Rhea My mouth dropped open. I couldn’t believe it was happening. Instantly, I remembered our day in the kitchen. I remembered each of them touching me and how much I had wanted it. Clearly, I couldn’t be completely to blame for my lustful feelings toward them. They were my mates. And I hated that. The wolf in me cried and yearned for them. They were clearly meant for me and I could tell they felt it too. But they had clearly just finished having sex with Anastasia. The thought of that made me nauseous. It would have been bad to catch them with any girl at that moment but Anastasia was by far the worst. I felt sick and utterly betrayed. How could they do this to me? How could they deceive me and be with Anastasia of all people? Anastasia stared at me and moved toward me as if to make some terrible move. I stepped back instantly. At this moment, it was hard to decide if she just hated me, or felt threatened by me. But it didn’t really matter either way. I wanted as li
Ezekiel The ball was boring. As I knew it would be. I had no interest in finding a Luna. I could have any girl I desired if I was in need of that. Maybe I was. I need something— someone to keep my mind off of Rhea. I wasn’t sure what was happening. I wasn’t sure when my feelings toward her changed but I hated it. I kept trying to remind myself she was a worthless Omega. She was a nothing servant girl my father picked up from the streets one day when he was feeling particularly generous. None of those words mattered though when Rhea walked into the room. “Hey, Zek, long time. How are you?” Anastasia said, leaning into me and pushing her hand in my jacket. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I grabbed her by the wrists and pulled her away from me. “I’m fine, Ana. I see you haven’t changed at all. Let me remind you I’m no longer interested.” I walked away, not interested in hearing her reply. I was certain she’d get over it quickly and move on to my brothers. I couldn’t b
They brought me to the kitchen and let me eat and drink before Zek helped me back to my bathroom. He ran a bath for me and helped me undress. I could see him staring at me again but he kept his hands to himself. I was so dazed I almost fell asleep in the tub. Finally, he brought me—wrapped in a warm, fluffy towel—back to my room. Gerard, Dylan, and Lionel were all waiting. All of them helped me get dressed and ready for bed before laying me down. They simply let me rest. I was surprised by how gentle they were. I needed real rest before I thought about anything with them. I tried to just be grateful and not focus on the pain and fear I still felt.I wasn’t ready to be rejected by all four brothers. I wasn’t ready to lose my home or be further tormented. Now I would truly never find someone because my ‘someone’ was supposed to be them. I thought about all the bullying and torture from the brothers. I thought about how many times they told me I was ugly and worthless. I hadn’t
Lionel As soon as Rhea was asleep Doctor Bauer came over to us. He pushed us out of the room and closed the door. He looked very distressed which made me anxious. “She’s suffering from an acute phobic attack. She is clearly very claustrophobic and I’m afraid her time in the room made things worse. She’s weak and will need some time to rebuild her strength. Rhea has been through a lot. Do you know any causes of her claustrophobia and heightened stress levels?” Doctor Bauer looked at each of us as if trying to burn out the truth. We all looked at each other sheepishly. “She grew up in foster homes mostly. We’ve only had her here for the last five years… We don’t know a lot about what happened to her beforehand,” Zek explained.It wasn’t a lie but it certainly wasn’t the whole truth. We had all taken our turns being cruel to her and I was certain that added to her condition. Even my mother looked shameful. Doctor Bauer nodded as if he understood. I felt certain he k
RheaI woke up feeling much better than the previous day. My muscles didn’t hurt as much and I felt calmer. I reached out to stretch and felt someone there. I opened my eyes and realized instantly that my vision had cleared overnight. “Thank you, Doctor Bauer,” I mumbled. Someone groaned and shifted in the bed. I looked over to see Gerard and Lionel on my left, and Zek and Dylan on my right. All four of them were in bed with me, fast asleep. I couldn’t help but wonder how long I had been asleep.What had Doctor Bauer said to them? Was this just because of my condition? I knew they certainly wouldn’t stay when they knew I was better. I took a deep breath and tried to stay calm. How was I going to get out of here? I sat up and saw some of them stirring. “Good morning, how do you feel?” Zek asked in a groggy tone. “I’m fine. What are you all doing here?” I asked. “What do you mean?” Gerard asked. “You’re our mate.” “No, no, no, don’t say that to me. Don’t
Rhea “Rhea, how are you feeling today?” Gerard asked as he waltzed into my room. Lionel stood next to him, looking at me with worried eyes. “I am fine. You don’t have to stay with me all the time,” I said in a cold tone, hoping they could feel the distance in my voice.“All right, we will leave you alone. Let us know if you need anything.” Lionel sighed and they exited the room. I felt relieved when the door was closed.It’s been a few days and I felt better after talking to Doctor Bauer. He told me to try to accept them as my mate and things might change, but it was harder than I thought. To be honest, I never saw the boys being so patient with me, but I kept expecting them to admit they were joking or knock me down, ask me to get up to do all kinds of work, or torture me with different creative ways.But none of that had happened in the past few days, and it really changed my impression of them. It was really nice having them wait on me hand and foot but it was a bit
RheaWhen I woke up the next morning, it felt like yesterday had been a dream. Did they really care about me? After everything they’d done? All that changed was the fact that I was their stupid mate. All of them. How could I be a mate to all of them? Could I really trust them, or would they betray me in the end like always?Hunger growled in my stomach. I was still recovering from being locked in a room for two days. I went down to the kitchen to make myself some breakfast. Oatmeal sounded good. I hoped I would be in the kitchen alone as I made breakfast. I needed time to think.To my surprise, Ezekiel was in the kitchen already, making his own breakfast. He never did that. I was the one who always made breakfast for them. Strange. The room smelled like coffee, eggs, and Ezekiel. “Good morning, Rhea,” he said, his voice still husky from sleep. “Did . . . did you sleep well?”“I did,” I replied, pouring myself a cup of coffee. I’d never seen him anxious before. I also pr
GerardRhea’s room smelled like lavender, like her, and it filled me with an excitement I’d never known before. My fingers started buzzing from it. I wanted to drown in the smell. Her room looked wonderful, even if it was sparse. It looked like her, simple, peaceful. Her dresser was by her closet. Her vanity sat on the opposite wall from her bed.All that being said, her room was small—way too small for someone as wonderful as her. I turned to look at Dylan, wondering if he was thinking the same thing I was. He looked back at me, concern set in his brow. “You should move to a bigger room,” I said. Dylan nodded.Good. Glad we were on the same page.Rhea’s eyes widened in shock. Clearly, she’d never thought about moving to a bigger room. Was that because of how we’d treated her? Did she feel like she didn’t deserve it? I hoped not.“No,” Rhea said unconvincingly. “No, I . . . I like my room.”Her shoulders bunched up to her ears, so I knew she was lying. I looked at