Fated and Claimed by Four Alphas
Chapter 45: Death Wish

Chapter 45: Death Wish

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Chapter 45

~Spring’s POV~

I saw the phrases flash across screens as I passed.

She plays. She wins.

Queen of the Undercourt.

Spring Kaine, master of Nerve Roulette.

And the one someone had tagged across the music hall walls in glowing ink:

She made the Sly go shy.

I walked calmly through the campus—no head down—and hoped the school authorities would turn a blind eye to their escapades.

But leave it to students wanting to be mischievous, especially since Madelyn, the school’s female bully had gone down.

"Did you see her face?" another voice carried on. "It was epic the way she played."

"She didn’t even flinch," said another and I smiled. I did a little.

"Vice Prez got baited on stage."

"I heard she walked out like a goddess—"

"Oh my god, shhh—there she is!"

I didn’t bother reacting. I didn’t need to. I simply let them whisper.

Even Serissa, who stood like a glass sculpture near the main garden steps, didn’t dare approach. Her eyes followed me too long and if looks could kill, she may have bore a hole at the back of my head by now.

I’d be a fool to think her antics were finished, but neither was I.

Just as I reached the stone archway leading into the main hall, someone called my name.

"Spring."

I paused, turning to see who called me.

Jace leaned lazily against a column, grinning like he’d just watched his favorite drama unfold. His hair looked like he’d rolled out of a lightning storm. I swear he styled it that way on purpose.

"Didn’t think you had it in you," he said, striding toward me.

"I didn’t cheat," I replied flatly.

"Exactly why it’s terrifying," Jace mused while keeping his hands tucked in his trousers pocket.

I rolled my eyes at him. Then another presence blanketed the air.

I knew once who it was.

Storm.

He didn’t say a word nor did he need to. He simply reached for my hand and lifted it gently, his lips brushing the back of my fingers, slowly.

I could feel my heart skip a beat.

Jace groaned, facepalming. "Are you two going to start making out in the quad, or should I pretend to trip and land between you?"

"She’s ours," Storm said calmly, his eyes locked on mine. "She proved it."

"I do not belong to anyone yet."

"Is that why you gambled us away?" Jace questioned, and I bit back the cuss forming on my lips.

Tyrion joined quietly, his uniform pristine as always. "You didn’t just win a game," he said softly. "You rewrote the rules. That takes something... more."

I tilted my head. "That’s a compliment?"

He nodded once. "A truth and a comment."

And then Kael—always fashionably last—appeared at the top of the stairs, green eyes glowing with mischief.

"I’ve watched plenty of performances," he said, sliding beside me with a crooked grin. "But yours? That was art."

"You make it sound like I stole something."

"You did," Jace said, folding his arms. "You stole the school’s fear. And maybe a piece of my heart."

I rolled my eyes at him for his playboy antics.

"I speak the truth, mate. You were made for us."

"Just because you are good doesn’t mean you should go looking for trouble," Kael stated.

"If I didn’t know, I’d say you, especially, are concerned about me."

"Is that hard to believe? If those words were directed at Lucien, I’d understand, but not me."

I exhaled, letting my lips twitch into a real smile.

"All Kael is trying to say is... be careful, Spring. There are those worse than Madelyn," Storm explained as he pecked my hand.

I withdrew my hand from his, glaring softly before nodding. "I appreciate the thought, but... look at the time. I have a class now; guess I will see you later."

I did not wait for Jace to say what he waned to say and immediately hurried away, but not before I heard him say...

"Is she running from us or does she not know that today is a no-lecture-free day as well?"

"I’ll say a mix of both," Storm mused.

I bit my lower lip. Yeah, he was right. I was running from them, but I had actually forgotten there wasn’t any class.

Thank God they weren’t domineering jerks who would want to steal my time anyway.

Just as I rounded the corner leading upstairs to the library, my feet skidded to a halt when I saw him coming down the stairs.

Since that day, we haven’t had that much of a conversation, which was the first, actually, but right now, coming face to face with him, my heart resumed its wild thudding, not from romantic tension but from fear, pain, and rage.

Without saying anything, I turned my head and took two steps away from him when he called me back.

"Spring Kaine."

My eyes squeezed shut. I just had to make eye contact. I masked my annoyance, turned, and smiled like an actress.

"Yes?"

"You... Hi." I knew he wanted to comment on my avoidance, but he chose not to. "Did you like your gift? Forgive me for not staying too long for your birthday celebration that day. I had something to attend to."

"An emergency?"

He nodded and smiled. "Is it me, or am I overthinking it? You do not want to use my name?"

My brows shot up. Where did he get that notion from?

"It’s Rael, in case you have forgotten."

I was all smiles, but deep down, I was seething.

Of course I could never forget that name even if I wanted to. You just had no luck in life you had to be named after the one person I loathe the most in this life."

Rael... Gosh, even the name doesn’t sound sweet on my lips again.

"Of course, I did not forget, Rael."

His lips curled slightly at the side. "It sounds sweet to hear from your lips."

My brain did a mental yell, and Jade’s eyes went wide. All the while my smile remained.

"Oh..."

"Did you like your birthday gifts?"

I swallowed, and my grip on my bag tightened.

"You haven’t, or did you toss it in the bin instead?"

I did not want to lie, but how do you tell someone you forgot to open their gifts?

Since his was a small box, I did not trash the packaging with the others and left it intact.

Well, that was one reason. The other being that I wasn’t ready.

"No. I didn’t. I just haven’t opened it."

"May I ask why? Or is my gift not worthy because of its size?"

"That’s not it. I wanted to simply take them home today."

"Oh, it hasn’t left the school walls?"

Jade facepalmed in my mind and shook her head.

"That’s because I have possessive, doting brothers. They’d get jealous," which wasn’t a total lie, "so I decided to take it home when I knew they wouldn’t be picking me."

I chuckled softly, and he nodded.

"You know, you remind me of someone."

My heart did a three-laps skip as I blinked, mouth parting slowly to ask, "Um, who?"

He shook his head. "Nah, it’s nothing. That was a long time ago. She and I do not see each other anymore."

"Oh..." Just when I thought the conversation won’t end, someone rushed up to me and wrapped a hand around my waist.

But as soon as I smelled him, my nose scrunched and my brows furrowed.

Taking that as his cue, Rael waved and walked off. As soon as he was out of my sight, I grabbed the hand on my waist and twisted it sharply till I heard a loud yelp from him.

"You must have a death wish, huh, Lucien?"