Page 45 of Owned By Four Alphas

More tears slipped from her cheeks, and she sank to her knees, burying her fingers in the dirt where the remnants of the ropes that had once restrained her now lay.

“Perhaps we should go to the priestesses, give birth there?” Elian said from somewhere behind her.

“They’re neutral territory, there’s nothing to stop other alphas attacking,” said Kaelen.

“And the restrictions to the magic woven into the temple mean we may not be able to defend her. And who knows what effect it may have on her magic? We can’t risk it.” replied Ronan.

“So she’s just expected to give birth in a field?”

“We’re traveling to a camp.”

“It would be better to go to my territory—”

Ronan cut Kaelen off with a snarl.

They continued bickering, their scents spiking, egos clashing.

A shadow fell over her, and she glanced over to see Malek kneeling beside her. He stared at the rope, before trailing his claws through the earth, flipping over a small stone.

“You struck me with this when I released you,” he said, a strange fondness in his voice.

“I remember,” she said, picking up the rock, feeling its sharp weight in her hand.

“You were so brave,” Malek said, leaning into her.

Selena swallowed, her throat thick. “I wish I could be brave now.”

Chapter 18 - Ronan

He couldn’t understand it. It was like Selena had completely withdrawn. She was a shell, a ghost even. It was driving Ronan mad. No matter what he did, no matter what he offered her, she would just stare up at him with those sad beautiful eyes.

It was setting him on edge.

Malek sat beside Selena, their heads bowed together by the tree, their murmuring voices quiet whilst Ronan was fighting yet another battle against Kaelen and Elian.

“What the fuck do you have against going back to my lands?” Kaelen spat, his arms crossed over his chest, “My palace is inside a fucking volcano. It’s the most defensible position in the Realm! Out here, we may as well paint targets on our backs.”

“Your people cannot be trusted,” Ronan thundered, his fists balling. “Do you really believe Selena would be safe amongst them? Because if you do, you’re a bigger fool than I realized.”

Kaelen growled in warning. These fights were happening more and more often. It would start with an attempt at civility, but then a scent would spike, aggression would come out, and Ronan’s alpha would take over, demanding respect.

He had heard of it happening before. He had no doubt Kaelen and Elian had, too. Packs like theirs, with more than one alpha sharing a mate, risked internal war if the bonds between them were damaged. It wasn’t unheard of for one alpha to kill another, or even multiple alphas to wean out those they didn’t feel capable of protecting their mate.

Or challenging their power one too many times.

It had crossed his mind more than once over the past two weeks. The line was clear. He and Malek on one side, and Kaelen and Elian on the other. Whilst undeniably more powerful in terms of brute strength, neither Ronan or Malek could withstand Elian and Kaelen’s magic. Not to mention, Kaelen breathed fire, the only thing that Ronan was physically vulnerable to.

If it came to it, if either faction decided that the only way through was to kill the other, Ronan truly did not know who would emerge victorious. It was more likely that they would all kill each other, leaving Selena alone.

It wasn’t something he wanted to risk. But his Alpha roared to establish dominance, to kill the perceived threat to his mate.

Something was bound to break sooner or later.

Elian stepped between Kaelen and Ronan, his irritation clear, his normally swaggering persona dropping to reveal the stony, ruthless truth of him.

“Kaelen’s right, Ronan. We can’t stay out here. What if something goes wrong with the birth? Unless you’re secretly a midwife, we need help.”

“Can’t your magic help her if there’s trouble?”

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