The Game Of Quadruplet Mates
(Bk 2) Chapter 8

We stayed in the water until it was dark, swimming and drinking and laughing as our glasses were refilled over and over again. It never seemed to end. Nothing seemed to dry out.

Nothing seemed to break this perfection.

The night was lit only by the stars and the crescent moon, the lanterns that floated in the water and the mansion that glowed in the distance, placing us in this unimaginable land. Music was still playing from somewhere, matching the push and pull of the water. It was breathtakingly beautiful tonight, the heavens clearing the sky just for us.

I was starting to feel the rest of my anxiousness for the week slip away. At least, only a little bit.

With Miss A and Miss E, it felt like the pressure about this entire choosing was merely a bonus in this otherwise perfect getaway.

And it wasn't all about fun too. I got to meet more people, got introduced to potentials that A swears have good background but then again... how could she know?

None of us knew who anyone was.

The only one I truly knew was O.

But O is something else entirely.

He was near us but he was quiet and kept to himself, drinking with a few other guys. I caught his eye a few times only for him to look away. I tried to call him and swim closer but he would only laugh louder at whatever the guy he was talking to said and swam further away from me.

So I gave him space and stuck close with Miss A and Miss E instead.

"My parents want this to work out." I told A as we floated around the beautifully lit lanterns. "For me to give it a chance. To come home with someone."

She was on her back, looking at the stars. "Everyone's parents want this to work. This is what can make or break your future after all."

"I just don't think a week of this...?" I gestured to us, swimming with a drink in our hands and then towards the mansion. "Can work? I mean I don't know anything about anyone."

She lets out a small laugh. "That's the point, you let emotions decide this time."

I could only shake my head. "But I don't do that."

"You will this time." She says wisely and carefully. "You just have to trust your heart."

I nodded, understanding what she meant but hesitating all the same. "Did you ever come close to choosing someone?"

"No. The guy I like..." She trailed off, looking as though she was in another place, another time. "He was never in the Games the same time I was and he's just, he's just not right for me. He's all kinds of messy and wrong." "But you like him?" I whispered, as if asking about some secret that no one else could know.

"I do." She smiled to herself before taking a long drink of her drink. "The thing about following our hearts... sometimes, it means breaking it a few times."

I didn't miss the way she said it. How it's still in the present. How her feelings haven't changed.

It was beautiful and sad at the same time.

"Well, I hope you replace the one." I said honestly, wanting the best for her. "You know, someone gorgeous, wealthy, titled, fairly funny, smart but not smarter than you, and of course, basically a God." She whirled to face me, surprised. "You remembered."

I shrugged. "How else am I going to help you replace the one?"

She took my hand then, squeezing it tight. "We'll both replace it. You, in particular, will replace someone absolutely obsessed with you. I'm sure."

"Girls!" Miss E hollered from near the shore. "We have to get ready for dinner!"

The first dinner is always in the gardens and every year there's always a different theme. From the invitation that we got, it said the first night's theme was woodlands. Something with leaves or flowers.

I didn't really know what my dress was, it's the Alpha and Luna's job to choose and allocate the clothes for their attendees. Our bags are packed and ready for us when we leave for the Games, the contents a surprise when we arrive. "Is your Alpha kind?" Miss A asks me as we swim to shore.

I tried to picture my Alpha. "I suppose."

"I hope they give you good things." She says quietly, "Some of the attendees aren't as lucky sometimes."

She didn't have to specify.

I could imagine what she meant.

"What about your Alpha?" I asked, finally able to stand, my feet touching the ground.

"Oh, the kindest." She looked happy to talk about him. "He's nice to all of us."

With the water only over our ankles and the chill of the wind making us shudder, I was surprised to replace my guard waiting for me. And it was only him. Miss A's guard was nowhere in sight.

He held out a thick blanket in his arms, the shadows hiding everything else about him.

As I take it from him, I wish I could see his face. The hand holding out the blanket was white and fisted, the veins on his arms showing from how tight he was gripping.

Instead of giving me the blanket, my guard wraps it around me, standing close and making sure everything is covered.

"It's cold tonight." He whispered under his breath, low enough that Miss A couldn't hear clearly.

He stood to his full height, glancing at me for a moment, our eyes meeting. I felt something strange rush through me when I looked at him- of what I could see of him, but he nodded and was moving before I could figure out what it was. "Only for her, huh?" Miss A spoke up, joking. "I never get lucky with guards-"

"Miss X,"

The three of us turned to face the voice that spoke, only to replace O hesitating near the tree line.

Miss A glanced between the two of us, her sharp eyes studying us closely. "I'll... see you later, X."

I waved to her, unsure of what was happening. "See you."

My guard takes a step back to let Miss A pass and is polite enough to give us privacy as he disappears somewhere.

"Is everything okay?" I started, taking in the sight of O. "Are you feeling well?"

He looked a little drunk, his eyes were glassy as the shadows from the trees and the lights from the mansion danced within them. He wanted to say something. I could tell that much.

But the words didn't seem to come even as the seconds ticked by.

Silence stretched between us and if I listened hard enough, I could hear my guard's breathing from not too far away.

He didn't have to worry though. There were no secrets to tell. No rules to break.

O is a pack member. He already knew everything about me, things no one else knows.

I watched as he stared at the stars, his eyes looking and waiting for an answer from the heavens.

For what?

I did not know.

All I know is that something was happening.

And then he abandons the stars to look at me.

We balanced on the edge of something dangerous. I knew this, and I am sure that he knew it as well. His responsibilities, my duty to my family... it all sat on one side while something beyond that waited on the other. Before I could decide which way to fall, which option is more important, he took a step closer.

Fear danced in his eyes, but I could see the longing that existed there as well.

Still, there was that glint in his eye- the one that told me to run yet stay as close as possible at the same time.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, his voice shaking like he was in pain. "I'm so sorry, X,"

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What for-?"

He doesn't let me speak, doesn't let me get another word in as he walks towards me, closing the space between us and capturing my lips in his.