Sofia

Sofia couldn't wipe the triumphant smile off her face as she stepped into the Frostfang mansion.

Light poured through the tall windows, catching the chandelier and bouncing off the marble like the universe was celebrating her victory.

Everything had gone exactly according to plan.

And yes, she fucking hated Juliet. She always had.

Not because Juliet was stronger or prettier-she wasn't.

But because somehow, that pathetic girl always got everything Sofia was supposed to have. Juliet was an Omega, low-born trash, raised with nothing. Yet the Moon Goddess still chose her. Gave her a mate.

A bond. A love match. True, fated, blessed.

Meanwhile, Sofia was the Luna's daughter.

First in line. Strong. Beautiful. Perfect.

And she was the one being handed off like livestock-a bargaining chip wrapped in designer clothes.

She was the one promised to a monster of an Alpha for a treaty, for power.

So once Sofia figured that out-yes, she made it her life's mission to destroy Juliet.

"Sofia!"

She turned. Her mother's voice echoed down the hallway, sharp as a blade. Her heels clicked frantically against the floor.

"Where the hell have you been? What happened last night?"

Sofia tilted her head, letting her shoulders drop just enough to look exhausted and traumatized, as though she'd been through absolute hell.

Cara Walton was intelligent, calculating, and utterly ruthless.

"Mother," Sofia said quietly, "we need to talk. Alone."

Luna Cara's gaze flicked to the staff hovering nearby.

With a sharp gesture, she dismissed them, then dragged Sofia into her study and slammed the door.

"The Alpha of Blackwood is on his way," she snapped. "He's absolutely furious. Where's Juliet? What happened to the arrangement?"

"Relax, Mother. I've got this completely under control." Sofia settled onto the velvet couch like she owned the world. She crossed her legs and took her sweet time, letting her mother squirm.

She chose each word like a weapon, designed to soothe and redirect. Let her mother focus on Juliet's flaws, not her own role in this masterpiece.

"Juliet did what she always does," she finally said. "She wanted something that was never meant for trash like her."

Her mother's eyes narrowed dangerously. "What are you saying?"

"She went to him. To the Alpha. Before I could."

Luna Cara's face went ghost-white. "But... the contract. The alliance..."

Sofia stood and walked over to the bar. She poured just enough bourbon to feel the burn and let it slide down her throat. It helped calm her nerves.

"I'm handling it."

Then she deliberately slammed her hip into the sharp edge of the desk. Pain exploded up her side, and she bit her lip hard enough to draw blood.

"Sofia!" her mother gasped. "Stop!"

She didn't. Instead, Sofia grabbed the curtain cord and dragged it across both wrists. Red welts flared up instantly. Perfect.

"Making it look authentic," she said, her voice tight but steady.

Luna Cara stared, then nodded slowly with grudging admiration. "You're going to pin everything on her."

"Obviously."

Sofia pinched her cheeks until her eyes watered naturally. "She's been a liability forever. Now she'll be his problem."

"But if she's his..."

Her mother stopped, the implications hitting her.

"His mate?" Sofia scoffed with pure venom. "Please. The Moon Goddess wouldn't be that cruel."

She heard engines outside, tires crunching on gravel. The Alpha had arrived.

Luna Cara peeked through the curtain, her voice dropping to a whisper. "He's here. With his Beta. And enough guards to level this place."

Sofia nodded confidently. "I've got this. Just follow my lead."

"And Juliet?"

Sofia's smile was pure ice. Not sweet. Not kind. Just absolutely lethal.

"By the time he finds her-if he ever does-she'll be completely broken. No Alpha wants something that damaged."

Her mother's lips curved in cold pride. "My brilliant daughter."

The Frostfang Pack's meeting room was designed to intimidate.

Dark wood panels covered the walls, mounted wolf heads stared down like silent judges, and a massive table carved from ancient redwood commanded the center.

Most visitors found it overwhelming.

But Alpha Kaius Blair was not most visitors.

He stood like a storm barely contained, his golden eyes burning with barely restrained fury, his presence filling the room like toxic gas. Even Sofia's father looked like he wanted to disappear into his chair.

"Where is she?" Alpha Kaius asked, not bothering with pleasantries. His voice was low and lethal, like the calm before an earthquake.

"I assure you, Alpha Kaius, we are desperately trying to understand what happened," Alpha Walton said. He sounded calm, but Sofia could see panic in his white knuckles. "The arrangement was crystal clear-"

"I'm not interested in your excuses," Kaius interrupted with ice in his voice. "Last night, an Omega was delivered to my suite. It was not Sofia Walton. Where is that Omega?"

The room went dead silent. Her mother gave Sofia the slightest nod. Showtime.

Sofia took a deep breath. She opened the door and leaned against the frame, her hair deliberately mussed, clothes artfully torn, with fresh bruises marking her wrists and hip-all strategically visible.

"Alpha Kaius," she said softly, letting genuine exhaustion creep into her voice. "Thank the Moon Goddess you're here."

Every eye in the room turned to her. Alpha Kaius focused on her face with laser intensity.

"Sofia Walton," he said with arctic coldness. "Explain."

She stepped forward, tears streaming down her cheeks on cue. "It was Juliet. My adopted sister. She's always been... unstable."

"Your sister?" he asked.

"Not by blood," Sofia said quickly. "She's an Omega we took in as charity when she was young. My parents wanted to help her. But she's always been consumed with jealousy. Jealous of everything I have."

Her mother moved to her side, placing a protective arm around Sofia's shoulders.

"Juliet became obsessed with you," she said. "When she discovered the arrangement between our families, she completely lost her mind."

Sofia let out a broken sob. "She attacked me last night. Tied me up and locked me in the basement storage room. She stole the moonflower extract we keep for medical emergencies. Then she took my place."

"Moonflower?" asked Ethan.

"It's a powerful aphrodisiac," Alpha Walton explained. "In large doses, it can artificially trigger heat cycles. It's dangerous as hell, but extremely effective."

Alpha Kaius's entire demeanor shifted. His jaw clenched, and Sofia saw the muscle jumping in his cheek.

"You expect me to believe," he said, his voice dropping to something deadly quiet, "that an Omega overpowered an Alpha female and orchestrated this entire deception on her own?"

"Yes," Sofia said, forcing herself to meet his terrifying gaze. "She wanted to carry your child. She thought it would give her power and status she could never earn."

His eyes went completely black. Alpha Kaius began pacing, every step measured but radiating violence.

"You expect me to believe that this Omega drugged herself and manipulated me," he said. "That she planned this elaborate scheme without any help?"

"Juliet isn't like other Omegas," her mother said. "She's dangerously unpredictable. We gave her too much freedom, too much education. It was our mistake."

Alpha Kaius stopped dead. He turned and pinned Sofia with a stare that could have melted steel. She forced herself to stay still and not look away.

"Different how?"

Sofia swallowed hard, keeping her voice soft and wounded. "Juliet's always been... unnaturally clever. She can read people like books, twist emotions to get exactly what she wants."

She paused, letting her eyes drop as if the truth physically pained her. "She's also obsessed with chemistry and medicine. Always experimenting, always studying. It made her... calculating. And extremely dangerous."

She lifted her gaze again, selling perfect vulnerability. "I was sick for most of my childhood. Bedridden a lot. Juliet was my closest friend, my sister in everything but blood. I trusted her completely. I never imagined she'd use that knowledge to destroy me."

A muscle twitched violently in Kaius's jaw. Something dark flickered in his eyes.

He studied Sofia with predatory focus. The bruises. The tears. Too perfect. Too convenient.

"An Omega that calculating," Alpha Kaius said slowly, his golden eyes still locked on Sofia's face like a lie detector. "That's... exceptionally rare."

"Very," Alpha Walton replied quickly, grateful the spotlight had shifted from their failure. "We've always had serious concerns about her psychological state. She has an... unnatural talent for manipulation. We thought we could control her, guide her properly. Clearly, we were catastrophically wrong."

Alpha Kaius turned to face him with laser focus.

"No more mistakes."

The room went tomb-silent.

"Find her," he said. "Bring Juliet to me. Alive."

"And the contract between our packs?" Alpha Walton asked very carefully.

"Suspended," Alpha Kaius said with brutal finality. "I didn't come here for politics. I came for a mate. The Moon Goddess gave me one."

Luna Cara stiffened but said nothing. A flash of pure jealousy crossed Sofia's eyes.

He stepped forward. Calm, but absolutely lethal.

"If Juliet drugged herself... if she forced a false bond... then she is not my mate. She's an abomination."

Deathly silence.

"I only need one heir," he finished. "I don't need your political games."

The words hit like bullets.

"Of course," Alpha Walton said quickly. "We'll use every resource at our disposal."

Sofia smiled internally. Phase one: complete success.

Now she just had to make sure Juliet stayed gone forever.

Juliet

Juliet's hands trembled as she stared at the ultrasound screen in Lucy's private clinic.

Four distinct shapes flickered on the monitor-four tiny, flickering heartbeats. Four lives growing inside her.

She felt the room tilt just a little.

"You're pregnant with quadruplets," Lucy said gently, her voice calm but clinical as she moved the wand across Juliet's still-flat stomach. "Four little pups, Jules."

Juliet couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. Rosie, her wolf, was howling inside her-a mix of panic and something fiercer. Protective.

"That's... that's impossible," she whispered, even though the proof was right there on the screen. "Four? "

Lucy Carter had been Juliet's closest friend since their Princeton days-two overachieving weirdos in the AI medical research program who had bonded over late-night coding sessions and bad takeout.

She was one of the only people who knew what Juliet truly was.

And now, Lucy was staring at her with that sharp, no-bullshit look that had always seen straight through her.

"What happened, Jules? " she asked, wiping the gel from Juliet's stomach. Her brow furrowed deeply. "I haven't heard from you in over a month, and then you show up looking like you've been through a war... and now this? " She gestured at the monitor. "Quadruplets. From an Alpha, judging by their size already."

Juliet closed her eyes, fighting the burn behind them.

"I've been hiding out near the border," she said softly. "The Waltons-" her voice cracked. "They drugged me. Sent me to the Blackwood Alpha's bed."

"Alpha Kaius Blair? " Lucy's head snapped up. "Jesus, Juliet."

Juliet nodded, guilt and fury twisting in her gut. "They meant to send Sofia. I was just... convenient. Disposable. A backup plan."

Lucy stared at her for a long moment. Her voice dropped. "So the pups are his? Does he know? "

"No," Juliet whispered. "And he can't. He can never know."

Lucy's mouth tightened. "But mate bonds..."

"We don't have one," Juliet cut her off, sitting up straighter on the table. The paper crinkled under her like it was protesting the truth. "I was drugged. It wasn't... real."

Lucy didn't speak right away. Just watched her, expression caught somewhere between disbelief and compassion.

"Four pups from one night doesn't sound like an accident, Jules. The Moon Goddess doesn't just... roll dice." Her voice was quiet. Serious.

Juliet shook her head hard. "Don't. Please. I can't go back there." Her hand drifted to her stomach automatically, protectively. "I can't survive another rejection."

Lucy's expression softened immediately. She understood.

As an Omega, Juliet's biology was already fragile. Being rejected once had nearly broken her. Twice could kill her. Rosie might not survive it.

"I know," Lucy said gently. "But you need to think about these babies. Four is high-risk for anyone. But for an Omega..."

She didn't finish the sentence. She didn't have to.

Juliet stared at the ceiling, blinking fast.

"My parents died when I was five." She swallowed hard. "I grew up in a state-run Omega orphanage before the Waltons pulled me out like they were doing me a damn favor."

Her voice turned sharp. Bitter. "I thought I found family with Jasper. And we both know how that ended." She laughed once, the sound cracking halfway through. "But even fated mates can betray you, apparently."

She placed both hands on her belly, and this time, the shaking stopped. "These pups are mine. They're all I have now. And I'm keeping them. Every single one."

Lucy sighed, but didn't argue. Instead, she turned to the cabinet and pulled out a small amber bottle.

"This will suppress any lingering scent markers," she said, handing it to Juliet. "Being scentless finally has its perks."

Then she reached into a drawer and handed her a key. "I've got a cottage on the edge of town. No neighbors. No prying eyes. You'll be safe there while you figure things out."

"Lucy, I-" Juliet's throat closed up. The words tangled.

Lucy rolled her eyes, but her voice was warm. "Oh, don't get sappy on me. What are best friends for, if not hiding you from homicidal noble families and pissed-off Alphas? "

Later that afternoon, Lucy helped Juliet settle into the cottage.

It was tucked deep in the woods, the kind of place you'd miss if you weren't looking for it. Small, but warm. The kind of cozy that wrapped around you like an old quilt.

Through the windows, Juliet could see the pine forest stretching for miles.

It was quiet, wild, and completely removed from the packs and their politics.

"The pantry's stocked, and I brought prenatal vitamins formulated for werewolf pregnancies," Lucy said, placing a large bottle on the kitchen counter.

The label was handwritten, the glass dark amber-classic Lucy, always five steps ahead. "Four pups will drain your nutrients like a Vegas slot machine. Take these religiously."

Juliet nodded, heart pounding beneath the grateful smile she offered her friend. "I don't even know how to thank you."

"Name one after me," Lucy said with a wink, then added more quietly, "Just stay safe. Take care of yourself and those babies. I'll check in every week."

After she left, the silence settled in around Juliet like snowfall. She wandered the small space, letting her fingers trail over the wood surfaces, the checked curtains, the old stone fireplace.

It smelled like cedar and cinnamon.

In the corner, she imagined four tiny cribs. Four high chairs lined up like little soldiers.

Four sleepy heads resting on her chest. Four reasons to keep breathing. To keep fighting.

She didn't know how she would manage. She had no plan. But failure wasn't an option.

In the bedroom, Juliet sank onto the bed.

The mattress dipped with her weight, soft and worn. She placed both hands on her still-flat belly.

Four tiny heartbeats. Four pieces of her.

"We'll be okay," she whispered, voice rough but sure. "I promise. I'll protect you."

Rosie shifted beneath her skin. Her growl was soft, but full of warning. Protective. She agreed with Juliet. These pups were theirs.

That night had left its mark on Juliet. Alpha Kaius Blair's scent still clung to her memory like smoke.

But for the first time since then, she felt something new.

Hope.

It was fragile. A spark in the dark. But it was hers.

Her life hadn't turned out the way she imagined.

She'd been used. Betrayed. Left behind. Now she was alone, carrying pups that were never meant to exist.

But they were hers.

Maybe... just maybe... they were the family she had always been searching for.

Juliet

The cottage had become Juliet's sanctuary over the past four months.

What started as a temporary hideout had slowly turned into something else.

It was modest and hidden deep within the forest, far from roads, cell towers, and questions.

No neighbors. No surveillance. Just trees, quiet, and the steady pulse of life growing inside her.

The living room now held four handcrafted cribs, lined up neatly against the far wall.

They didn't match perfectly. One leaned slightly, another had uneven slats. Still, each one had been sanded smooth, brushed with oil, and painted with care.

Books about multiple births and werewolf pup care were stacked across every surface.

Their pages were creased, underlined, and tagged with color-coded sticky notes.

Juliet had studied them the way she once studied blood pathologies and toxin interactions. Her mind hadn't changed. Only the subject mattered now.

At nearly six months along, Juliet's belly had grown enormous-larger than most full-term human pregnancies.

Lucy had joked she looked like she was smuggling a small pack of wolves.

Which, in a way, she was.

"You look ready to pop," Lucy said as she stepped into the cabin, setting her worn leather medical bag on the kitchen table.

"How are you feeling today? "

Juliet shifted on the couch, trying to find a position that didn't press a foot into her ribs.

"Like I swallowed four Alpha-born cubs who've just discovered kickboxing," she muttered, wincing as another jab landed hard beneath her sternum.

"Is it normal to feel like they're staging a coup? "

Lucy laughed, already pulling out her stethoscope.

"Four pups with Alpha blood and a rogue mother? I'd be worried if they weren't giving you hell."

She knelt beside the couch and pressed the stethoscope to Juliet's abdomen, moving slowly and carefully.

Her face went serious for a moment. Then she smiled.

"All strong heartbeats. All four are doing well."

Relief washed over Juliet like a warm tide.

Every check-up, every steady heartbeat, felt like a small rebellion against fate.

"We need to talk about delivery," Lucy said, putting the stethoscope away, her tone sobering.

"Quad births are risky for werewolves. With your rogue status and no pack healer, we're on our own."

Juliet nodded. They'd had this conversation before.

Hospitals were out of the question-too many records, too many questions, and too many eyes that might trace her back to the Blairs or the Waltons.

Pack healers were worse.

They answered to Alphas. And Juliet couldn't afford to be found.

"I've been looking into home births," she said, gesturing to the high stack of books beside her.

"I've got everything you asked for. The herbs, the supplies... even backup clean towels."

Lucy glanced around the room and nodded with approval.

"I've filed for a leave starting next week. I'll stay here until they arrive."

She reached out and gave Juliet's hand a squeeze.

"You won't go through this alone."

The words hit Juliet harder than she expected.

After months of silence, secrecy, and survival, the promise of company felt like a lifeline.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"Don't thank me yet," Lucy said with a crooked grin.

"You might start cursing my name once the first head crowns."

Juliet laughed softly, then winced again as another pup kicked.

-

Two weeks later, Juliet woke in the middle of the night.

Pain slammed into her like a freight train, sharp and deep, stealing the air from her lungs.

She gasped and clutched at the sheets.

A warm wetness spread beneath her.

"Lucy !" she cried, voice tight and cracking. "It's time !"

Lucy appeared in the doorway seconds later.

Her hair was tousled from sleep, but her eyes were alert.

"Let's get you to the birthing room."

They had turned the small guest room into a makeshift delivery suite.

It was stocked with clean towels, medical supplies, and every emergency tool Lucy could smuggle out of her clinic.

She slipped an arm around Juliet's waist and helped her across the hall.

Juliet staggered, bent over as another contraction hit like a punch to the spine.

"That was fast," Lucy muttered, worry creeping into her voice.

She crouched to check Juliet's dilation.

Her eyes widened.

"You're progressing faster than expected."

Juliet's breaths came in quick, shallow pants. "Is that... bad? "

"Not necessarily," Lucy said, though her tight jaw told a different story.

"Werewolf births can move fast. Especially for Omegas. Especially with Alpha blood involved."

The next few hours passed in haze and heat.

Sweat clung to Juliet's skin.

She gripped the sheets until her knuckles turned white.

Lucy moved like a storm in control-quick, calm, exact.

"I can see the first crown !" she called out.

"Push, Jules !"

Juliet obeyed.

A raw scream ripped from her throat as she bore down, her entire body shaking.

Then it came.

A sharp, piercing cry filled the air.

High-pitched. Alive. Furious.

"It's a boy !" Lucy announced, beaming.

She wrapped the tiny, wriggling pup in a clean blanket and laid him on Juliet's chest.

Juliet sobbed.

Her arms trembled as she held him.

He was so small, but strong.

A shock of brown hair crowned his head.

His eyes opened briefly, bright gold, clear and fierce.

His lungs already worked like they belonged to a born Alpha.

Joy burned through her exhaustion like fire through dry grass.

But there was no time to rest.

Another contraction rolled through her like a wave of fire.

"This is just the beginning," Lucy said, voice steady.

She placed the baby in the waiting bassinet and turned back to her.

"Three more to go. You've got this."

Juliet braced herself.

Her muscles tensed.

Her jaw set.

Then a noise outside.

A slam.Car doors.Voices.

Her blood turned to ice.She met Lucy's eyes.They didn't speak.

Someone had found them.