like me, didn't replace me attractive or anything of the sort, but he took one look at me and knew what would scare me the most, what would work on me the most. As if he could smell all my weaknesses and happily exploited them.

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Konstantin was an example of his many sins-just looking at Konstantin was a reminder of how badly things can go with the Alpha. In fact, all of the people I know are examples of the city pack's terror and I was his prisoner now. But I couldn't allow this.

I can't just be waiting here, knowing the city Alpha could come anytime to unleash his wrath.

"Are you okay, June?" Konstantin whispered quietly, his head down and staring at his hands.

Broken.

He was so broken.

And he's been experiencing this all his life, worse since the Games ended last week. He experienced all of the horrors of the world.

"What did she do to you?" I asked without looking at him. I didn't have to emphasize who she was.

He already knew, flinching at the mere mention of her. "Nothing."

His voice cracked.

Emotions spilling out with just a single word.

This time, I couldn't help but look at him. "Konstantin,"

He was sitting on the floor by the door, hunched over and trying to make himself as small as possible, with his crooked back and bowed head so low it was nearly touching the ground. His eyes were red from trying to keep from crying and he was shaking so much, almost rattling. "She took what she wanted like she always does. She has come to me every night since the Games and held me down on the bed while I cried. My parents were still there, rotting away while she took advantage of me. The first time was right after the Games, at the mansion. She dragged me to her room and made her servants watch as she forced me to my knees. I've... I've never touched her before-made sure I never did, but she commanded me to and she's been commanding me ever since. Is that enough for you? Because I don't want to talk about it anymore. I don't ever want to think about it anymore."

"I'm sorry." I replace myself saying, breathing hard at his revelation. "I'm sorry that happened and that no one could save you."

Konstantin finally looked up to meet my stare. "As selfish as I am with you, June, I'm happy you didn't end up with me. She would have ruined you too. They all would have."

There was relief in his eyes, relief for me and seeing this made me want to cry. "I told you. I told you that they wouldn't let you and I go. There was never going to be a far away place where they would free us. Stop clinging on to empty promises. It's never going to happen."

"If I don't cling to that then I'll be throwing myself off that balcony, June." He snapped, his teeth coming out. "I've tried to. I really did try to end my life just like Jeremy did all those years ago, but even that, even my own death, they stopped, keeping me alive like some pet... some toy that she can use every night. Don't you get it? I know it's not coming true. I know these are only empty promises. I know they won't let us go. I'm Cora's toy and you're the Alpha's toy. There's no escape but what can I do? I am going insane. You are the first person I saw in a week. All there was, was Cora. All there was, was terror for an entire week."

I can't blame him for this. He has been here for weeks, experiencing he l l. He must have been so alone, so helpless and so lost.

This promise was all he had to keep himself from going completely crazy.

My feet shook as I stood, but I pushed them forward, walking to where Konstantin was so I could sit beside him. "Are we just going to let them, Konstantin? Are we just going to wait here until they come back to hurt us more?"

"The Alpha and Cora have endless resources, June." He brought his hands to his face, burying his head there. "We would never get far. They would hunt us and do so much worse than what they've already done as punishment and I can't imagine what would be worse after this week. Especially when you're here. When they can use you to get to me... when... when he can do to you what I've seen him do to countless girls that were never the same after."

"We can't think like that." I urged him, trying to shake away the thoughts of what would happen to me. "You said it yourself. He's going to make me his new toy. I don't want to just sit here and wait for that. Let's fight. Let's try to get out of there. Please, Konstantin." He frowns at me, pushed over the edge by panic and fear. "Are you deaf? His guards are outside. Didn't you hear that part? And I'm no warrior like your mate or like Jeremy. We would never be able to fight his guards off. He'll be on us in an instant and the punishment will be severe."

I pushed away the terror and anxiousness of his words, keeping my thoughts straight and my breathing even. "If we get past the guards, do you know how to get out of here? Which direction to go?"

The slight hesitation of freedom flashes through his d e a d eyes. "I guess, but there's just woodlands for miles and miles. They'll outrun us."

My hand flies to my neck as I thought of Ajax. "What if I told you that Ajax and Jeremy are right outside the borders? What if I told you that all we have to do is get out of this building?"

"I'll say you're insane." But his eyes were already filled with hope.

Dangerous hope that made me smile. "Your Alpha rushed out of here earlier. He knows they're at his borders. He will be distracted. This is our time."

Konstantin hesitated, wrapping himself in his arms. "There's no way..."

"So you'll just let them ruin me?" I whispered, the words so small and so quiet. "You'll just let them do to me what they did to you?"

He didn't have to think. "No."

My hand shakes as I reach for him. "Then please help me get out of here. Let's both get out of here."

There must have been something in my eyes because as he stared into them, he nodded. "Okay."

Unable to stop myself, I replace myself embracing him tight. "Thank you, Konstantin. Thank you!"

"Don't thank me yet." He grumbles, swallowing hard as he pulled us up. "I'm not sure how successful this can be."

"Is there anyway out of here without anyone noticing?" I asked, following him out the bathroom.

"Only one." Konstantin walked back to the dining room, pushing through doors at the dark back that lead to the kitchen. It was thankfully empty, with no other person there. He stopped by a small metallic square in the corner of the room. My eyes widened. "Is that silver?"

"Yes." He took a pot holder from the countertop and used it to push open the hatch made of pure silver. Even with a thick pot holder, his hand seemed to sizzle. "It's a garbage chute, leading directly to the sewers, but the drop is... long. We're on the fiftieth floor and the sewers are further down than the underground garage."

I leaned closer, ducking my head through the opened hatch as I saw the smallest space possible... all surrounded by even more silver. I hadn't touched it yet but my skin felt like it was burning for real now. "How do you know about this?"

Something about my question makes his face full with regret, with shame. "Jeremy. I used to follow him to see where he went. He was always in the sewers to hide from his mother."

I can't imagine a young Jeremy hiding from his own mother.

Konstantin gestures to the small silver box. He could barely fit in it. "We would have to wear the thickest of coats to keep the burn of the silver to a minimum, but not enough coats that we can't fit through."

Without anything to protect his hands, he touched the walls of silver and instantly the flesh melted away from his body. I watched in horror as I saw his hands nearly to the bone. "We will need gloves."

"No gloves." He says with a shake of his head. "You'll slide right down and believe me, you won't survive the fall. You will need to use our hands to for us stick to the walls."

The only time I have ever truly felt silver directly on my skin was the knife at the Games used to mark my finger and it was just mere seconds, but it was already the most painful thing I've ever experienced. Now, we were about to slide down the longest garbage chute made completely of silver. "Okay. Let's get the coats."

Konstantin and I shared a look before rushing back to his room. He took two winter coats out of the biggest closet that I had ever seen in my life and helped me with them. It was far too big for me, but it would surely help keep the silver at the minimum. "Why is it made of silver?" I asked as we made it back to the kitchens, fully wrapped, but I knew it would do very little to protect us.

"To keep desperate prisoners and slaves from using it to escape. The Alpha wanted whoever thought of using it to be burned to a crisp, a death by our worst weakness." And we were about to do it. "I'll go first so you know what to do."

I nodded, watching him zip up his own coat- it was thinner than mine because he was bigger than me and could barely fit the chute already. He would burn more. He made sure his neck was fully covered before touching the silver.

The smell of burnt flesh was instantaneous and the sounds of something sizzling nearly made me stop him, but he continued, fully putting himself inside before using his gnarled hands to slide down slowly.

There wasn't even blood anymore.

The silver dried it easily.

When Konstantin disappeared, I braced myself for the worst, following behind him as I touched the silver. My skin came off instantly, worse than a flame could ever do, and I nearly let out a scream. Unlike Konstantin, I whimpered and shook, sniffling as the pain shot up and down my body. I felt like butter melting and melting from the intensity of the silver.

I didn't take Konstantin to have a high pain tolerance but after his week of hell, I'm sure burning himself to silver is the least of his concerns.

Braving it, I mounted the garbage chute and slipped myself through it. The coat did not help at all, incubating a searing heat that burned my insides.

"You okay?" I heard Konstantin ask from below me.

I saw him between my arms as I looked down, his face slick with sweat. "Yes."

He knew I wasn't, as he looked up at me. "Okay. Now start to slowly slide down. We have to be quiet. These are thin and anyone using the garbage chute or just working in the kitchens will hear us."

I nodded, blinking away tears.

We went painfully slowly, painfully the main word to that. It was excruciating. The pain is so intense that I cannot think of anything else and just when I thought I would be numb of it, the pain just got even worse as time went on.

"We're on the fortieth floor now." Konstantin tells me quietly, passing by another hatch opening.

That's when we start hearing something.

Something slides through the chute. We both looked up to see a giant plastic bag falling from above us. "Move!"

I stuck to the walls, pressing my back completely on the silver, my head burning from the contact as I tried to split my legs and arms to let the plastic bag through. Whatever was in the bag was sharp, like an opened can as it sliced through my arms and face, but with Konstantin much bigger than me, it fell completely on his head, cutting his scalp and cutting through his coat, exposing more skin.

This time, when he let out a yelp, it was loud enough that the hatch nearest to us opened. A face pops through the opening, revealing a city pack member.

Konstantin and I stared at him for a good minute, holding our breaths and not moving a muscle. To our dread, the man looks down, seeing us instantly. "There's someone at the garbage chute!"

"DROP DOWN!" Konstantin bellows as he tucks his arms and legs and starts to fall down the chute so quickly he vanishes into the darkness.

I do the same, feeling gravity do the work for me as I dropped through this tiny tube of d e at h. I couldn't breathe, feeling the air leave my lungs because of how quickly I was falling.

"Hold!" I heard something like a suction form below me and I blindly followed Konstantin's instructions, sticking my hands and feet out. The burn of the silver only doubled as my hands tried to skid me to a stop. "Now drop again."

I tucked myself once more, tears spilling from my eyes as the pain started to make me feel lightheaded.

And then the pain stops as I'm suspended in the air, the silver walls gone until I'm thrown down on some sticky water that catches my fall. I'm submerged in it, nearly drowning in this foul smelling water.

A hand takes mine, forcing me back on my feet. "Hurry! They're coming!"

It was Konstantin, drenched in the sludge of the sewers and bleeding in so many places I could hardly recognize him.

And yet again I blindly followed, my breathing heavy as I heard thunderous footsteps behind us. I ran as fast as I could, removing the heavy coat that had absorbed too much of the sewer water.

Konstantin does the same, removing his coat and revealing skin so red and so burnt, I lose my breath. I still couldn't breathe, my lungs not having enough air, but I pushed and I pushed and I pushed until everything was blurry.

The silver has weakened us, the burns itself hurting us even more, but we still didn't stop even if everything in our bodies told us to.

"It's okay. We're almost to the end." Konstantin urged, taking my arm and pulling me forward.

But the sticky sludge of the sewers kept our feet sticky, the deep water making it hard to run on, but we couldn't stop, not when they sounded so close.

And then, just as we were about to take a turn, a pair of guards appeared, towering over Konstantin and I. They must have come from one of the street drainage, because they were crisp clean.

"Hello, Beta. The Alpha is expecting you."

Konstantin pushes me back. "Get behind me, June."

"There's no escape. We have you surrounded." The guards pointed behind us and true enough, our assailants had caught up.

In a last desperate attempt to save us, Konstantin shifts into his wolf, but he's so battered, so bruised and weak that his wolf can barely stand on its own. He snarled all the same, standing in front of me and growling at the guards that circled around us. The other shifted too and they all aimed for Konstantin, jumping at him, teeth and claws and all.

I watched it all happen, my lips parted as I was shoved to the wall. They were tearing him apart, pulling fur and skin and limbs.

The dark sewer water turned red with his blood and something about this shakes me, really shakes me and before I know what's happening, something inside me takes over and my body bursts, exploding until I am a wolf, snarling back at them. Energy surged through my body like nothing before. I have shifted only three times in my life, but it was never like this.

It was always painful, never rejuvenating.

I do not know what I'm doing or how I'm doing it, but I leapt through the air, jumping to stand over a battered Konstantin. He had shifted back into his human form, his form utterly unidentifiable.

The city pack guards launched themselves at me and I truly was no match, but I was doing damage, biting and clawing, letting my instincts and wolf take over and for a while, I was winning.

Until more and more of the guards came, overwhelming me. It was thirty to one and I had already brought down five by sheer luck, but their numbers doubled and doubled until the sewers were filled with them, cornering me to a wall while I dragged Konstantin behind me.

This was it.

We were dying here.

My wolf did her best to bring as many city pack members as she could with us to our deaths but we were completely overrun and were quickly losing.

And then, just as I thought it was over, a howl so powerful that it shook the walls came.

Three large wolves came from nowhere, running through the throng of city pack guards, leaving only blood in their wake, and one of those wolves had amber eyes that found me easily.

Ajax...

He has found me.