Nyx's POV
The slap echoed through the ballroom like a gunshot.
I'd been at the Alpha Summit for exactly twelve minutes when I saw it happen—a large alpha warrior backhanding an omega server so hard she crashed into a table. Wine glasses shattered. The girl didn't make a sound, just scrambled to pick up the pieces with shaking hands.
Everyone around them kept talking, laughing, pretending they hadn't seen anything.
Just like they used to pretend they didn't see what the Four did to me.
My feet were moving before I could think.
"Clumsy bitch," the alpha snarled, grabbing the girl's hair. "Maybe you need another lesson in—"
I caught his wrist mid-swing.
"Touch her again," I said quietly, "and you'll lose that hand."
The ballroom went silent. Hundreds of wolves turned to stare. The alpha's face went red with rage—he was twice my size, built like a tank, with scars that said he'd won plenty of fights.
"Who the hell are you?" he growled.
"Someone who's had enough of watching alphas act like animals." I twisted his wrist just enough to make him wince. My eyes flared violet. "Apologize to her."
He tried to yank free, but my grip was iron. Five years of training had made me strong—stronger than most alphas, even if they didn't know it yet.
"I don't apologize to omegas," he spat.
Wrong answer.
I swept his legs and dropped him face-first onto the floor. Before he could recover, I had my heel pressed against the back of his neck, pinning him down. The omega girl stared at me with wide, shocked eyes.
"Still don't want to apologize?" I asked sweetly.
The alpha struggled, but I just pressed harder. Around us, alphas were bristling, ready to defend one of their own. I could feel their hostility like heat waves. Good. Let them see what happened when they messed with wolves weaker than themselves.
"I'm... sorry," the alpha choked out.
"Louder."
"I'm sorry!"
I stepped back, letting him scramble to his feet. His face was purple with humiliation. "Next time, think twice before hitting someone who can't fight back."
He looked like he wanted to attack me, but something in my eyes—or maybe the violet glow—made him back down. He shoved through the crowd and disappeared.
I turned to the omega girl. "Are you okay?"
She nodded quickly, tears streaming down her face. "Thank you. Thank you so much."
"Don't thank me. Just remember—you're worth more than how they treat you."
I helped her gather the broken glasses, ignoring the shocked whispers exploding around me. Nobody defended omegas at these events. Nobody challenged alpha warriors. Especially not a woman in a cocktail dress.
But I wasn't just any woman.
As I straightened up, I felt them. Four pairs of eyes locked onto me with laser focus. The attention made my skin prickle, made my wolf stir restlessly inside me.
No, I told her firmly. We're not doing this.
But my body had other ideas. Slowly, I turned toward the source of that burning attention.
And there they were.
The Four.
Five years had changed them from boys to men. Kade stood tallest, his black hair perfectly styled, ice-blue eyes sharp as knives. He wore power like a second skin now—every inch the alpha heir. Beside him, Damon had gotten bigger, more muscular, his gold eyes tracking my every move like I was prey. Ash looked like he'd stepped out of a magazine, platinum hair and mercury-grey eyes that could freeze or seduce depending on his mood. And Ryker... Ryker's red-amber eyes saw too much, just like they always had.
They were beautiful. Dangerous. Everything I remembered and worse.
My wolf screamed: MATES!
I shoved her down hard. They'd given up any right to that bond when they threw me off a cliff.
Kade moved first, cutting through the crowd like it didn't exist. The others followed. I forced myself to stand perfectly still, even though every instinct said to run. Not from fear—from the magnetic pull trying to drag me toward them.
"That was quite a show," Kade said, his voice deeper than I remembered. Colder. "I don't believe we've met."
He extended his hand.
I stared at it for a heartbeat. This was the hand that had grabbed my wrist five years ago. The hand that had pointed toward the Forbidden Highlands. The hand that had condemned me to death.
Now it was waiting for me to shake it like we were civilized people.
I took it.
The moment our skin touched, electricity exploded between us. Raw, primal, impossible to ignore. Kade's eyes went wide, his whole body going rigid. I felt his wolf slam against his control, felt the bond trying desperately to snap into place.
MATE, his wolf roared so loudly I could practically hear it. MINE. OURS. MATE.
I pulled my hand back smoothly, like nothing had happened. "Valdis," I said. "Just Valdis."
"Valdis." Damon stepped forward, his warrior instincts making him assess me as a threat. "That name's been making waves in the underground. They say you're a ghost. That you make corrupt alphas disappear."
"They exaggerate." I met his eyes. "I just encourage bad alphas to be better."
He held out his hand too, and like an idiot, I took it. Same explosion. Same electric shock. Same desperate wolf howl: MATE!
Damon's breath caught. His gold eyes blazed, and for a second, I thought he'd pull me close. But he controlled himself, barely.
Ash was next, his smile predatory. "Any woman who can drop Marcus Greyhound deserves my attention." His handshake was firm, deliberate. And brought the same reaction—his wolf recognizing what his human side refused to see.
MATE!
His smile faltered. Confusion flickered across his perfect features.
Finally, Ryker. He studied me like he was trying to solve a puzzle, his hand extended slowly. When we touched, the jolt was stronger—maybe because he was the one who'd known what I was all along, even if he hadn't been sure.
MATE! MATE! MATE!
His face went pale. "Impossible," he breathed.
I tilted my head innocently. "What's impossible?"
"Nothing." But his hand tightened on mine before letting go, like his wolf had taken control for just a second. "It's an honor to meet you, Valdis."
The four of them exchanged glances. They were confused, I could tell. Alphas didn't share mates—it violated every rule of pack bonding. But all four of their wolves had just claimed the same woman.
Me.
The omega they'd destroyed.
My wolf was going berserk inside me, trying to force the bond to complete. It hurt—physically hurt—to resist it. But I'd endured worse pain. This was nothing compared to three years of torture.
"I've heard so much about the Four," I said, my voice light and pleasant. "The strongest alpha heirs in the werewolf world. Such impressive reputations."
"You know of us?" Kade's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Everyone knows of you." I smiled, letting it show just a hint of teeth. "In fact, I heard an interesting story recently. About an omega at Silvermoon Academy who was tortured for three years. They say the Four made her life so miserable that she..." I paused deliberately. "Well, I heard she died. Is that true?"
The color drained from Kade's face. Damon went rigid. Ash's smile disappeared completely. Ryker's eyes locked onto mine with sudden, terrible understanding.
"Where did you hear that?" Kade's voice was carefully controlled.
"Oh, you know how stories spread." I waved a hand dismissively. "Probably just rumors. I mean, surely four respected alphas wouldn't actually torture an omega to death." I let my eyes meet each of theirs. "Right?"
None of them answered.
The guilt on their faces was delicious.
"Well," I said brightly, "it was lovely meeting you all. I'm sure we'll be seeing much more of each other."
I turned and walked away, feeling their eyes burning into my back. My wolf was howling in protest, the incomplete bond pulling at something deep in my chest. Each step away from them felt like walking through fire.
But I kept my head high and my smile in place.
Let the games begin, I thought.
I made it exactly three steps before Ryker's voice stopped me cold.
"Nyx."
The name was barely a whisper, but in the silent ballroom, everyone heard it.
I froze. How? How did he know?
I turned slowly, schooling my expression into confusion. "I'm sorry, who?"
Ryker stared at me, his red-amber eyes seeing straight through my disguise. "Your eyes. I've seen those eyes before." He stepped closer, and the other three watched with growing alarm. "Five years ago. In the forest. Right after—"
"After what?" I interrupted. "After you murdered an omega?"
The accusation hung in the air like poison.
Kade moved forward. "Ryker, what are you talking about?"
But Ryker ignored him, still focused on me. "You're supposed to be dead."
I smiled, and this time it wasn't sweet at all. "Dead? No. But I did die that night." I let my eyes glow violet—just for a second. "What survived is something much worse."
I walked away before they could react, my heart pounding so hard I thought it might explode.
Behind me, I heard Damon's shocked voice: "That's impossible. We watched her fall. We searched for her."
"Then we didn't search hard enough," Ash said quietly.
And Kade, his voice hollow: "What have we done?"
I kept walking, kept smiling, even though my whole body was shaking.
They knew.
They knew who I was.
And somehow, that made everything so much more dangerous.