The Game Of Quadruplet Mates
More of Jeremy

The fight ended quickly.

Konstantin is no great warrior. He has never been one and I felt pity as I stared down at him, half shifted in desperation and abandoned by his Alpha.

The man, for all his faults, unconsciously saved me by taking the Beta position that I was to have. In doing so, I was able to be free from that wretched place and, though I didn't see it at the time, I'm now grateful for it.

It's true. I was bitter. I was upset that Konstantin was chosen over me, but as I see him now; trapped and serving my cousin's every whim, I can't help but thank him. If he wasn't there, I would have been and it was not his intention to do so, but I've never been happier. That's not to say what he did to me was forgivable. He treated me horribly and made everyone do it too. They drove me out of the pack, making me lose my home and the little that I had left of me. "And you call yourself a Beta." He knows what it meant.

And I can see his eyes widen as I say it.

I took a step back from him, my eyes to the crowd as I fingered the bracelet on my wrist. June was just behind me before the fight started but she was nowhere in sight now. I held that bracelet like it was my own, searching the crowd over and over and over, side stepping away from the girls that tried to speak to me and from boys that congratulated me.

Where was June?

I could see her friend in the crowd, the girl she's always with. That meant June was either alone or someone took her.

But Konstantin is here...

"Jeremy," My pack walks up to me. "Is it true? Your announcement to the Alpha? You're going to choose the girl?"

I nodded, replaceing myself smiling. "Yes. If I can replace her."

"Well, we're happy for you. Never expected this." They all looked around as well. "She was just here."

"Enjoy the festivities first." I tell them, eyes still searching. "We'll reconvene tonight. Gather the information that you can." "Yes, Beta."

After checking the clearing and making sure she wasn't there, I headed back to the mansion to try and replace June. By the time the next event started, I was getting worried. She wasn't anywhere and then I remember how she stared at the lake, how she went there to be alone.

What I replace there makes me freeze and my chest tightens like another heart attack because June was there as I was hoping for but she was... she was naked, completely naked and she was about to jump in the water. There was so much of her to see that I found my body taken by an unfamiliar surge of desire.

I tried not to look, I tried to force my eyes up, but it was hard because she was truly beautiful and my hands shook as they tempted me with touch. She was so close, all I had to do was reach for her.

Women, they never thrilled me much until today. They were without face or name or emotion, just a way for me to release, but looking at June now, I've never felt such passion, such burning need that made my heart beat wildly with my body feeling hot all over. The ache and the hunger were breaking the little control I had left.

"June," I whispered, breathless.

The anger in her eyes was the one that stopped me in my tracks. Something happened.

She was startled, her lips parted in shock at the sight of me and I cannot read what was on her mind, but I know my presence, though surprising, was comforting because her square shoulders slackened, her fists that were balled up were released and her lips that were pressed thin parts.

June was scrambling to think of an explanation as I was scrambling to keep my eyes above her neck. If I let my gaze fall, to look lower, I would surely break and I would have her against the tree before we could both stop me. I wasn't a man particularly driven by my desires, but June was surely challenging this, making me weak and ravenous.

Thinking I needed a very cold shower to shock my body out of wanting to jump her, I started removing my clothes as well. The look June gave me nearly made me snap, making me think of throwing her down on the ground with me on top, but I forced myself back. "What are you doing?" She asked, her eyes drifting down to my pants.

Control. Must control. "We're skinning dipping, aren't we?"

I was painfully hard, the hardest I've ever been, the kind that makes me lightheaded. And it didn't help that June was staring at it.

But to be on equal grounds, I remove my underwear, my horrifically large and erected m*****d all but ready to take her.

She was panting. I could hear her short breaths and smell her... all of her.

I momentarily lost control of myself, standing behind her with my mouth close to her neck. It was all too easy to push her down, to have her like I have never had anyone else before.

Plagued with all the things we could do together, what I could make her feel and what I could teach her, I took her hand instead, interlacing them. There was plenty of time to do what I was thinking, long hours that I could have her for myself. For now. This was for us.

Everything else would all have to wait.

Because at the end of the weekend, I will have June for the rest of my life.

I will choose her and make things official... legal. She can stay in the pack, the Alpha will allow her to join us and life would be perfect.

It's that simple.

"Ready when you are, June."

Her face lights up, the smile on her face like an arrow to my heart. "Run."

The laugh that leaves my lips was like a weight off my chest and it only made it better when she laughs with me. Our hands clasped together, we don't stop running until we're completely submerged in the water. We swam to keep afloat and if I had hoped that the water could cover every little irresistible thing about her, it didn't.

But I didn't care.

All that mattered was her and us.

I have never felt this before, this happiness, this security in the arms of another. It was warm with her close despite the chill of the water and I just felt utterly content. I could live in this moment forever with June close, with her smile wide.

I'll never know a love like this.

Like her.

She was special.

She would be my mate and we would be happy until the end of our lives.

The way it should be.

Not unlike what I was taught it should.

All my life with my mother and the city pack, I have seen and experienced the hurt, the pain of what it feels like to love, to be betrayed by that love, but surely, this time, with June, I can give my all.

She deserves that much.

I can have a new purpose, not just revenge. My life could now be about keeping her safe, well fed and healthy.

This is it.

This is all I want.

Allowing myself this one thing, I reached for her face, waiting for her reaction just in case I had to pull away, but she leaned close and just as my lungs were about to explode, I pressed the softest kiss against her lips. It was gently, barely there, but it lit me up like a Christmas tree regardless.

Warm and electric at the same time, her sweet lips were something made from heaven and I wanted more, but I had already indulged myself too much, crossed a line I wasn't sure she was ready to take...

But then she pulled me close, bringing her lips back to mine. My insides are nearly shattered by the action and the last of my control leaves my body, kissing her like my life depended on it, kissing her like this was my last.

I pull us up to the surface, deepening the kiss, desperate for more of her. My hands were on her hips, my fingers digging under the soft skin and pressing us close. She was unintentionally grinding against my erection, making me dizzy.

Much too eagerly, I wrapped her legs around my waist until her hot core was pressed over my manhood. It was so easy... so so easy to simply slip inside her.

"Beautiful," I replace myself growling upon seeing her wet hair all around us, her wide eyes and her raw lips. "Fucking beautiful."

I will remember this forever.

Her.

With me.

"I want you." I nearly begged, my body shaking with need. She was on me, her slick entrance at the tip of me. "But we should wait."

It was physically painful to say this.

But if I wanted June the right way, I should do it the right way.

We had all the time to do so after she was marked and mine.

"Wait until tomorrow." I continued to kiss her, my teeth biting her lower lip and pulling it lightly. That's all I had to do; wait until tomorrow when the time is perfect. "What do you mean?" She whispered back, lips still on mine.

Her tongue was on my lip, teasing and making me growl once more. "Just wait."

Everything with June was simple and uncomplicated because even with this, when we're pulling away and she's smiling, her face flushed, it was unlike anything ever before. And then when we were splashing around, laughing at each other through the waves of water we sent, I felt like I was the luckiest man in the world.

She was so alluring, so addictive that the people, my pack members, attempting to speak with me were all shoved to the back of my mind for later.

June was more important.

When she asked me if I had mated with someone else, I felt instantly guilty, like I should have waited for her, but June's face was never judging, her expression understanding.

If she only knew that if I could, I would take it all back, because no one before her mattered. I would never touch anyone else but her. If I had known, if I knew I would be meeting her one day, then no one would have ever come close. Quietly, I swore to her that there would be no one else. No one to take her place in my heart.

June doesn't dwell on this, steering the conversation in a different direction. She mentions Konstantin and this effectively turns me into stone. He told her about me, about my past, about my family that hated me.

How my mother had me and left me. How the pack hated my existence. How I was nothing but dirt under their feet.

She asks about my Alpha and this makes me remember the missions and the people waiting for me.

'Something urgent.' They whispered in my head. 'Come immediately!

"We should head back. Dinner is about to start." I said, realizing how dark it was. Time passed so quickly with her.

Helping June in her dress, my hands lingered a little too long on her back, feeling the soft skin and the warmth of her body. Again, I am foolishly thinking of how easy it would be to take her here, against the tree, on the grass, in the water. But I had to wait.

Just until tomorrow.

Parting with June is hard, the hardest as I watched her walk away. She disappeared towards the mansion and after I was sure she found her way inside, I turned and headed for the woods.

It was so unlike my pack members to be so frantic. I could feel their restlessness as they waited for me. I was brushing out the leaves in my hair when I found them. Deep in the darkness of the woods, they circled around, their faces slightly guarded. "What is it?" I asked, jaw clenching. "What's wrong?"

"The Alpha is here."

This made me stop.

Oh.

But he said he wasn't coming?

What brought him? Was I too caught up in June that the Alpha had to come himself?

Shame filled my bloodstream as I felt like I had disappointed him.

"He asked us to gather." They explained, sitting around the small clearing.

I leaned against a tree. "Where is he?"

They nodded towards the distant lights of the mansion. "In his room, I believe, but he said he would be here soon."

We waited quite a long time in that clearing, my clothes dry by the time he arrived. He emerged from the shadows, his presence dangerous and foreboding. If possible, the dark clearing we were in became even darker. "Alpha," I began, ready to apologize.

"We will not be continuing the attack." He said in his deep baritone that shook the trees.

Everyone went still.

All of them wanted to ask why, but we knew our Alpha and he was not to be questioned.

Especially when it comes to this.

"We will continue with our second plan." The Alpha tells us with a hard look. "I want their rations cleared and given to the farm packs."

He was acting differently, far more menacing than usual, his eyes were black as the night and his presence was even more suffocating.

"Congratulations, Jeremy." The Alpha says out of the blue, his expression unreadable. "I hope she makes you very happy."

The entire clearing was stunned, his words making all of us stop and stare at him.

"Do you know the girl he's claiming?" One brave soul decides to ask.

The Alpha shakes his head. "No, but Jeremy looks happy and that's all that matters."

"She's wonderful, Alpha." I decided to say, giving him my gratitude.

He nods, arms crossed over his chest, the action making him look twice as large. "I'm sure she is."

"She managed to tame the pretty boy." The pack teased. "This wild thing finally focused on someone other than the pack."

By the time they were done making fun of me, which I could only smile at as I was feeling giddy inside, the Alpha motions us away. "Once you're done with the task, you may enjoy your weekend."

That was all he said before leaving us. He seemed like he was in a rush to get back, which was again, so out of character. He didn't like the Games nor did he like to be in mansions.

Where was he going?

I saw him stop suddenly right before disappearing. He leans down to pick something up from the ground. It was too dark to see. Whatever it is, he takes a sniff at it and turns to look at me, his eyes wide.

The darkness of his eyes was back and I felt as though something had happened, but I didn't know what.

And then he was gone.

Leaving me staring at the darkness.

One of my pack members tugged on my shirt. "Jeremy, let's go so we can make it back for dinner."

It took a long time before we finished and by the time I was done getting myself ready, dinner was almost done and June was nowhere to be seen in the gardens. I saw all her pack members but she wasn't with them.

Defeated and was not about to mingle with the crowd, I decided to head back to my room instead. Turning a corner, I was surprised to see a girl in a red dress walking towards me. She was beautiful, the dress like a second skin and it glittered with every movement. I didn't recognize her at first, but those eyes, the eyes were so distinctly my June and I couldn't help but smile, realizing that she was waiting for me all this time.

"June? I was looking for you down-" I don't get to finish my explanation as she wraps me in an embrace, holding me tight.

My arms went around her immediately, keeping her close. She smelled like her but also... of the city pack. Konstantin. She was with Konstantin. This dress was from him.

I hated how angry this made me.

It was dangerous to do so but I invited her inside my room, watching her with hooded eyes as she sat on my bed. The sight of her there was truly testing my self control and after what happened in the lake, I know that I do not have much of it.

I tried to be casual when I asked her about Konstantin, but it was clear my jealousy and protectiveness was showing.

Seeing her face, how vulnerable she looked, I was suddenly on her, my lips molding on hers. I pressed June down the bed, keeping her in place as I straddled her.

She whispered my name, causing my entire body to shake, the sound so enticing that I nearly came right there and then.

I was already so hard. Normally, I can easily keep a hold of myself, but with June it's like a dam broke.

"Fuck, you taste so good." I growled low, my hands pulling at her dress and feeling tender skin. "You don't need this."

Soon she was bare in front of me and the sight of her caused another tremor to erupt inside of me. But I couldn't stop. My fingers were all over her, touching every part of her and I loved how she shook under me, gasping her little breaths. All I had to do was slip myself between her thighs, her desire, her wetness already evident.

But didn't I promise to do this right?

I pulled away, breathing hard as my wolf threatened to take over. "I didn't invite you here to do this. I'm sorry. We shouldn't. I said we should wait."

My lips hovered over her own.

"Soon." I promised.

Tomorrow.

That was all.

And I will make her my mate. Forever. Just us.

I remove my shirt, helping June to put it on to cover her delicious body. "Let's go to your room and get a change of clothes. I wanna take you somewhere."

That's when she noticed that I lost her identifier. I looked down, surprised that it wasn't where it was supposed to be. Didn't I have it before the lake? Genuinely confused about where I dropped it, the image of my Alpha picking up something on the floor flashes before my eyes.

Surely...

That can't be.

It's not.

After promising to have someone look for it, June smiles, the worry leaving her face. The trust in her eyes made my chest leap.

Sending a silent order to a few of the men to look for June's identifier, she and I leave my room, our hair a mess like we've done something, her in nothing but my shirt. It was quite a sight, especially when her friend replaces us. Amused, I found myself laughing when her friend started interrogating me about who I would be choosing and I could only smile secretly, knowing I was choosing June tomorrow. "We'll replace that out tomorrow, won't we?" With June's hand in mine, we went down to the party. It's loud and dark, the type of place you could get away with anything. Larissa meets us there, offering us drinks.

I took June to the dance floor, holding her close, memorizing her face, her breath and the way she moved. We were among thousands here tonight, but with June in my arms, it felt as though there was only the two of us.

My eyes locked with her and I would have kissed her then, pulled her to the wall and showed her just how much I wanted her when a pack member approached us.

He stares at me with narrowed eyes. 'He's calling for you!

I'm with June.' I tried to reason. 'He said I could,'

I took a step back, feeling possessive of my time with June as I held her close.

"It's time to go, Beta." He says out loud, glancing at June with his lips pressed thin.

"I promised-" I promised to be with June but I cannot ignore a call from my Alpha. "I'll be right there."

June's hand tightened around mine. "What's wrong?"

"Pack business." I said, but I really didn't know why. I thought I had time...

June is visibly confused and if I let myself see, she was most certainly hurt that I was leaving her. But I could feel the Alpha waiting for me so I didn't stop to check on her, searching hurriedly for Larissa while June trailed behind me.

When we finally replace her, Larissa takes one look at June before shooting me the coldest glare. "You're just like everyone else, Beta Jeremy."

Her words were venom, painful and like wildfire that spread through my veins.

"I thought you would be different but I guess you left her just like everyone else has." Larissa continued, taking June's hand from me and pulling June away.

I want to follow them.

I really did.

But I couldn't.

And with much reluctance, I left the ballroom and was surprised to replace the Alpha right outside. He was looking towards the dance floor with an expression that made me lose my breath. He looked hurt and in pain. Like whatever he saw in there was destroying him from the inside.

The Alpha stood very still, almost stone like and his eyes... they were the darkest I've ever seen them.

I bowed my head low. "Alpha,"

He doesn't let me finish, his voice shaking. "Is she who you're choosing tomorrow?"

My eyes glance back to where I left June. "Yes. June. From the farm pack. Is there a problem-"

"June?" He repeated, his jaw clenched so tight it scared me. "Her name is June?"

I didn't understand what was happening. "Yes. What's wrong?"

The Alpha looked like he had seen a ghost and when I looked at his hands, they were balled up and shaking but what grabbed my attention was the identifier between his fingers.

June's identifier.

But before I could ask, he walked away, his eyes where June was. I tried to understand, tried to analyze the situation, but the answer... it didn't come until later that night, when I saw him approach June.

My June.

She was drunk, barely holding on to the bar.

And when he helped her up, the look on his face had me gasping for breath. It was worry. It was recognition. It was adoration.

It was love.

No.

That can't be.

He held her so tenderly, so gently, so lovingly that I nearly screamed.

I followed behind them as he took June to her room and I waited, and waited until he came out and when he finally did, he pressed his back against the door, his hand tightly around June's identifier.

There it was again.

The look of love on his face.

I couldn't breathe.

I didn't want to believe it, but there it was so clearly written on his face. My Alpha. The man that saved me. He loved the girl I wanted to claim as my mate.

My feet led me to the lake, my mind and my heart numb with everything as I tried to make sense of how, from such happiness, I was now in complete dread. I held myself tight as I kept seeing my Alpha holding my June. I kept seeing the way he looked at her, the way he held her.

Over and over again.

Until I saw June's smile, the way she looked at me, the way she whispered to me.

I was going to lose her.

It wasn't forever like I thought it was.

No.

It was worse.

Much worse.

I could tell him. I could say that no, June wants me and I want her. That there's no one else I've ever wanted to be with other than June. I could challenge him and force him to give her up but... I know I couldn't, for I kept seeing how my unfeeling, emotionless Alpha suddenly smiled, how he willingly touched her and held her.

He wanted her too.

My back to a tree and my feet to the water, I stared up into the sky and felt the answer settle on me. And then the sun was up in the sky, the 'tomorrow' that I had been waiting for finally upon me.

For the first time, I wish it had never come.

I wish it would just stay the way it was, with June and I and with no one else.

Like yesterday.

But that's not how life works.

I hid behind that tree, listening to the world around me and when it was time, I walked to the ceremony. I felt weak and empty and incredibly defeated that as I sat in my designated seat, I couldn't think of anything else but this pain shooting in my chest. Without looking back, I know June is there staring, waiting for me to look back, but I didn't have the heart to do so. I sat still, wanting nothing more than to just get this over with.

I barely noticed how Cora was forcing Konstantin to follow her order and when he refused, I tipped my head forward, impressed and feeling proud of him. I know how Cora can be and to fight an Alpha's orders... that was commendable.

But they were calling names now and I felt mute. There seemed to be no air as I tried to breathe, but nothing came. One by one, the girls came to the front and one by one I watched them leave.

When June's friend walks up on the stage and no one claims her, I hear June's sniffles behind me. At the sound of it, I wanted to turn back, to run to her and comfort her, but I stayed in my seat as I knew he was coming.

And not too long after that, he does come. I do not turn to check it. I know my Alpha and I know when he is near. The air becomes even more sparse at his arrival, the dangerous presence of the strongest man alive chilling everyone's spine. Finally, June is called.

I had all the intention of looking away but, as always, I am weak when it comes to her and I stare as she walks to the front. She was scared, her lip trembling and when she looked my way, I gave her an encouraging nod.

'It's okay.' I want to say. 'You can do it!

My Alpha wasn't claiming her.

The elders introduced her, saying her name and her and her dowry, and then there was silence. June's eyes fluttered close and time went on, slowly and then quickly.

I turned to look at him and he was already looking at me, waiting and waiting. We were both frozen, our lips parted.

'Go, claim her.' I told him. I begged him. 'Go!'

But he only stares at me.

That's when I noticed that the seat next to me was pushed back as Konstantin stood up from it. He was fighting a direct order from his Alpha but, unlike me, he was stronger and he claimed June in front of the whole Assembly.

He was walking to the front already and I had stood, ready to say her name, to claim her as mine but I heard him before I spoke.

"June Valentine is mine." My Alpha bellowed, walking up to the front.

Everyone was shocked, stunned to their core. I was helpless and frozen as I watched June stand with my Alpha by her side.

She was looking at me, not even at him, and I could hear June pleading and begging for me to choose her even if she didn't say it out loud. It was all on her face and though it ripped me apart, eating me alive, I turned away from the one girl I've ever loved and left

her to the wolves.

The look on her face as I left her will forever haunt me.

I stood behind the trees, in the cover of shadows, as they bound each other as mates. All I could think about was... it could have been me.

It should have been me.

She was all I ever wanted and she was standing there taken by the one person I couldn't defy.