The Game Of Quadruplet Mates
Konstantin

The Games

There is nothing quite like the yearly Games. It's the best time of the year for we get to flaunt what we have, what we are and what we can do while others just watch on with jealousy. We were royalty among these peasants and it was great. Our power can be felt throughout the entire event and it was glorious. I have basked in it yearly and it's truly unfortunate that it's my last year.

Like every year, we get here early in flashy long limousines, popping bottles and showering each other with wealth. We're always early because we technically own the Games and control everything about it. That and little miss Princess Cora wants to scout for a mate early.

But the Alpha she wants will never come.

It's our last year.

And he still hasn't come.

Cora's obsession with Alpha Ajax has everything to do with his title and his, as she calls it, 'hot body' that was made only for her. He's everything she's dreamed of since we were younger and growing up with her, I've heard it all multiple times. She wanted a bad boy, a dangerous man with tattoos that hated everyone but her.

He would only adore her.

As if.

They only met once and it was when he was threatening her father with war, but it was all it took. The moment she saw him, she knew he would be hers.

Cora likes to think that Alpha Ajax was waging war for her, but really she's just delusional and in love with titles. She loves that he's the strongest of them all, that he's made himself known and she is hungry for that. Hungry for power and fame.

The one that tamed the monster.

Her entire dowry was made to attract him.

Land. Money. And a beautiful bride by his side.

It was sickening.

And it seemed that with the way he was openly avoiding her, he felt the same way.

I've never liked her and it irks me that I am her Beta. The last thing I want to do with my life is to be the spoiled brat's permanent servant. If it wasn't for the fact that Jeremy would take my position as Beta, I would have already resigned and lived a fruitful life fuck ing women until I died.

But here we are. And I hate it.

I hate Cora, but not as much as I hate Jeremy. Ever since we were younger and he was raised among us- he shouldn't be, for being some dirty half breed, but he was and the prick was better at everything than me. He was more handsome, he was stronger and he had everyone's attention despite being a mistake.

But Jeremy charmed everyone with those baby blue eyes and everyone falls in love with him. It was annoying. If it wasn't for my father, who demanded that impure blood must not touch titles, Jeremy would have been the Beta.

But I did love it when everyone turned on him every time I reminded them of who he really is.

A half breed.

Dirty.

Unworthy.

Not one of us.

His own mother hated him. The sight of Jeremy was a reminder of her transgressions. And there's nothing worse in this life when a pure blooded Alpha mates with dirty blood. That was her mistake and she made sure it was removed from her sight. In short, she got rid of him, somehow, someway. I might have helped.

Might.

But he was gone and, for a while, I was finally the star. I was finally the best. I was finally the main event.

It was perfect until that monster of an Alpha took him in- he should have been eaten instead- and made Jeremy his Beta, yet again making Jeremy the star.

The talk of everyone.

I didn't understand the obsession.

I have everything he has and more, but why was it always him?

"KONSTANTIN!" A demanding shout broke through my thoughts as I obediently went into the tent where the Princess was staying for the majority of the Games. She hates mingling with poor folk. Something about how it darkened her skin from all their life problems. I leaned against a chair by the entrance. The faster I could leave her the better. "What is it?"

Her wide eyes sparkled. "Is he here?"

It took everything in me not to roll my eyes. "No."

She lifted a perfectly shaped eyebrow. "You know what this means, right?"

"That you won't stop talking about him?" I was losing patience. On and on she's been about this Alpha. It never stopped.

Cora clicks her tongue. "I d i o t. Father would force us to mate! I can't mate with anyone else. Anyone lower than you would be an insult."

"I'd rather eat my own shit." But I already knew this. He already spoke to me about it and my parents and my grandparents. Everyone told me that I was to mate with the great Cora and that it was an honor.

"I'm sure that's easy for you Konstant- shit." She knew how to piss me off well, using the nickname Jeremy made for me. "Find him or you'll be stuck with me for the rest of your life and I will warn you now, I will not be easy to deal with once mated." So... everything I am dealing with now is easy?

This was easy?

Shit.

Tired of arguing with a wall, I lift my hands up in defeat. "I don't know what you expect me to do, Cora. The man doesn't like you and he lives on some faraway mountain top that no one can go to." "That's what he wants to come across." She easily reasons like a pathetic little girl waiting for her Prince Charming that was obviously not coming.

A sigh leaves my lips. "I can't believe the city pack is going to fall into your hands. We're going to be fucked."

"All I hear are complaints." She wiggles her perfectly manicured finger at me. "Why don't you make yourself useful and get out there? Be my watchdog and let me know when he comes. I have to be prepared."

"He's not coming, Cora." I bit out every word, hoping she understood how foolish she was being. "The best thing to do is to replace a way to get out of mating each other. There has to be others..."

Cora turns her nose up at me. "Don't act as if I want you. You already have like twenty five children to feed. That's a baggage I'll never claim."

This time, I rolled my eyes. I must have already bedded thousands and thousands of women at this point in my life. All in search for that contentment... that satisfaction, but so far it hasn't been filled, the void only getting bigger. "Those aren't proven. They aren't mine."

She looks at my crotch as well, only she does it with disinterest. "Do me a favor and keep your pants on for this year's Games? If I do have to mate with you I don't want a used penis."

I smirked, glancing down at my crotch. "Oh, this is used."

"I know that's why I don't want it." Cora bites back, her face full of disgust. "Now get out of my face. I need to retouch my makeup."

"He could be gay, you know." I drawled out to try and piss her off.

As always, it works. "Go fuck yourself, Konstantin."

I shrugged, leaning closer to her so she could see how serious I was. "I'm not joking. Everyone says he doesn't touch any women-hasn't touched anyone and many have tried. So many. But he only ever keeps Jeremy close."

"That's because Jeremy is my cousin and wants to be closer to me." She easily reasons yet again, having an answer for everything.

"You're impossible. I give up." I growled, blowing out a breath.

Cora rolled her eyes again, waving me away like I was some dog. "Good. Shoo. Leave me alone. I don't want him thinking I'm even considering you."

"Of course." Yet again, a reminder that not even this spoiled brat wanted me. Not that I wanted her, but the repeated rejection, of being pushed away to the side was starting to annoy me.

When would I be first?

When will the day come that someone sees me first? And chooses me? And only me?

Frustrated and more angry than I should be, I leave Cora's VIP tent and join the festivities. The music is loud and spirits are high as more and more packs arrive at the Games. The contrast between the rich and poor has never been more obvious. The jewels, the glamour, the ones stuffing their faces like they've never seen so much food.

Grabbing a bottle of the strongest from Cora's personal stock, I opened it with my teeth and promptly leaned my head back to drown myself in alcohol. I caught a few eyes looking at me, looking at my identifier, and I see them lick their lips, ready for that title. Again. Just the title.

Not me.

A girl came forward, brave and sultry eyed. "Hi, Beta."

She smelled of the sea and her tanned skin only proved my point. The girl was hot, hotter with her dress that had such a low neck line and showing me just about everything I needed to know from her to know she was going to be a very good time for me. A very good distraction.

I could already see her hard nipples through her dress and could smell her strong arousal.

But it wasn't an arousal for me.

It was for my title.

My pack.

"Would you like some company?" She was smiling at me with a promise of more than just company and any other day I would have accepted, let this girl make me momentarily forget that my life is s hit but somehow... I don't get as hard as I usually do. It was as limp as I was staring at an old grandma.

"Leave." I merely said with a sigh, turning around and gesturing to the nearby guards. "Get her out of here."

The guards rushed forward, grabbing her arms and dragging her away.

I didn't even watch her go, my attention was on the bottle I was drinking. If I were Jeremy, women would throw themselves at my feet just because I was Jeremy.

Handsome. Charming. And could easily command a room if he wanted to.

And what was I?

A drunk?

A servant to a brat?

Invisible if not for a title given to me? I didn't even earn it. Jeremy was supposed to be the Beta. This title was just his leftovers.

"He's here." A guard whispered to me.

I frown. That can't be. "The Alpha?"

He shakes his head. "Jeremy."

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Jeremy, with all his heavenly fucking glory, was heading to a tent, a VIP tent made for Alphas and making it his own. He was flanked by his finest fighters, all looking intimating in their nameless aura. Jeremy didn't even look at me when he passed but I knew he knew I was here. He just didn't think I was worthy of his attention.

As if I didn't have enough problems already. It was my last year at the Games and he just had to ruin it.

Like always.

Like everything else.

I threw the bottle on the ground, shattering glass everywhere. The price of the bottle was probably worth several years of coin for the farm lands. But money wasn't an issue and I would soon throw five hundred bottles of that if I had to be in the same vicinity as that dirty blooded fool.

"Get me another!" I bellowed to the guards.

They scramble to retrieve another bottle from Cora's special collection and I quickly down the entire thing like my life depended on it.

I walked to the lake, ignoring the adoring eyes of whatever girl looked my way, and stared into the blue waters. Even for the city pack, this place is breathtakingly beautiful and I replace solace in that, leaning against the tree and letting my erratic breathing even out. When I was finally calm enough, I turned back to the Games, watching everyone look for their potential mates. Eager boys and girls mingle, sniffing identifiers and questioning dowries. It made me wonder what it would be like if the Alpha did come and I was free of Cora. I wonder what girl I would end up with.

Probably from the city.

Though I've slept with all of them.

And none really stood out to me.

The dowry didn't really matter. I was rich enough to feed all the packs in the world for generations to come. Blood rank and title did matter, but there was only Cora available and there was no way I was willingly going to mate with her. My dick can't even get hard with the sight of her.

But it was duty.

A duty I hope to get out of.

Looking at the attendees this year, I felt jealous. Everyone was happy, excited, enjoying every second of it and then there was me, dreading the end of it.

For that would mean Cora.

Goddess knows I've had enough of her in this lifetime.

I did feel lonely though.

Very lonely.

And if I let myself feel, really feel, I am desperately sad. I had no one. There was no joy anywhere. The people here wanted me for my title, Cora needed me so that she wouldn't be embarrassed and I... I didn't even know what I wanted- what I needed. This event was supposed to give me a mate, a partner for life, but I have nothing. I had no control of what was going to happen.

Because the Games are a business deal.

That's what we were taught.

This is not for love or companionship.

We have lost that long ago.

I look at the faces of these happy attendees and feel such overwhelming bitterness and jealousy that I order another drink with a snap of my fingers. It was brought to me quickly, the servants placing it in my awaiting hand. About to take another sip and tip my head back, I froze, my eyes replaceing the first interesting thing in the crowd.

There, across the gardens, was this invisible girl, pretty and small, and being disregarded by everyone. She looked so cheerful, waiting there, but everyone seemed to reject her. Interested at first and then left alone a second later. The feeling was all too familiar. She was a pretty thing, not beautiful but pretty enough, except her smile... now that was beautiful. It was a small, hopeful little movement of her lips that grabbed most of the attention from the boys that looked. It was bright, like sunshine, making it hard not to look.

But I could smell her from where I stood.

Like dung.

Like shit.

A one.

The lowest of the low.

At any other time I could have put my nose up and felt disgust towards this poor little thing, but not this time. This time, I didn't care.

"Make sure we're not disturbed." I said to no one in particular, but I know the nearby city pack guards we brought heard whatever I said. It's their job to hear. Their duty to follow. "And learn what you can from her. I want to know everything."

Without waiting to see if they heard me, I walked towards the girl with the beautiful smile, my eyes only on her. She was looking towards the lake, just like I was and she was upset. The last boy that talked to her made her look down at her hands.

I quietly ordered the guards to take him away. Anyone that stops her from smiling should be thrown out of the Games.

When I was finally close enough, I was suddenly nervous but I pushed this away, mustering words to say to her.

I've spoken to hundreds of women in my life, bedded even more. Talking was never a problem before. At least before her.

She was a breath of fresh air with her immediate wariness and uncertainty towards me. She knows who I am and what my title is- what my rank is, but she doesn't care. She still didn't trust me and it showed. I could see it in her eyes that she was trying to understand my agenda with her and was waiting for me to leave like everyone else, but I stayed.

I'm alarmed by how quickly I seemed to enjoy our conversation. The little that she participated in. She was witty and smart but sweet yet suspicious.

It was intriguing.

"What's your name?" I asked a little too excitedly.

"June," She says ever so softly.

My heart started to beat at a different tune and I couldn't help but smile. "June," I found myself repeating. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Konstantin."

She didn't look surprised to know my name.

But she didn't look impressed either.

She gave another small smile. "And you, Beta."

At that moment, I realized that she was beautiful. Not pretty, but really beautiful. The innocence, the pureness of her interaction. It was so different than what I'm used to.

And I told her this.

That she's beautiful and she took a step back as if too surprised by being called as such.

I asked her to lunch. I would have asked for her entire weekend but that might frighten her away. So I just ask for lunch, have everything else planned later but she doesn't respond, her face frozen in this expression of disbelief.

Was she still thinking about how I called her beautiful?

She was adorable.

June was so adorable.

I asked her again, calling her name this time, and for the first time, she looked impressed with me. I felt proud of that, like I earned that reaction all by myself.

But, of course, I could never have anything for myself because, with all his filthy glory, Jeremy came to her side, a possessive expression on his face.

Jeremy frowned at me, his blue eyes that everyone loves sharp like daggers. He looked at me as though I was stealing something of his, but I found June all on my own and I deserved to have at least have this moment alone with her. Why did he have to take and take?

Why couldn't he leave anything for me?

And he smooth talked her and she cut like butter to him.

My chest tightens at the sight and when he calls me that childish nickname in front of her, she laughs, breaking my heart a little bit.

June was staring at him the way everyone else does, like he was a God, like no one could compare. And those blue eyes seemed to s**k her in completely, forgetting all about me.

All for the pretty boy.

It hurt.

But didn't I come first?

Didn't I approach her first?

The worst part is that Jeremy looked to be just as interested as she was with him.

And just like that, he plucks her from me. The attention was all on him yet again, making a fool of me in the process.

Just when I think it couldn't get worse, Cora calls me from across the gardens, demanding my presence like some servant under her feet. I tried to resist her order to stay with June, but Cora was still my future Alpha and I could not refuse her, no matter how much I hated it.

I glanced at June just before I left, her eyes on me now, waiting for me to answer my Alpha's call. She didn't look at me with laughter in her eyes, but with understanding like she knew what it was like and, if it was possible, was encouraging towards what I had to do. My heart swelled twice its size.

Such a pure girl.

I'll come back for you. I tried to say, but Jeremy was already tugging her towards the tables where food was waiting for them.

Something inside me twists and I know I won't stop until June is mine.

I didn't care who was in my way. I didn't care who wanted me. I only wanted her.

"Did he come?" Cora asked the moment I got inside her tent. She was so excited, her smile the biggest I've ever seen.

"Just Jeremy." My jaw was locked shut as I said his name.

Her disappointment was instantaneous. "That traitor? Did he even sign up and pay the dues?"

A tired laugh leaves my lips. "I doubt it."

She clicks her tongue in distaste. "They should really do a better job filtering these people."

"That I agree with." I settled on a seat across from her, my feet up on her golden table.

Smart, calculating eyes looked me up and down. "Do you like that girl?"

I don't insult her intelligence by playing dumb. She's always been smarter than she seemed. "What's it to you?"

The Alpha inside her stirs and I can feel it force me into my place. "Don't choose her."

I looked away, unable to take her prolonged stare. "You're not my mate."

"But I am your Alpha and it will look bad if you choose a one." Cora put her nose up, scrunching it as though the odor from June was repulsive. "I can smell her from here and it's disgusting. This is beneath you, Konstantin. We kill ones. Remember that."

I grit my teeth, feeling protective of June. "How could I forget?"

She waves me away. "Don't look so sad. There are plenty of girls that like you."

"They like my title." I clarified, unimpressed.

Cora smiled, happy about this. "Better. Then they'll know their place. You're my Beta. The Beta of the all powerful city pack. You will have me or the next best thing. My reputation will not be tarnished by who you put your penis into."

It took all the patience in the world not to throw her into the lake. "Cora,"

She interrupts me with a dagger like glare. "We don't mate with the lower race, Konstantin. That's always been the rule. Come on. There's a girl I know that's waiting to be chosen by you. She's had a crush on you since we were kids and her dowry is just wow." I blew out a breath. "Wealth is meaningless. I don't care about dowries."

"Everyone does." Her eyes narrowed. "You will not mate with that girl. Not the one. That's an order, Beta."

I feel myself forcefully bowing to her words. A Beta to his Alpha. "Is there anything else?"

Cora's cruel eyes shined bright. "Stay here with me."

My heart sank in my chest. "What?"

"Until he arrives, I want you here with me." She pats the couch she was sitting on, trying to look seductive. "Away from them. I want all of the people to see that you're obsessed with me."

But June.

I wanted to be out there with June.

"You're with an Alpha, Konstantin." Cora muses, flashing me her immaculate long legs. "Start looking grateful for it."

I've never been so repulsed in my life. There are only two girls in this world I'll never ever want in that way: my mother and Cora.

All I could see, all I wanted to see, was June and her bright smile, the way she looked at me with such wariness and then, when I had earned it, her genuine happiness.

Cora does not release me from her custody until we hear the announcement that all attendees must gather inside the mansion. I was all too excited to leave her, rushing to the mansion without even a second glance and scanning the crowd for June.

I did not see her at first and it had everything to do with the fact that girls blocked my way.

"Hi, Beta." They greeted, lips pursed. "I was thinking of doing that thing that you like."

I don't even remember her.

As I turned the other way, another girl came in front of me. "Beta, it's your last year. I hope you received my father's invitation. He increased my dowry for you."

Money was irrelevant.

"Beta, hi, I just wanted to introduce myself—"

Where is June?

Why isn't she here?

The announcements were about to... I saw her then, by Jeremy's side as he fawned over her, giving her that smile, that signature sparkle of blue eyes. He was pulling all the stops for her.

It was so unlike Jeremy to give such attention to anyone. He kept to himself, loved being by himself. He teased and charmed when necessary but never made it his priority.

I didn't like it.

Something was amiss.

The girls he had been with were quick and easy releases, but none were like this. None he gave real effort on.

But why June? Why is he suddenly like this to the girl I want to be with? Is he doing this to get back at me?

If Cora noticed, he must have to.