Four

Vespa 

"Ten minutes max and I'll bounce," I warned him.

"Copy that," he mock-saluted. His smile broadened and I headed out, creating a distance between us. From nowhere, his brothers appeared, blocking us on the road.

"What's going on?" I asked Ziah.

"Where are you taking her?" The grumpy one (Kai) spat with the same arrogance as the previous day.

Was he always this insolent?

"None of your business," Ziah started to say, but his brother raised a brow."We're just going for lunch. What's wrong with that?"

"Everything," Zeke, the beautiful one said with a much calmer tone, tossing his hair to the side. "You can't go out with her."

"Why not?"

"Because I said so."

He tried to move closer, but man-bun stood in front of me. I stood there, wondering what these three rascals were up to.

"You know what?" I raised my hands, tired of the back and forth. "I'm going to turn around and head in the opposite direction. Please do not follow me, else…"

"Fuck off, Kai!" Ziah, my classmate, yelled at his grumpy brother. "And you too, Zeke. Are you happy for successfully chasing her away?"

I almost laughed at the sheer absurdity. Did he think I was foolish enough to not know that this was planned work?

The brothers seem to have a hobby of tempting unsuspecting girls into their trap for a possible gangbang session. Unfortunately, sex was the last thing on my mind.

"They're hot, though," my subconscious spoke up and heat uncurled in my abdomen. My stupid body was betraying me.

Even if I were a sex goddess, or close to being as beautiful as Gwendolyn, the hottest girl in my school who attracted guys like ants to sugar, it was impossible for three brothers to like the same girl.

Most of all, werewolves were out of bounds for me. I'd rather remain single.

The brothers ignored me, arguing like the previous day. My dear life had inevitably turned into a drama series. Unfortunately I didn't want any more episodes.

In seconds, Ziah (classmate) bounded up and crashed to a halt in front of me. My heart flipped when he eyed me lustfully.

"Ignore my brothers. They're just silly."

"I don't care about you or your brothers, and I don't want to be a part of this charade."

"I agree with you, sweetie. We were heading to the restaurant before their rude interruption. Can we go now?"

"I believe I spoke in plain English, not cryptic French or Italian. Stay away from me."

He gave a little laugh. "Ah-ah-ah, not so fast."

His brothers were behind us, glaring daggers at him. Ziah waited for a response with smug delight, beyond being intimidated by them. At that moment, I wish I had magical powers to disappear.

"Fine. Can we all have lunch together? I want to see what my brothers are up to," he whispered with an irritatingly cocky voice. 

Zeke(the beautiful one) stepped forward with a pinched look while the arrogant one clenched his jaw and folded his arms across his chest. Ziah must have mind-linked them.

From the little interaction I've had with them and their personalities so far, Kai was the most possessive among them and would fight anyone who came near his target.

 Zeke, the beautiful one would protect his target and would probably sacrifice a lot for her, Ziah, the flirt would make his target laugh hard, take her clubbing, get her drunk, and fuck her at the rooftop.

Well played dynamic.

Interested to see the ending of this story, I looked back towards the boys.

"Are we ready then?" Zeke's voice interrupted my thoughts. He had a nice voice, a little rough, and masculine, but with an underlying huskiness to it.

I ignored them.As if by some unspoken accord between the three, they all moved aside to make room for me.

I'd read a library of reverse harem books, where two or more men fall in love with one woman, but it was fiction and not real. With each passing second I felt more and more trapped. It didn't help that Ziah kept shooting flirty glances at me.

 I walked beside Zeke because he seemed to be the level-headed one. He smiled at me, his dimple appearing, before moving past me to open the door. 

Following suit, I glanced around nervously as we entered the restaurant, glad that it wasn't excessively quiet. 

As soon as we stepped in, all eyes fell on us. I felt like I was being escorted by bodyguards. We found a seat in the back, and all of them tried to pull out a chair for me at the same time.

Not again.

 Kai had a dark look when I stole a glance at him. Every time I lay my eyes on him, my heart turned over in response. I was by no means blind to how devastatingly handsome he was, despite the dark cloud surrounding him. 

Ignoring my sinful thoughts, I lowered myself into a free seat. Ziah wore a guarded frown when Zeke sat closest to me.

"Are you guys always so competitive with one another or is there more to this?"

"They're cockblocking me because they're jealous," Ziah muttered as he pulled out the chair farthest from me. "But I'll give you all my attention, pumpkin."

"I prefer you focus on yourself, and enough with the cheesy names," I replied with a fake smile. 

The attention became overwhelming and was messing with my head. Growing up, I'd gotten used to people giving me the cold shoulder and a gazillion rude remarks from my mum. Getting attention from three gorgeous guys was a nice change of pace. 

Except that it wasn't real. 

Ziah ordered some grilled steaks with burgers for me and gave me a heart-melting smile and a wink. Kai's hand brushed against mine when he leaned over. It sent shivers down my spine.

Zeke couldn't stop staring at me.

It felt as if I was standing on an amusement park ride without a roller coaster or a drop tower. I was having a hard time keeping track of my thoughts because the brothers watched me closely.

We began eating, but I couldn't concentrate on the food. I 

glanced at them, wondering what was next. 

"What do you want from me?" I said while slurping my vanilla milkshake. "Not only did your cousin steal my boyfriend from me, but now all three of you are tailing after me. Were you sent to destroy my life?"

The boys looked away, pretending to be interested in their food.

"We're not on a mission," Ziah spoke. "I told you earlier that my brothers are jealous of me."

"Jealous of a casanova?" Kai scoffed, grumpy as always. "Yeah, right."

"I'm not a prize to be won or a toy to be played with," I warned firmly.

 Zeke cleared his throat and smiled at me. "Why don't we eat and forget about this matter for now? It's not a big deal."

"But it is. It's embarrassing for you to follow me around and surround me like vultures. Even if I wanted attention, I don't want it from you."

"Because of that idiot, Donovan?" Scoffed Kai. "You should be happy the relationship is over. That fool is up to no good."

"Plus he has a carrot-sized dick," Ziah laughed. 

My hand tightened around my half-finished drink."His carrot-sized dick impregnated your cousin. If he's that bad, why let your cousin carry his child?"

"It's not our choice," Kai shrugged, running a hand over his sleek dark hair."I can't tell a grown-up how to live her life."

"In that case, work on your knight in a shining armor complex. It's suffocating."

Zeke and Ziah laughed in unison and Ziah raised his orange juice to toast. It seemed the other two had something against Kai.

Kai didn't find it amusing but said nothing. I struggled to eat because the emotions were overwhelming. The door burst open and a female voice interrupted us. I looked up and saw their cousin rushing towards us and glaring daggers at me

"Zeke? Ziah? Kai? Why are you having lunch with her?"

"Because we want to, "Ziah deadpanned. "You should leave us alone."

"Is sleeping with the same girl your new fetish?" She laughed and my brain turned to foam. 

Was that the evidence I was looking for? The guys must have been sent to ridicule me and add more insults to my injury. 

"Shut your loud mouth, Nebula. Nobody invited you, neither is anyone your babysitter," Kai warned.

Nebula blinked like an owl and then a giant-sized frown settled on her face. 

"You're choosing this weak, pathetic loser and viral joke over your cousin?"

Bubbles of angry air stuck in my lungs. I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out, not because I didn't have anything to say, but because she was right in a way. I shouldn't be here having lunch with her cousins.

"Behave, Nebula," Ziah snapped. "We invited her to lunch and not you."

"I'm pregnant, guys," she feigned sorrow. "Grandma instructed you to look after me. Maybe I should tell her that you have abandoned me for a human stranger."

"Are you bored with your boyfriend?" Kai snapped. "He knocked you up and should put up with your annoying face "

Having seen and heard enough, I picked up my bag to leave. Ziah rushed to his feet faster than lightning and blocked my way.

"Let me pass." I snarled, yanking off the hand he placed around my arm while trying to restrain me. 

Kai rose to his feet and his voice hardened. 

"Sit."

His voice felt as though a current had passed through me, making me powerless to resist him.

"You will watch me take my step out of this place," I snapped at him, throwing him the middle finger. "Because I don't take instructions from lousy werewolves."

"But you went on your knees and got rejected by one," Nebula laughed. 

"Stay away from me, all four of you. Your time is up. I'm not falling for your stupid games. "

Before the brothers could respond, I shoved past Zeke and headed outside. I breathed a sigh of relief as

soon as I was finally alone. 

Just when I thought I had a semblance of peace, my cell phone beeped with a text from Donovan, my ex-boyfriend.

/Vespa, we need to talk./