THE QUAD

KAYLA

I nervously made my way to the chambers of my quadruplet stepbrothers, dragging my feet as I wished never to get to the door that led to their chambers.

This spelled trouble because they never called me unless it was for punishment or for taunting. My heart raced as I entered the room mainly because the look on their faces pointed out that this was not a friendly meeting.

One of the quadruplets smirked as I entered the room, “Look who we have here, if it's not our very own Kayla… stand there!” He said in a stern voice.

I walked to the spot he pointed at and took my place in front of them. I noticed Ashley, one of the quadruplet girlfriends, sitting on the thighs of her boyfriend, looking at me with so much disdain. The tension in the room was palpable, and I knew that something was up. Before I could say anything...

“Kayla, what the hell were you thinking to want to poison my lady?” Ashley's boyfriend, Jason, angrily questioned me.

“Huh!” I groaned, clearly taken aback, my mind raced trying to figure out where this accusation was springing from.

The shock expression on my face must have been evident because Jason, the second of my stepbrothers, said, “You don't have to fidget, just answer the question… little monster”.

I might be everything, but I was definitely not a monster.

“I didn't…” I tried to defend myself.

However, Ashley swiftly cut me off, and I could see the look of triumph on her face. “You don't have to defend yourself, Kayla,” Ashley said. “We already know what you did.”

I was confused and scared. “What did I do?” I asked.

“You put something in my tea,” Ashley said, her voice dripping with venom. “Something that made me sick.”

My eyes widened in shock at Ashley's accusation. I remembered she asked for tea when she came to visit Jason, which I did, but poisoning the tea was something I couldn't seem to place my fingers on.

“I swear I didn't do that,” I pleaded. “Please, you have to believe me.”

Ashley's voice cut right through mine as she waved her hands in disapproval, “Oh please, are you insinuating that I'm trying to frame you up and make them punish you unjustly?” She questioned, sarcasm laced in her voice.

Before I could say another word, one of them got up from his seat and grabbed my arm roughly. “That's enough,” he said, his voice cold and hard. “We're done listening to your lies.”

I tried to pull away from him, but his grip was too strong. “Please, let me go,” I pleaded. “I didn't do anything wrong, please…”

“We'll see about that, come with me” Jake said, his voice menacing, as he pulled me along with him.

Again, I tried to pull away, but his grip only tightened. “Let me go!” I shouted, struggling against him. But he was too strong for me, and before I knew it, he had dragged me into a dark room and locked the door behind us.

The room was pitch black, and I couldn't see a thing. I stumbled around blindly, trying to find a way out, but it was no use because there was no getting out of this place.

I sat there in the darkness and heard Jake's voice coming from outside. “You're going to stay in there until you confess,” he ordered. “And if you don't, we'll make sure you regret it.”

“Jake, please, you have to believe me, Ashley was lying. I didn't poison her tea, please Jake… please,” I pleaded, desperately wishing he would reconsider and not lock me up in this pitch-black room.

Hours passed, and I was still trapped in the dark room. I was hungry, thirsty, and scared. I had no idea what was going to happen to me, but I knew that it couldn't be good.

Suddenly, I heard the door unlock, and a sliver of light shone through. I shielded my eyes as the quadruplets stepped into the room.

“Are you ready to confess?” one of them asked, his voice cold and menacing.

“I didn't do anything!” I protested, my voice shaking with fear.

But they didn't listen. Instead, they shut me up by shoving a cloth into my mouth, preventing me from speaking. I struggled against them, but it was no use. They were too strong for me.

They dragged me until I was on my knees, “You're nothing but a burden to us,” Ethan said, his voice dripping with disdain.

“A terrible leech that we would happily get rid of without thinking twice,” Jake added, a sneer on his face.

“You're lucky our dad, the Alpha, took pity on you; otherwise, you'd be out on the streets,” Mason chimed in.

The words they threw at me hurt more than any physical pain I had ever experienced.

“Look at her, she's crying like a baby,” one of them sneered.

“She's always been weak, just like her pathetic mother,” another chimed in.

I could feel my heart shatter into a million pieces at the mention of my mother. I wanted to defend her, to make them understand how amazing she was, but my voice failed me. All I could do was cry.

“She was useless, a burden to us all, good thing she's gone now” the third one added.

I couldn't take it anymore and so, I burst into uncontrollable sobs. But they didn't stop…their words cutting deeper and deeper with each passing second.

My body trembled with fear as I saw Jake approaching me with a whip in his hand. I wanted to run, but there was nowhere to go. He stood behind me, and unexpectedly, he lashed the whip across my back.

I felt the whip lash across my back, and I groaned in a muffled tone. The pain was unbearable, and I could feel the tears streaming down my face. Jake stood behind me, the whip in his hand, his face contorted with anger.

“You deserve every bit of this, Kayla,” he snarled, his voice dripping with venom. “You're nothing but a worthless piece of trash. How dare you try to harm Ashley? You should be grateful we're not turning you over to the Alpha, he would have your head on a stake!”.

The other quadruplets watched with cold, indifferent eyes, not caring about the pain they were inflicting on me. I closed my eyes, taking each lash as it landed on my back— I had to leave this pack. I prayed my eighteenth birthday would come as quickly as possible…that was the only way out.