The Game Of Quadruplet Mates
(Bk 2) Chapter 20

I can tell my room was thoroughly cleaned before I arrived.

The smell of strong cleaning products was all over the walls and floor. My bed had new sheets and all the other products that used to be there had new ones, replaced like nothing happened

The cabinets, apart from the Egyptian cotton robes and the fluffy towels, were completely bare of anything that was mine. None of my dresses and shoes were back on the shelves and as I looked at them, my guard peeked his head through the opened door. "I have already ordered replacements. They'll be here before dinner." He assures from the door, careful as to not step inside my room.

"I've also found the one responsible.

She has been dealt with accordingly."

"She?" I gaped, whirling around to face him, pulling the jacket around me tight. "You caught her? Who is she?

I was wearing his black coat. After what happened in the clearing with everyone rushing back to their rooms, I lost W and everyone else in the crowd.

My guard found me as he always does and removed his uniform to wrap around my body. After the contest, my dress was in ruins, torn beyond repair. He made sure none of me was exposed, buttoning his coat up all the way up like I was something precious to him, before we walked back to my room in silence.

Now, he stood in only a tight black shirt and it was the most I've seen of him. "Yes, a woman from-"

He pauses, the information likely filled with things I didn't need to know. At least until the Games are over and I'm no Tonger an attendee that needed to be kept in the dark.

"She was from a pack that you don't know." He finishes, settling with that.

I frowned at him as I sat on one of the many chairs that decorated the room. "If I don't know her, why did she trash my room and throw my things in the lake?"

"I care little about her petty motives. All I want is her punishment." He says with a shrug of his shoulders. "She is forbidden to return to the Games and will pay your pack triple for whatever expenses incurred by the damage she's done."

Despite how things have turned out today, the stress and the exhaustion, I found myself smiling. "Why do I feel like you pushed for that punishment?"

"Because I did. I suggested she be k ill e d but apparently that's not how we do things these days." He doesn't say the last part jokingly like one would hope, shamelessly wanting someone de a d for me. "They wanted her to return in five years but this is a behavioral issue. She'll do it again to someone else. People like that don't deserve a second chance."

I stared at my closet, mind somewhere else. "Thank you.

Truly."

"You did nothing wrong." He tells me after several long minutes when I thought he had already left.

I blew out a breath. "So you say""

Confident as always, he only nods. "Because I know."

A throat clears from behind my guard and he takes a step back to let in a staff, pulling a cart with dresses and shoes and every kind of clothing imaginable.

"We saved what we could, Miss X, but we replaced most of them." She explains, wheeling her cart to my closet where she hanged everything.

"We have also notified your Alpha

and he assures that he understands what happened. The organizers would like to apologize for letting this happen.

From now on, your room as well as the others will be closely watched and monitored to prevent this from happening again."

She didn't wait for me to respond and with a bow, she was gone. The way they were supposed to be, unlike how my guard is.

"Something on your mind?" My guard asks when he sees that I have not moved an inch from my seat.

"It's just that it's the second day." I hate how I was admitting this to him, saying my deepest fears to a man that wasn't even part of the Games. Someone I barely knew. "I feel like I'm running out of time. I have a duty to my family. I can't mess up because so much of my family's future revolves around me getting this right and over with.

I'm the only child, you know. There's a lot of pressure for me to get this right. And so far, all I've been doing is messing up or getting distracted."

His face, still partially hidden by a cap, was unreadable."

It's your first year."

leaned back in my seat as though the weight of the world

- at least my family's, rested on my shoulders. "Not everyone can afford to go on a second."

"You do realize this is free..." But he stops when he realizes what I mean.

"You're doing your best. It's not your fault this

year is full of idiots."

His eyes flickered at my wrist as if quietly judging the owner of the leather bracelet on me.

He didn't bother hiding his scrunched up face.

"No one will ever be enough for you, huh?" I joked, knowing what he thinks about the men in the Games. "Your standards for me are so high, no one can possible be good enough."

He was still by the door but he felt so much closer when he said; "Is it wrong that I want the best for you?"

I stood up from my seat and walked to the door where he was leaning against the frame with his arms crossed over his chest. "I don't think the other guards care if their attendee has the best."

Hooded eyes held me in place. We weren't touching, not even close, yet my skin tingled like we were.

"It doesn't

matter what other guards are like."

"What about the other attendees you handled before?"I countered playfully, lifting an eyebrow up. His proximity was nearly too much, and I felt like I needed a break from him before I lost all sense of decorum and did something inappropriate. Giving some much needed space between us, I took a step back to hide the flush of my cheeks. In large dramatic movements, I fanned myself, pitching my voice higher like a jealous lover might do.

"Was there

anyone else before me?"

He smirks and I think for a moment, I am blinded by it. "No one else matters."

I can see how hard he was gripping the door as I pushed and teased him for answers. "Why? What's the difference?"

The smile returned to his face, though it was rather... predatory.

I could not lie, it lit something within me.

"Because there's no one else like you." He closed the door then, ending the conversation before I could respond.

huff, mind and heart racing.

He's a guard. I repeat over and over. A guard.

A guard who kept my bracelet and refused to give it to another attendee.

Fighting off emotions that shouldn't be, I started my rigorous attempt at getting ready for dinner tonight. The schedule said that it would be inside, in the grand ballroom and the dress code was strictly formal, wearing only long gowns and suits.

I took my time getting ready, soaking myself in the bathtub filled with roses. My eyes were on the open window as I watched the woodlands sway to the wind. When I was done, I dried myself and chose from the new dresses in my Closel That is until something catches my eye

My vanity had something on top of it, something I forgot about after the contests that happened this afternoon; the wolf I sculpted.

Thankfully, it wasn't broken as it stood facing me, the blue eyes just as I imagined it.

I'm sure it wasn't on my vanity before my bath and I'm almost sure that it was my guard who placed it there.

I kept the wolf there as I did my makeup and even after, when I wiggled into the dress I chose this evening. It was a powder blue gown dusted with crystals all over the bodice.

My hair is up for tonight, letting a few strands fall to the side and by the time the bell rang to let us know dinner was ready, I was done.

When I open my door, my guard is there waiting but he has changed as well. Dressed in a tailored black suit, he looked important and exquisite and, for the very first time... he had no cap or mask to cover his face.

I already knew how handsome he was, having sneaked a peak from time to time, but now with the bright light of the mansion halls, with nothing to obscure my vision, I am taken aback by just how breathtaking he really is.

And I swear, this time, my heart really did a flutter as everything in me went abuzz.

He watched me as well, his razor sharp interest zeroing on me like a beacon, carving into me.

I furiously tried to contain the blush on my cheeks but it was futile when in his presence

I was all too grateful as all the doors in the hall opened and the rest of the attendees came rushing out, obscuring my view of him once more. And hopefully, hiding away my blush.

Still, I felt his gaze even when I joined the wave of attendees going down the stairs. I felt even when I turned away from him and even when there were twenty people between us.

Miss A thankfully comes to my rescue before I combust from his stare alone.

"X! You look gorgeous!"

"As do you!" I complimented, noting just how beautiful she was. She stood with confidence in her black gown that looked as though it was painted on her skin, it showed every curve and every line of her body. The way her hair bounced was out of this world, like it was choreographed to move the way it did. She was effortlessly beautiful and I just know whoever she chooses is going to be the luckiest man alive.

Together, we walked to the grand ballroom with our arms hooked together. The doors are wide open, welcoming all of us.

I openly gawked as we walked through them, my eyes everywhere at once trying to capture this place in my memory to keep forever. The entire place glowed golden, from the massive chandelier hanging from the domed ceiling in the middle and to the tiny chandeliers surrounding it, to the thick pillars and gold marble flooring, to the glass walls that showed the beautiful lake as our view.

Miss A held me tight, leaning close to whisper in my ear." Get ready for a very long and tiring night. The second night is always the introductions. You're required to dance with every single male attendee present."

My lips parted, eyeing the men that flocked to the ballroom.

"But there's so many."

She takes in the crowd as well. "Exactly. It's not more than half a minute per attendee, but still, it's a long night. Make sure you drink and try to get completely drunk. It's the only way to get through everything."

And then, like fate itself presented him to me, I saw 0 walk in. Try as I might to fight the urge to look at him, I couldn't help but stare. He was in a handsome suit that captured his handsome features, his hair was done perfectly, a few pieces of his bangs falling into his eyes and his lips curled into either a smile or a frown as he took in everything.

His eyes didn't have to look too hard through the crowd to replace me, his eyes widening just a little before I saw him swallow, bright eyes darkening. He swallowed so loudly I heard it from across the room.

I could see him thinking, fighting himself, but unlike me, he resists the urge and turns away, leaving me to stare after his back.

How were we supposed to dance together when he could barely look at me?

How was I supposed to do this when I could barely stand still with him in the same room?

1 know it is over between us, long over, but I still clung to him like my life depended on it.

He and I were all kinds of wrong. I know this. Over and over I repeat this to myself. We were a walking disaster waiting 1o happen.

Yet here i was waiting for him to look back, waiting for him when i knew he would never come.

Miss A tugs me forward, a concerned look on her face. She knows I've been staring and I think she recognizes the desperation in me because she offers a kind and understanding smile. "Hey, it's starting, Let's go focus on what matters."