Fated and Claimed by Four Alphas
Chapter 18: Like A Curse

Chapter 18: Like A Curse

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Chapter 18

~Spring’s POV~

Lucien’s face paled, with shock etched into every angle, but behind all that was disgust, plainly written all over his face.

"No," he said sharply. "No. This isn’t possible." His voice echoed in my head like a slap. Like betrayal all over again.

Lucien, the one face I could have sworn I’d hoped not to see again while in this school, yet there he stood with extreme shock on his face, revulsion in his eyes, just as mine brimmed with pain.

My own breath caught as I stumbled back from him, but it was too late.

Jade had already screamed and the bond had snapped into place.

Mate.

A fifth mate.

It wasn’t one, like my past life or two, but I was cur... blessed with five!

My wolf had accepted it—too fast and too easily, like she yearned for this before, but I didn’t.

And my heart, mind and soul didn’t want or choose it again. I couldn’t go through another betrayal like that again.

I hadn’t chosen any of them, yet here I was, branded and bound again.

I turned from Lucien, from them all. I didn’t care where I was going anymore. I just knew that there and then that I couldn’t. I just ran.

I tore through the hallway and straight into the courtyard, ignoring the stares, the whispers, the sting of rejection still fresh on my skin.

My ears buzzed. My head pounded. I could still hear Jade howling inside me, not in triumph... but pain.

She wanted me to go back. To get back in there and face the confused stares of the ones I called maes. Of males who do not want me.

No. I wouldn’t be at anyone’s mercy all in the name of love ever again.

I pushed through the back doors of the school and didn’t stop until I was far, far from the crowd. Past the lockers. Past the classrooms. Through the long, winding corridor behind the east wing.

Until I found a space in a quiet room that looked like a lab under renovation.

I slipped inside, shut the door, and leaned back against it as my breathing came in ragged.

For a few seconds, I didn’t say anything while the whole incident replayed in my mind. Then I laughed.

The sound was both soft and hollow, filled with enough bitterness to go around, affecting all five of them.

"Five?" I whispered, staring at the ceiling like maybe the Moon Goddess would answer. "You gave me five, huh?"

I shoved away from the door and began pacing.

"One wasn’t enough?" I muttered. "You had to top it with four more?"

My voice trembled with fury as my hands curled into fists. "Was dying once not good enough for you? Did you think I’d enjoy the encore?"

I could still feel their scents wrapped around me. Four of them. Then Lucien. And none of it felt like fate. None of it felt like a gift.

It felt like a curse.

"Do you want me to die of five betrayals this time?" I hissed into the air. "Would that satisfy your divine entertainment quota? Or do you want six next time?"

I chuckled darkly. "Oh look... I know, why not add one each from all the races since we’re sharing, right? Tsk"

Jade whimpered low in my mind, guilt and confusion bleeding through her bond.

Just that sound alone broke every bravado I had put up against the Moon Goddess. "I know," I whispered, dropping to my knees in the darkened corner of the room. "I know you didn’t ask for this either."

The tears came faster this time. Not the hot, angry kind I had held back earlier. But silent ones—salted memories dripping from my eyes like blood from an old wound.

"I trusted him," I whispered. "I loved him. And he... he killed us."

The memory was sharp—Rael’s hand pressed into my chest, the blade sliding between my ribs, his voice so calm as if I’d meant nothing.

"You were never going to survive this life, Mate, maybe the next."

I pressed a hand over my chest now, trying to silence the phantom pain. But it still burned.

"You gave me this second chance," I said aloud, shaking my head at no one. "And you still tied me to people who could tear me apart."

Jade said nothing. But I felt her. Lying beside me in the silence of my heart.

"We’re not that girl anymore," she whispered eventually. "We don’t bend so easily. And we never beg. You are no longer Solstice Winter but now Spring Kaine."

I nodded slowly, curling into myself on the cold floor.

"No," I agreed with her. "We don’t."

But even then, I couldn’t ignore the ache inside me because the truth was I didn’t know what scared me more.

That I’d been given five mates or that one of them was the same man who bullied me or that I could ever forgive the Moon Goddess for it.

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~Author’s POV~

The hallway had never been so quiet.

One second ago, Spring had been standing there—wide-eyed, trembling, gorgeous in fury and disbelief—and now she was gone.

Gone in a blur of panic and instinct.

Her scent still lingered sweetly, sharply and wild.

A few faint gasps still echoed softly from students pressed against lockers, some too stunned to breathe and their phones still hovering in mid-air, capturing nothing now. Just aftermath and confusion.

Storm Draven’s ice-blue gaze snapped toward Lucien first.

He was the last straw that broke their mate, Spring, and he understood it.

The tension was volcanic. No one spoke, not even Tyrion, which was saying something.

Lucien’s face was pale, his jaw clenched so hard it looked like it might snap. But he said nothing.

Not a damn word.

"I can’t believe it..." Jace muttered, almost to himself, his amber-gold eyes flicking between the others. "Did that really just happen?"

Kael let out a dry scoff. "You mean, did fate just play us like a rigged deck of cards? Yes. It did. And the girl we’re now inexplicably bonded to just bolted."

"She’s scared," Tyrion said softly, his voice cutting through the chaos like a calm tide. "And she has every right to be."

Jace ran a hand through his messy auburn hair. "Yeah, but we should go after her. I mean, she’s—"

Storm lifted a hand.

It was a simple gesture. But it silenced them all.

His voice, when it came, was low and controlled. "Not here."

The murmurs in the hallway were growing, rippling through the crowd like wildfire. Whispers of ’Did you see that?’ and ’Five alphas?’ trailed behind them like shadows.

Storm’s gaze swept the watching students with a look that promised consequences. "Not here," he repeated and the others exchanged glances.

Then, without another word, Storm turned and started walking as he moved toward the east wing.

The others fell into step behind him one by one. All except Lucien.

He stood frozen in place, like a statue surrounded by ghosts. Storm paused before the corner of the hallway where he stood, casting a glance over his shoulder.

"Lucien."

Lucien’s eyes lifted. They looked almost haunted.

Storm didn’t blink. "You’re one of her mates now. That makes you part of this. Whether you want it or not." He took a pause and added, "So move."

Lucien hesitated but Storm did not wait for him as he and the others walked off.

’This is total Bullshit,’ Lucien growled internally.

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