"How did you find this place?" Soren asked with a frown.

Both Violet and I stiffened slightly at the cold tone of his voice.

That was his first question? After seeing his chosen mate for the first time after who-knows-how-many days apart? I was shocked, but I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. For once, Soren’s ire wasn’t directed at me, and the fact was as surprising as it was welcome.

Even Violet seemed caught off guard, not expecting Soren’s tone to be so cold and distant, and for his words to sound more like an accusation rather than a question of concern. She blinked, the tears that had welled in her eyes now forgotten to shed. It was as though her eyes had promptly sucked back the tears they had painstakingly produced for her little act once they realized the audience wasn’t liking it.

If it weren’t for the gravity of the situation, I would’ve burst out laughing. The expression on her face was priceless. If this had happened back in Shadowclaw before they had gotten married, I would’ve definitely laughed out loud.

"I..." Violet said, her eyes rapidly blinking as she turned to look at the three men in the room.

Rowan and Soren looked annoyed by her presence. Even Cassian looked like he wanted to see her gone. I could understand Rowan and Soren’s reactions, but I couldn’t understand why Cassian looked ready to send Violet packing. Wasn’t he the most attached to Violet? I could never recall a moment when he was gentle towards me or unkind towards Violet.

Not saying that he was gentle towards me right now, but he certainly looked at Violet as though she was the bane of his existence at the current moment.

That was evidently the same thing Violet thought of as well. She turned to look at Cassian desperately, most likely hoping to gain his support. However, rather than put in a few words in her favor, Cassian nodded in agreement with his brother.

"The location of this safehouse isn’t made known to the people in Shadowclaw," Cassian said. "How did you track us down here?"

It was unlikely for Violet to have followed them all the way. If they were mated, then their presence would’ve been much more obvious to each other than two strangers. Besides, that would’ve also meant that Violet would’ve appeared here on day one, not just now.

There was no way the three Alphas hadn’t noticed her trailing them. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Unless... she wasn’t the one trailing them.

My heart sank a little as a name popped into my mind. I didn’t want to believe that it was her. However, it made more sense than I would like to admit.

"Silly," Violet said, smiling. Dimples appeared on her cheeks, adding to the look of sweetness she wore. "I am not just a random pack member in Shadowclaw. I am your mate and your Luna. Of course I’ll be able to find this place."

She didn’t forget to shoot me a gloating look, stressing the words ’mate’ and ’luna’ like her life depended on it.

Soren and Cassian shared a look, while Rowan downright frowned.

On the other hand, I felt my chest ache. For some reason, her words brought more physical pain to me than I would like to admit. It felt as though someone had jabbed me in the chest with a blunt silver baton before pressing hot coals on my neck where Rowan’s mark was.

Immediately, I knew why I felt this pain.

Violet had never held back when using cleverly phrased sentences and carefully selected words to hurt me. However, it never felt like this before I wasn’t marked. Whatever I felt had just been a very human reaction of sadness, paired with just a little tinge of supernatural effects caused by the fact that I was their fated mate.

This time, it was different because the connection between Rowan and me had been made permanent. The problem, however, was that he had another mate at the same time― albeit chosen.

I wasn’t sure whether or not Violet knew about the fact that Rowan had marked me. However, because she was aware that I was the Alphas’ fated mate, she looked at me haughtily, carefully waiting for me to react.

On the other hand, I tried my hardest not to give her what she wanted. I maintained a cold expression.

"If you’re here to kiss and make up for lost time, feel free to head back to your room," I coolly said. "I’ve had a very long day, and I would like to rest. Good night and good riddance."

With that said, I didn’t care about the fact that there were four unwanted visitors in my room at the moment. I crawled straight into bed, worming under the covers.

"That’s all you have to say?" Cassian said through gritted teeth. "We’re not done with you yet."

He stormed straight over, ripping the covers off me before chucking them to the floor.

"Hey!" I yelled in surprise, fully not expecting Cassian to pay me a sliver of attention now that Violet had arrived. "I was using that."

"You can’t go to sleep right now," Soren said with a frown. "You’re coming with us."

"With you?!" I echoed, alarmed. "What for?"

Sweet Goddess. They had better not make me sit through another one of their episodes again. I didn’t have the energy to play these mind games with them. Adding on to the fact that Rowan had now marked me, if he really did anything physically sexual with Violet, I might actually die from a forcibly induced heartache.

Without answering my question, Rowan stepped forward. He slipped his hand under my body. Without so much as breaking a sweat, he hauled me in the air and threw me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

The world spun around me before I finally came face to face with his behind, along with a front row view of Violet’s face of gloating. She looked absolutely delighted that I was being manhandled that way, and clearly, her mind had gone straight to the gutter as well when she heard that I was supposed to go with them somewhere.

The Alphas paid Violet no mind. All three of them raced straight towards where I assumed was their bedroom. Throughout the short walk, I didn’t spot even a single guard present.

It didn’t take long before we ended up in front of a pair of large double doors. Soren was up ahead, and as the first one, he pushed and entered the room. Then, it was Rowan, carrying me. Last but not least, Cassian stormed into the room.

Right as Violet was about to enter, Cassian held the door and turned around.

"A guard will show you to a spare bedroom," Cassian curtly said. "Please excuse us. There are some urgent matters that we have to attend to."