The Game Of Quadruplet Mates
Chapter 42

Ajax

I was going to kill everyone.

That, I was absolutely sure of.

I would leave no one alive. Absolutely no one. The whole pack deserved to burn to the ground. No one deserves to survive. I will make sure of that.

This man, this Alpha, took the lives of my pack, stole everyone from my life and killed them in front of me. He left nothing, ruining everything. He continues to do this to who he considers weak, exploiting and enjoying every second of it. Now, he has my mate and he touched her.

Licked her.

On my mark.

There was no going back from this. Everyone was going to die.

In my rage, I did not notice Jeremy and June's father on the ground. There is obviously a discovery happening between them, but I'm filled with so much rage that I barely gave them much attention but they were embracing each other tightly. Of course, Jeremy would charm June's father. Not only was he June's destined mate, he also had her father captivated by him and I should be mad. I should be offended that June's father prefers him over me, but I only felt relief.

Jeremy has never had anyone in his life. He shared a few times with me- on those rare occasions when he felt safe enough to speak about his past, that he had no family-considered no one that shared his blood as his own. Because the family he was born with hated him, mistreated him and I know it is much worse than he lets on. I see the suffering under those bright blue eyes that tried to smile through everything and I cannot forget the way I found him all those years ago. Beaten. Blood. An inch away from death but kept alive all the same to do it all over again.

Despite how many times he tried to say it wasn't that bad, I knew better.

I knew him.

His life has not been the easiest. Even the guards stationed at the border during my time scoping the city pack spoke of Jeremy. He was a popular topic within the patrols, talking about how he was a disgrace, everyone laughing at his tainted blood like it was an inside joke. They laughed when they spoke of how his mother beat him in public, how the Alpha keeps him close like a little pet forced to follow him around. For no particular reason. Just a power trip.

My Beta is just another victim in the city pack's long list.

Looking at Jeremy now, safe from the clutches of his family and hugging June's father, who I consider the kindest man alive, I feel happy for him. He deserves to feel love.

Because even if it was just a short time, I had a good family and I knew what it was like to be loved by them, to be well taken care of and to be in a warm embrace. Jeremy never had that. Not even as a baby. So as much as I should feel jealous that June's father, like everyone else, likes him more, I hope they become closer.

If there's one man that can show Jeremy what a proper parent is like, it would be him.

I did not interrupt them, allowing them this time as I sent orders to my awaiting army. As I do this, I remember the night the city pack came to us, the darkness, the silence before everything exploded, the ground shaking, the smoke that burned our lungs, the howls and laugher that were everywhere and then... the scream s, the horrible screams that I still have nightmares of even after so many years.

And then I remember the blood that seemed to never stop, bodies falling everywhere as every single one of my pack died.

My eyes focus on the city pack in the distance and as I take a deep breath, I know what must be done.

I continue to send orders to my people, keeping myself busy, that is until Jeremy starts shaking from behind me.

"Jeremy?" June's father had my Beta in his arms as he tried to calm him. "Is it her? What's happening?"

Jeremy had his eyes wide open staring at the sky as his body convulsed, a hand to his neck, the other holding his heart. He was blinking back tears. June.

Something was happening to June.

Something bad.

I quickly ran over to him in panic. "What's happening? Is that bastard touching her? Is June okay?"

He shook his head, his nails to his skin as if he was getting burned. "N-no. I don't understand but she's in so much pain. Everywhere. It's everywhere. All over me."

My panic rises and I do not replace much comfort in the fact that June wasn't being touched by the Alpha.

"Try to relax." June's father instructed gently, but I could also see how hard he was trying to calm himself, the worry for his daughter evident. "You're feeling her pain. Why? Try to understand what is making her feel that way."

Jeremy closes his eyes, his lips pressed thin. Suddenly, he lets out a horrible yelp, clutching his hands together as they shook uncontrollably before managing to sit up as a revelation comes to him. "She's in the garbage chute! It's made of silver. June's willingly burning herself."

My chest tightens incredibly and I replace that I cannot breathe anymore. "How do you know? Why is she there?"

Jeremy forces himself back on his feet. "Because I used to go down that same chute... to go to the sewers to hide from my mother. June is escaping. She found a way out. We have to go now."

"Lead the way." I commanded, the panic and worry coursing through my body blinding me from everything else.

My Beta braces himself against a tree, sucking in air as he tries his best to keep himself upright, "If the traitors you burned weren't lying and she really is at Konstantin's home, that means June is at least fifty floors up. When I did it, I only came from the underground parking. That's only one floor down from the sewers. I slid down from it easily but June is doing fifty."

Such a brave girl, but obviously something set her off for her to resort to this. "We must hurry. Take us to the sewers. The one that connects to the chute she's going down on."

Jeremy didn't have to be told twice. I shifted back into my wolf form as I watched my Beta and June's father do the same and very quickly we started racing through the woodlands. From my peripheral, I see Jeremy jump slightly in his step from time to time, an invisible pain shocking him from the insides. He looked like he was running with his paws on fire and I know it was because of June.

Oh, June.

My mate. I'm coming.

Hold on.

Please.

Jeremy wasn't running directly to the city pack borders, instead taking us to the edge, near a bay, where the ocean slightly caves into the land, making a small coast- and from what I can see, the city pack uses it to expel their trash and waste into the sea. A large circular hole in a concrete wall was gushing out the blackest water I've ever seen. There were bags and bags of trash in the flow of the water that joined the sea as well as some other discarded things.

An intense smell came from this black water of sewer sludge polluting the blue sea, the waters mixing in a disgusting way. It was sour, putrid and rotted, the smell knocking the breath out of my lungs with each inhale I took.

Jeremy jumps into the water, turning his light haired wolf to black in an instant, the sticky sludge soaking him completely. I followed behind him without hesitation and swam to the hole. We fight against the current with a lot of difficulty because of the constant bags of trash that smash against us. We hoisted ourselves through, walking against the flow of rushing sewer water.

Behind us, June's father struggled against the current and by using my mouth, I bit down the fur on his back and pulled him towards us. Jeremy was whimpering, his body now fully convulsing.

'Something's very wrong. He whispers in my mind and with Jeremy not being the best at keeping his feelings to himself, I start to feel the waves of pain that came from him- from June. It was intense, the burning of her skin constant, but it wasn't just that. There was her heartbeat, palpitating through her connection to Jeremy. She was in so much pain but also so very afraid. Enclosed in this tight little space that suffocated her- I would never be able to fit in, she slid down, her skin burning off from contact, but she pushed herself, blinking away tears.

And then I realized she was trying to run away from something.

'She's been found! They're coming for her!' I shouted through the mind link, running forward as fast as I could. I didn't know where I was going, but using Jeremy's connection to June, I used this to guide me to her.

He was whimpering loudly behind me and yelping even louder when June drops from the garbage chute and starts running.

I'm coming, June.

I'm here for you.

Almost there.

I didn't wait if Jeremy and June's father were following, using all of me to track her through the sewers and trying my best to ignore the smell that plagued my nostrils. When I heard the snarling in the distance, I pushed myself harder, forcing my legs further until it was so close that I could finally catch her scent without Jeremy's help.

There was a fight happening and I cannot think, I cannot breathe. I can't do anything but run and pray that she's okay, that she's unharmed.

I let out a howl, signaling to Jeremy and June's father that we were close as my insides twisted with rage.

And then I saw them, hundreds of city pack guards crowding a corner. I couldn't see June through the thick mass of wolves that surrounded her, but I know she's there because I could feel her. I know she's close. That's her. Somewhere here.

Immediately, I bulldozed through the crowd, ripping through fur and flesh and limbs with my teeth and claws. I left no one alive, aiming for their necks and other vulnerable parts as I cleared a path, taking down ten at a time. Bodies and bodies fell as I passed, but that's when I saw her.

June.

As a wolf.

For a while, I think I stopped moving and breathing altogether because I had never seen her as a wolf before and she was easily the most breathtaking wolf I've ever seen. The most beautiful without a doubt.

Gold. She looked golden, shining bright in the dark sewer. Slender with legs so long, June's wolf had a distinctive gold hue for a thick coat and her eyes were dark, sharp and calculating despite how overrun she was. June stood strong and proud, unbending as she fought off the wolves that came for her and she looked so strong, so fierce... a matchless Luna. Perfect and beautiful.

She looked up, replaceing me easily, and when our eyes locked, the world around me froze, blurring away until I could only see her. I knew then that she had chosen me because, even with Jeremy near, she only stared at me.

And the relief that filled those beautiful eyes at the sight of me made the tightness in my chest ease for the first time since I lost her.

Finding strength in this, I continued to fight, taking out the wolves closest to her easily, carving through their numbers until none stood alive, only a pile of bodies in their wake. I was drenched in sewer water and blood as I watched the bodies get pushed away by the current, leaving body parts in their wake.

That's when I noticed that she was standing over a body... an unconscious body that she was protecting.

It didn't take me a while to realize it was Konstantin and when I saw he was still breathing, I remembered how she had been left to him to be r a p e d and I quickly launched myself at the city pack Beta, meaning to kill him, but June's wolf stepped forward, growling low.

The sight of my mate protecting another man nearly set me off completely and I all but growled back, but I didn't, barring my teeth instead.

My mate did not move as I had hoped, staying where she was and standing her ground. Shifting right now would be a sign of weakness, a sign that I was bowing down and I did it anyway, allowing my human form to take over.

"June," I said, missing her greatly but not allowing this to pass, not allowing him alive. "Let me kill him."

She snarls, jaw snapping ferociously.

"He touched you." I snapped back, losing patience as I saw her hovering over the city pack Beta. "How could you protect him from me?"

June shakes her head and I realize that she does not know how to speak, how to use the mind link or how to shift back when adrenaline was coursing through her body. 'June,' I tried again, reaching out to her wolf.

Her eyes widened, having heard me, but she still hadn't spoken, attempting to figure out how it works.

'I can't keep him alive. He's the Beta and he touched you-'I don't get to finish my words because June's mind explodes with everything that has happened to her since our separation. How she was watching me leave to calm myself down and her picking up pieces of fabric on the floor, hugging them close. I see the way June's guards came for her, telling her that I ordered them to take June back home only to drug her. I see through her eyes how she woke up in Konstantin's bed, how her nose and throat hurt until he appeared through the door. He did not touch her. He never touched her and I saw how the Alpha came, how he licked June and how horrified Konstantin looked beside her as he shook with fright. I saw the way he showed June the way to escape, how he went first and how he kept her safe from the city pack guards when they came for her.

And I knew I was not winning this one.

That I was not going to be allowed near Konstantin until I swore to never hurt him.

My mate has spoken and I can't fight her about it.

"Okay. I swear." I whispered and she instantly relaxed, slumping against the wall, utterly exhausted and spent.

I resisted the urge to kick Konstantin in the face as I approached my mate, reaching for her and feeling the softness of her fur. Her skin was burnt underneath, the silver still evident even in her wolf form, and as she breathed heavily, I took her in my arms. I didn't care about Konstantin anymore, not when I had June safely in my arms again.

Her wolf whimpered at me, the softest breath before closing her eyes and her body slowly shifted back to her human form, having passed out.

In human form, the bruises and burns she sustained from the silver were much worse than I had expected. Her skin was either blistered or burnt off fully, leaving only red flesh. It's a miracle she stayed awake... stayed alive for this long as I held her to my chest. Jeremy was watching this all from the side, swallowing hard as he tried to see her better. He was still shaking from worry, but he never once took a step closer to be able to see her better, doing his best to give us space, respecting our mating over his own. So I brought her to him, keeping her naked body pressed against me and making sure nothing could be seen, but I let him see that his fated mate was safe and sound... that she was here with us now.

He didn't touch her, but he did look at me in appreciation, giving his quiet thanks.

"Take Konstantin back with us." I gestured to the floating body. "June will look for him the moment she wakes."

Jeremy hesitated, jaw clenched. "He didn't harm her? He didn't..."

I shook my head, pulling June even closer to me: "No. He saved her."

Jeremy looked surprised at this, his eyes glancing towards the man in question. They had a long history between them that I will never understand but I knew with one look that Jeremy had found respect for his enemy.

And it was likely that they might even be friends after they have both healed from whatever horror they had faced in the past.