Fated and Claimed by Four Alphas

**************

~Spring's POV~

I sat down beside Storm again. For a moment, it was dead quiet.

Then, from the front, a boy with a sharp jaw and a nose that seemed permanently tilted up muttered just loud enough, "Clearly someone's good at kissing more than just her mates…"

Storm's eyes snapped to him, glowing faintly as he sat forward, elbows on the desk. "You want to repeat that, Ryland?" he asked in a calm but oh, so lethal.

The guy stiffened, glancing away. "I didn't mean—"

"Then don't say it," Storm said. "Because I don't care how long you've been in this class, if you insult her again, I'll personally make sure you can't speak for a week."

Another voice piped up behind me—some girl, no doubt another wannabe Serissa. "Wow, Storm. Didn't realize we had to worship your mate too."

"You don't have to worship her," Kael said coolly. "But you will respect her."

The girl's face tightened. She glanced around for backup. None came.

"Worshipping her works too. And just so we're clear," Tyrion added without looking up from the book he'd started flipping through, "if you have a problem with her presence, then you're going to have a bigger problem with all four of us. Choose wisely."

The room fell into a heavy silence after that. Even the teacher looked vaguely impressed before shaking her head and turning to the board again.

"Well, now that the alpha showdown is over…" she said dryly, writing something on the board. "Let's continue."

Storm leaned closer and whispered, "Nice intro. You sounded like a queen."

I smiled at him. "I am one."

"You're my queen," he said, brushing his fingers over the back of my hand.

"And mine," Jace added from behind me with a soft laugh.

Kael said nothing, but I felt his gaze linger.

Tyrion didn't speak either, but when I glanced to the side, he gave the faintest nod of approval.

My heart warmed. Yeah, I had just walked into the lion's den—but I didn't walk in alone.

Jade's voice purred smugly in my mind. "Tell me again how you thought this was going to be hard. Please. Just look at your fan club."

I bit back a laugh, focusing on the board, ignoring the whispers and the side-eyes.

They could do so for all I care but I had earned my seat and nothing—not rumours, not bitterness, not the jealous glares of girls who thought the world owed them crowns—was going to move me from it.

***************

~Eryx's POV~

She was coming down the stairs again.

That soft, unbothered elegance in her walk. The way her hair shimmered under the morning light filtering through the stained-glass window.

She wasn't even trying—and yet, I could barely breathe.

Spring.

I leaned back in the dining chair as Kaius' voice reached her first. He was trying. Awkwardly, but trying.

His tone was softer than yesterday, less edgy, more cautious. He asked her to join in for a meal.

Typical big brother stuff. Spring nodded, answered politely, then moved to head for the front door.

And I—I couldn't let her go like that.

"Spring," I said, rising from my seat.

She paused, her hand on the bannister, eyes turning to me. Those eyes always managed to see straight through me. As if they'd known me long before I ever existed.

"Come eat first."

She looked like she was about to argue, but I didn't give her a chance. I walked toward her, wrapped my hand gently around her wrist, and tugged her with me toward the dining table.

"Eryx, I'm not—"

"Sit," I said, taking my seat and pulling her down onto my lap before she could even finish her sentence.

She yelped, soft and surprised, wriggling slightly. "What are you doing?"

"Feeding you."

I picked up a piece of crispy chicken, warm and fragrant, and held it to her lips. "Open."

Her brows furrowed. "Are you serious right now?"

"Deadly."

She huffed, but parted her lips. I slipped the piece into her mouth and watched as she chewed—reluctantly at first.

She continued eating what I had fed her until Rhys mentioned that we looked like a couple.

Sure enough, Spring froze, but for me it was natural.

And then when she ate again, her lips glistened with oil. Just a small stain. A smudge of sauce that should've been nothing, but it drove me insane.

I didn't think. I didn't mean to.

I leaned in, and I licked the sauce from the corner of her lips slowly.

And the moment our skin touched, something inside me shifted.

She froze. Everyone froze.

Kaius and Rhys stared like I'd grown a second head.

But I didn't regret it, because in that moment, I tasted the one thing I was slowly realising I couldn't live without.

Her… Spring.

*************

Later...

I pretended it hadn't shaken me. Pretended her weight on my lap hadn't made my heart slam against my chest like it wanted to be heard.

I cracked a joke, defused the awkwardness, and tickled her until she ran off to school with pink cheeks and mumbled curses.

But the truth, I'd been spiraling since that morning.

No, since before.

It started small.

I was that close to her until Rose came into the picture, and everything changed when she sent that message.

That, plus the fact that Rose always portrayed her as bad, made us drift apart, but after my rebirth, I wanted to get close to her; yeah, that's when it began.

As I relived our younger years, our questions and answer segment, old feelings returned and bloomed.

A glance too long. A hug that lingered. A laugh that made my stomach tighten. The way she walked around in oversized shirts when she was sleepy.

The scent of lavender and something wild whenever she passed too close. The softness in her eyes when she looked at me.

It wasn't just affection.

It wasn't just protectiveness.

I was falling for her.

And that terrified me, because I wasn't supposed to.

Spring wasn't just Spring.

She was our sister—or at least raised like one. Even if the blood between us didn't tie us, the memories did.

I was the one who taught her to ride a bike. The one who used to chase bullies off her tail in grade school. The one who cleaned her scraped knees and braided her hair when Mom was too busy.

But now?

Now I dreamed of kissing her again, of pulling her closer. Of doing things brothers did not do.

I'd seen the way she looked at Storm. And Tyrion. Jace. Kael. She had something real with them, something destined.

I should've bowed out gracefully. I should've respected that closeness, but gods help me, I didn't want to.

Because the longer I watched her, the more I realized I'd never known what love was before her.

The loyalty, the laughter, the silent understanding. The way she saw the broken pieces of me and never tried to glue them back—she just held them.

And this morning… That taste still burned on my tongue.

Her lips and smile... Spring wasn't a little girl anymore, and I wasn't her brother, not really.

Not anymore.

"What do I do?"