Rejected by Her Mate Claimed by Four Alphas novel Chapter 262

CHAPTER 238

Clara’s POV

I nodded, not trusting my own voice yet.

Darius immediately reached for something beside the bed. The cup of water he’d kept refilled for three days straight. He brought it to my lips with the same care he’d shown every time before, and I drank

gratefully. The cool liquid soothed my raw throat.

“You okay?” Killian asked quietly.

I tested my voice. “Yeah.” It came out as a rasp, but it was there. “I’m okay.”

Lucien sat up slowly, wincing. “We should check your injuries properly now. Your leg hasn’t been treated right in three days.”

The mention of injuries made me suddenly aware of everything. The broken leg Lucien had splinted but that I’d basically ignored during the heat. The cuts from fighting Mira that had been left to heal on their

own. The new marks from teeth and nails covering all of us.

“We’re all a mess,” I said.

“Understatement,” Killian muttered, but there was no humor in it. Just exhaustion.

Awkward awareness settled over us as reality crept back in. We were all naked, covered in each other, lying in a bed that looked like it had been through a war. The sheets were torn. There were claw marks gouged into the headboard. The room smelled like sex and sweat and five different people.

And outside that door, the real world waited.

The pack knew we were in here. They’d known for three days. Word had definitely spread beyond our territory by now. There would be consequences, questions, judgment.

But right now, in this moment, those things felt distant.

“I need to look at that leg,” Lucien said again, more firmly this time.

I nodded and let him examine it. His hands were professional, careful, even though I could feel the

exhaustion radiating off him. The splint had held, but barely. He rewrapped it properly while Darius

supported my shoulders and Ronan held my hand through the pain.

When Lucien finished, he sat back and looked at all of us. “We’re covered in wounds that need cleaning.

Some of these could get infected if we don’t treat them soon.”

“Shower first?” Killian suggested. “We all smell like we’ve been through a war.”

“We basically have,” I said.

Getting up felt strange. My legs shook when I tried to stand, the broken one especially. Darius caught me

immediately, steadying me with an arm around my waist.

< CHAPTER 236

“Easy We’ve got you.”

We made our way to the attached bathroom together, moving slowly. The mirror showed exactly how wrecked we all were. Bruises, bite marks, scratches. My hair was a tangled mess. Their faces showed

days of stubble and exhaustion.

Claim

The shower was big enough for all of us, barely. It wasn’t sexual this time. Just exhausted intimacy.

Helping each other wash, untangling my hair with patient fingers, cleaning wounds that stung under the

spray.

Nobody spoke much. What was there to say? We’d crossed a line together that couldn’t be uncrossed.

We’d completed mate bonds that shouldn’t exist, that went against every tradition. We’d chosen each

other in the most permanent way possible.

After the shower, Darius found clean clothes for everyone. Getting dressed felt weird. Like putting on

armor before facing battle. Because that’s what waited outside. The pack. Other territories. The Council.

Everyone would have an opinion about what we’d done.

But first, we needed to talk. Really talk, now that our heads were clear.

We ended up sitting together on the floor since the bed was destroyed. I leaned back against Ronan’s

chest, my splinted leg stretched out in front of me. Killian sat on my left, Lucien on my right. Darius sat

across from me, close enough that our knees touched.

“So,” Killian said after a long silence. “That happened.”

Despite everything, I almost laughed. “Yeah. That happened.”

“I don’t regret it,” I said firmly, looking at each of them. “I need you all to know that. I don’t regret choosing

this. Choosing all of you.”

Darius met my eyes. I could see the struggle there. The possessive Alpha who’d wanted me for himself at

war with the man who’d promised to try. “It’s not what I wanted,” he admitted. “I wanted you to be mine

alone. Just mine.”

My chest tightened. “Darius-”

୮

“But,” he continued, his voice rough, “I’d rather share you with them than lose you completely. I meant what

I said before. I’ll make this work. Even when it’s hard. Even when my wolf snarls about sharing. Because

you’re worth it.”

Killian leaned his shoulder against mine. “I know I joked about this before, but I’m serious now. I’m in this.

Completely. Whatever comes next, we face it together.”

“The bonds are complete,” Lucien said quietly. “I can feel them. All four connections, permanent and

strong. The Goddess did this for a reason. Multiple mate bonds are rare, but they exist in our history.

Usually during times of great change or threat. Maybe we’re meant for something bigger than just

ourselves.”

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