The Game Of Quadruplet Mates
Chapter 8

Admittedly, this wasn't my best idea.

And the last person I wanted to see me in this state- completely naked and very angry- was Jeremy and his wide baby blue eyes.

I do not know how to explain what I was doing to him. No words seem to be appropriate.

Thankfully, Jeremy, being Jeremy, doesn't say a word. He won't push answers out of me.

Despite how embarrassing this situation was, his presence calms me. His face had mostly healed, leaving only a faint red line along his cheek. He's dressed as well, a tight shirt encasing his stone hard chest. He was fiddling with something on his wrist and when I looked down, I saw his fingers playing with the fabric of my bracelet.

He was still wearing it.

My cheeks flush and it's not because I was butt naked in front of him.

He's careful not to look below the neck. I can see his eyes focused solely on mine... doing his best not to look down.

Or maybe he didn't need to force himself not to look at my naked body. There wasn't much to look at to begin with. I'm sure a man as handsome as him has seen it all, the most beautiful even. I wouldn't entice him if I tried. I'm sure of that. My body is starved, ribs showing on the sides and arms frail without a single curve of any kind.

Jeremy surprises me by removing his shirt, those perfectly sculpted muscles showing in the afternoon glow. If it was possible, he looked more handsome, more perfect because of it. And then he surprises me some more when he starts to unzip his pants. "What are you doing?" I finally asked, lips parted.

"We're skinny dipping aren't we?" He says so casually and so unproblematically it's as if he's pretending that he didn't just see me ripping my clothes off aggressively.

His pants came off next, leaving his underwear... which, as hard as I tried not to look, was fashioning a really large bulge. The sight made me swallow as I tried hard not to smack my lips together.

If I thought he wasn't going to remove his underwear, I was fairly mistaken because he shrugs that off as well and I'm forced to look ahead before I can see more than I should. It's too late though. I wasn't fast enough... at least I hope I tried to look away fast enough because his manhood sprang up as his underwear was lowered.

I saw it. I saw it well.

And as much as I tried not to think about it, I did, and it made me hot all over. Far too hot for a chilly late afternoon.

It's strange because werewolves are naked all the time.

They really are, clothes are hard to come by, and most prefer to walk around naked, but why did it feel so different with him?

I've seen plenty of manhoods. None like his though.

Red in the face, hot between the legs and nearly panting, I was just ready to jump into the water. Jeremy stops me from doing so by standing behind me as I felt his breath on the nape of my neck. He wasn't touching me- not yet- but I could feel his heat on my back and it was doing something to me that I couldn't explain.

He took my hand in his, interlacing them. "Ready when you are, June."

This was a game.

I know this. I know this very well.

And I happily, very much willingly, let myself fall for it.

Because what's a little fun in the games, right? Everyone's already playing everyone and I'm already called all the horrible things. What else was I going to lose?

I looked up at Jeremy with renewed hope and gave him the biggest smile I've ever given anyone. "Run."

There's a brightness that flashes in his eyes, excitement maybe or something more, before he follows my word and sprints off. With a light tug of his hand, my feet were racing through the shallow water with him. The cool water splashes around us in a flurry of droplets. He's laughing.

I can hear the sound so beautifully that I laugh with him, sharing the excitement. We don't stop running until we're completely engulfed in the water and swimming to keep afloat. The clear lake does little to hide our nakedness, but we didn't care. Nothing mattered right now.

The games, the mansion, it felt so far away.

Jeremy's hand stayed with mine, his fingers never slipping away, not even a second. The feeling was addicting, small innocent touches that made my head light and fuzzy. Jeremy laughs again before diving down and I go with him, holding my breath before following. I opened my eyes underwater, it stung. But I could see his beauty so clearly, so beautifully, it was worth it. He smiled at me, his blonde hair freely floating about. I would stay underwater forever if that meant I could see him like that.

There was a slight hesitation in his eyes before he moved closer, his free hand reaching for my cheek. I leaned in, the reaction automatic. I was running out of breath but... but something told me to stay, so I did.

And this, thus far, is the best decision I've ever made because he closes the gap between us and presses his lips ever so gently with mine. It was the briefest touch, the smallest movement of the water on me, but it happened. Beta Jeremy just kissed me.

A flutter in my chest makes it even harder to breathe but I don't move, frozen in place- feeling like I was airborne as I silently lavished the feeling.

It was wrong, I know it is. He's a Beta and I'm... and I'm me. Despite how these games are played and how everyone would like to believe something different, there are still rules and mine is to stay in my lane.

Slut, they called me. Dirty. Poor. A farm girl.

My hands were on his face before I could stop myself, pulling him close as my lips met with his. His lips are soft and cool to touch and I lost myself in them like I was thirsty and he was the only thing that could quench me. If he's surprised by my forwardness, he doesn't say anything about it and starts kissing me back just as aggressively as I was.

Just as I feel as though I might burst, he pulls us up to the surface, breaking through the water as we gasped for air. Our lips don't separate for long, springing back together like we were never meant to be apart.

His lips were dizzying and his touch was electric, shocking me alive with each caress. Everything about this was surreal and something I would likely never experience again.

Jeremy deepens the kiss, using his tongue masterfully in a way that makes my heart leap out of my chest. He takes hold of my hips, pressing us close until I remember how very naked we were. Something hard and very erect presses on my thigh and a hunger, a ravishing hunger, starts to build somewhere between my legs. I can feel it throb against me and I'm forced to bite my lip to stop from making a sound.

Our eyes locked and those baby blue eyes just have a chokehold on me, keeping me captivated and utterly his.

This is what drives me over the edge and I don't hold back any longer. Keeping him close like he's mine, kissing him like this was real and living this moment like it would amount to something.

My enthusiasm registers with him because he smiles through the kiss and guides my legs to wrap around his waist. It was painfully intimate now, my core completely on him.

"Beautiful," He growls into my lips. "F*****g beautiful."

I have been called beautiful once, a few hours ago, in fact, but why, why oh why did it feel different coming from him? All my life I've been the unattractive one and I was okay with that, but why is it that when he says that word, I believe him? Nothing has changed.

I'm still June. Sad, pathetic June.

Yet with him, with this perfectly handsome man, I feel more.

I feel like it's true and not just some words said to me to make me feel better.

"I want you." Jeremy whispered as he said this. I felt the push of his manhood between my legs. "B-"

He gasps when I press closer, feeling him brush against my entrance.

"But we should wait." He finished saying through gritted teeth.

"Wait?" I whispered back, continuing to kiss him.

Jeremy kissed me back, his teeth pulling at my lower lip. "Wait until tomorrow."

Something hot went though my entire body, lightning perhaps or maybe a wildfire. "What do you mean?"

"Just wait." He says into the kiss.

I wasn't disappointed. My head still couldn't wrap itself around what he meant with 'tomorrow' and I do not dare look forward to something that would likely never come true. Because I've learned that at least. I've learned what it is to hope and it is a terrible thing- a virus.

Our lips pull apart for the first time as we stare at each other. We're breathing heavily like we've run a marathon or an entire shift's worth of patrolling. And then, just as I'm about to give some distance between us, he places both hands on my cheeks and crushes me into another kiss.

This kiss, it's nothing like the one we've been doing before. This kiss, it wasn't fires and butterflies. It was something much more meaningful. His lips were gentle this time, soft and tender.

A quiet promise.

I like this kiss the most.

When we separate for air, he smiles at me with his blue eyes shining bright. "June,"

"Jeremy," I said, licking my lips and tasting him in them.

A heartbeat passes before he splashes me with water, laughing as he did. "Got you."

I gape at him as he swims away. It takes another heartbeat before I swim after him, splashing around while I did. A battle ensues and at one point, Jeremy swallows an entire mouthful of lake water and sputters. A mischievous look crosses his face and he rushes towards me. Muscular arms circle around my body and we tumble into the water together.

We gasp for breath, coughing and laughing and having the time of our lives. He lightly pats my back to help me breathe.

"You alright?" He says, his hair wet and dripping with water.

I nodded, feeling genuinely happy. My worries, the pressure and everything else are momentarily forgotten. I'll let myself have this first. This moment.

Whatever happens this weekend, at least, I'll have this.

"What are you thinking, June?" Jeremy asks when things have calmed down.

What does one say to a man that has changed me forever?

"Have you mated?"

Was not what should be said, but was exactly what I just said.

Jeremy blinks. And blinks again. He chuckles lightly and scratches the back of his head. "What? Here? Or?"

I covered my face in embarrassment. "I'm sorry I don't know what I'm saying."

He grins, a boyish grin that makes me smile. "It's okay. I completely understand. I'm nervous too."

What would Jeremy be nervous of? He's a powerful man, strong and capable, he's handsome and kind. People should be nervous of him.

Jeremy swims closer to me. "I haven't mated with anyone here."

But he has before.

Of course.

"I'm glad you decided to go this year." I told him honestly, smiling as I did.

"I'm glad I did too. Got to see you, didn't I?" He jokes, looking up in the now dark sky. "For some people these Games are really easy. They have it all planned out with business deals, childhood loves and such."

"Are you one of those people?" I asked curiously.

He shakes his head. "I don't know. We'll replace out tomorrow. What about you?"

I pursed my lips trying to replace the right words. "Honestly? I'm here to fulfill my duty to my pack and my family. Where I live, it doesn't really matter who it is, I just need to be."

Jeremy furrows his eyebrows but nods in understanding. "I understand. This Assembly," He says for my benefit. "It means differently for everybody. I respect that."

"What about you?" I asked, touching his wrist where my identifier is. "Konstantin said some things... but they don't sound like you."

The furrow of Jeremy's eyebrows is instant. "Of course he spoke to you. He'll talk about me to anyone that would listen."

I chewed my lip. "Your mother-"

He cuts me off with a bitter laugh. "She abandoned me the moment she could, re-mating with the first guy that would take her who was of high enough rank for her. She doesn't even know my name, I think. She forgot it in favor of her new life." I immediately felt foolish for bringing it up. I know a thing or two about mothers leaving and forgetting their children.

"I know what he told you. I can guess. He says I'm upset I wasn't considered to be the next Alpha or Beta and threw a tantrum before leaving." Jeremy shakes his head, a look of sadness in his eyes. "That's not what happened. They made fun of me. All those city folks. I was a disgrace, a dirty half breed and I wasn't a child of r a p e. My mother had an affair in these games. She was having 'fun' with 'low quality blood' and accidentally had me. It's... whatever. That's all in the past. I don't care about that anymore." Funny how stories change from the truth to lies.

"I left because I couldn't take it anymore. I wanted to be done with the blood ranking and I wanted to be done with them. If that's what they call a traitor, then I'm happy to be one." He says proudly, looking genuinely happy to be away from the city. "And I didn't join my pack because I was made Beta. The Alpha found me, he made me into something."

His Alpha. Now that's someone I heard a lot about. "He sounds like he's quite a guy. Much different from what I've been told."

"Because you've been told lies. At least, most of them are lies," Jeremy says almost ominously.

For there are some truths.

Something in his tone tells me that I don't want to know which ones were the truth.

"He's a good Alpha?" I decided to ask instead. "To you?"

"I would do anything for him." The devotion is clear in his words. "I will follow him until the end of my life."

My relationship with our Alpha isn't the best, but I respect him. With Jeremy... it sounded more than respect. It was loyalty to a fault.

"We should head back. Dinner is about to start in a few." He says, noticing that it was now dark. "You're cold."

I didn't even notice I was shivering.

Together, with shoulders touching, we swim back to land and replace our clothes with only the moon as our light. I replace my ruined dress beside Jeremy's clothes and slip it on, still shivering from the cold uncontrollably. Jeremy, who's zipping up his pants, sees this and rubs his hands up and down my arms.

"Better?" He asks, his voice low and husky.

I smiled, looking at him. Whoever Jeremy chooses will be the luckiest girl. He's the perfect guy. "Much better."

Jeremy touches the side of my cheek and an explosion of butterflies erupts in the pit of my stomach.

Absolutely perfect.

"I have to meet with some of my pack members in the woods. They're contacting me nonstop about some important news that I have to hear. Will you be able to replace your room alright?" He asks, pulling his shirt on. I nodded, trying to tie the back of my dress. "Yes. I'll be okay."

He smiles in a way that makes his eyes crease a little and goes to stand behind me to help fasten the strings of my dress. "Save me a seat?"

I feel his hands on my back, his fingers trailing down my spine. "Definitely."

My voice was breathless and my cheeks were heating up.

I have no doubt that I was as red as a tomato.

With my dress all fastened, he twists around. "I'll see you later, June."

"See you." I told him, slowly backing away to make my way to the brightly lit manor.

Jeremy waves goodbye and I return it before rushing away.

Darn him for making me feel so giddy.

I trudged up to the manor feeling like I was walking on clouds. My thoughts swim with Jeremy and his touch, his sweet smile and his tender words. My skin tingling with the ghost of his touch, I hug myself and take deep breaths.

It was starting to get darker now and lanterns were being lit around the gardens and pathways. Quietly, I replace the back doors of the mansion and pass by there so I don't track water at the entrance. I was still dripping wet from the lake with my dress clinging to me. It didn't exactly help that I forgot my underwear, the thin see through dress not really covering much.

Remembering that I didn't know what my room assignment was, I made my way to the board where it was posted. Despite my plan of looking for my room, I spotted Jeremy's first. A smile plays at my lips when I see he's not that far from me. Giving myself a few seconds to squeal internally, I search for my name and see it at the very bottom- not surprising. Following the map and hopefully remembering where it was, I went up the nearest staircase I saw.

This place is a palace with high ceilings and beautiful winding staircases. There were paintings on the walls, colorful flowers in vases, twinkling lights and soft carpets on the marble floors. The curtains were drawn, which gave me the perfect view of the woods and the blue crystal lake that shimmered. The reflection from the big, bright moon is absolutely breathtaking. Funny how not an hour ago I was in that lake...

I take my time walking through the halls. My eyes focused on the view. It's so enchanting here. How can all this be real? The entire scenery is straight out of a dream.

There are never ending doors in the countless hallways, white and carved. Eventually, I found my room. I open the door and, with one last look at the window, I go in.

It's pitch dark. If there were curtains in the room, they were closed, covering the natural light that the moon gave.

I feel my way around trying to replace the light switch. The only light that I had came from the open door. My bad luck strikes when that said door decides to close and I'm enveloped in darkness.

The dark didn't really bother me, but it did when I felt like someone was in the room with me, watching me. The hairs on the nape of my neck stand up.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" I asked cautiously, taking a step back.

Nothing but silence answered me.

There was no doubt about it though. I can feel it. Someone was definitely watching me. I take another step back but my back presses against something warm and hard... and it wasn't the wall.

I jumped back in surprise and whirled around.

It was too dark to see but there was a silhouette of a man. A large muscular one facing me. The darkness didn't give any of his features away except for a pair of eyes. The man had the sort of eyes that would punch the air out of you.

"I'm so sorry." I said immediately. "I must have gotten the wrong room."

Still no reply.

He's a large one to the point that I had to crane my neck up to stare into the pair of piercing molten eyes. For a moment, I held my breath. It's a mystifying color, almost like amber.

Werewolves have amazing sight in the dark and werewolves that constantly shift at night have the best of it. I didn't shift as often and thus my senses weren't at par, so I felt a little put off that he could obviously see me but I couldn't see him.

A shiver runs down my spine when I see the molten eyes look down at my wet trembling body. The dress... it was see through and the coldness made my nipples hard, poking through the thin fabric.

The view of the lake and my obvious attention towards what happened there must have really distracted me because I most definitely entered the wrong room by mistake.

"Again, I'm really sorry for this. I'll see myself out." Awkwardly, I move around him to what I think is the direction of the door. I feel the cold stare follow after me.

It wasn't new for others to ignore my presence. After years of this kind of treatment, it doesn't really bother me anymore.

Blindingly, I finally replace the doorknob and leave without another word. Despite being already out in the hallway, I can still feel the watchful eyes on me.

The chill on my spine is evident.