Chapter 7

AVA

“Hey, omega,” someone sneered as I stepped into the Moonlit Clearing. The usual mockery, but tonight, it rolled off me like water. My heart was pounding too hard to care. This night was supposed to change everything. My eighteenth birthday. My first shift. My escape.

The clearing was packed, the glowing full moon illuminating the expectant faces of the pack. Wolves of every rank surrounded the Moonlit Altar, their eyes fixed on me. Whispers rippled through the crowd, but I kept my head down, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other.

Elder Rowan stood in the center, tall and commanding. His silver hair gleamed under the moonlight, and his eyes held a mixture of expectation and something else—concern? Pity? I couldn’t tell, nor did I care.

“Ava Daniels,” he announced, his voice cutting through the murmurs. “Step forward.”

I obeyed, forcing my legs to move despite their trembling. My chest tightened as I reached the altar, the weight of every stare pressing down on me.

“Tonight,” Elder Rowan began, “under the Moon Goddess’s light, you will embrace your wolf and your destiny.”

I nodded stiffly, swallowing the lump in my throat. The air felt heavier, charged with something ancient and powerful.

Pain came first—searing and all-consuming. My bones twisted, my muscles tore, and I collapsed to my knees, gasping. My wolf was rising, clawing its way to the surface.

Then, just as suddenly as it began, it was over. I stood on shaky legs, my senses sharper, the world brighter.

The murmurs started almost immediately.

“What’s happening?”

“Look at her wrist!”

Confused, I glanced down—and froze. A glowing mark, a crescent moon entwined with four stars, pulsed on my skin.

“The mark of… multiple mates,” Elder Rowan said, his voice uncharacteristically uncertain.

The clearing erupted into chaos.

“She’s an omega!”

“This is impossible!”

I barely heard them, too focused on the burning mark on my wrist. Panic clawed at my chest as realization dawned. My gaze snapped to the other side of the clearing, where four familiar faces stared back at me, their expressions a mirror of my own disbelief.

Logan, Liam, Lucas, and Landon. The quadruplets.

“No,” I whispered, taking a step back. “This can’t be happening.”

Logan, the eldest, was the first to react. He stepped forward, his sharp blue eyes narrowing. “Ava… what is this?”

I shook my head, my hands trembling. “Stay away from me.”

Liam, ever the joker, let out a strained laugh. “This has to be some kind of mistake.”

“No mistake,” Lucas muttered, his face pale. “The Moon Goddess doesn’t make mistakes.”

Landon remained silent, his gray eyes locked on mine.

The bond snapped into place, a tangible pull that made my knees buckle. I gritted my teeth, fighting against the invisible thread that now tied me to my tormentors.

“Ava,” Elder Rowan said cautiously, “you must—”

“I must what?” I spun on him, my voice trembling with rage. “Accept this? Accept them? After everything they’ve done to me?”

Logan stiffened. “We didn’t ask for this either.”

“Oh, so that makes it okay?” I shot back. My voice echoed in the clearing, cutting through the growing tension.

Liam stepped forward, his usual smirk gone. “Ava, we—”

“Don’t,” I snapped, holding up a hand. “Don’t you dare try to justify this.”

The bond tugged harder, making my chest ache, but I refused to give in.

“I reject this,” I said firmly, glaring at the quadruplets. “I reject all of you.”

Gasps rippled through the crowd, and a sharp pain lanced through me, almost knocking me to my knees.

“You can’t just reject us!” Liam exclaimed, his voice rising in panic.

“I just did,” I hissed, clutching my chest as the pain deepened.

Elder Rowan stepped forward, his expression grave. “Ava, rejecting a bond this strong, especially a quadruple bond, will come at a cost.”

“Then I’ll pay it,” I said, glaring at the quadruplets. “Anything is better than being tied to them.”

The pack watched in stunned silence, their whispers barely audible over the blood pounding in my ears.

“This isn’t over,” Logan said, his voice low and dangerous.

I met his gaze head-on, my anger burning brighter than my fear. “Oh, it is. I’ll make sure of it.”

With that, I turned and walked away, ignoring the burning mark on my wrist and the bond pulling at my soul.

The Moon Goddess may have tied us together, but I would do everything in my power to break free.