CHAPTER 43: CHAPTER 43: THE UNFORGIVEN PLACE

Aeron’s POV~~

The second I stepped back into our rooms, something felt off.

I paused near the doorway, my senses immediately sharpening. The scent in the air wasn’t right. It was soft... faintly floral. But it didn’t belong here. My jaw tightened as it hit me fully.

This place was sacred and untouched. No one but the four of us was ever allowed inside. No guards, no omegas, no flings. We never even had to say it out loud. It was just understood. This was our home, the only place we truly felt safe after so much happened with us. The last piece of our past we hadn’t let the world ruin.

So what the hell was this scent doing here?

Who dared to walk in here without our permission?

My anger flared with the thought that someone dared to trespass past this boundary. I stormed down the hall, footsteps echoing like war drums. The scent was stronger now, and it led me straight to the bathroom. I didn’t even hesitate. I was already picturing some bold she-wolf sneaking in to throw herself at one of my brothers. Disgust twisted in my gut.

No one came here to seduce us. This wasn’t that kind of place.

I grabbed the door handle and flung it open, ready to throw whoever it was out on their ass.

"What the hell are you—"

My voice caught in my throat as I took in the scene.

Selene.

She stood in the middle of the bathroom, foams sliding over her body like silk trails melting over warm skin. The water was still running behind her, echoing in the silence between us.

She was completely bare, her back half-turned to me, her skin flushed from the cold. Wet strands of her silver hair clung to her shoulders and back, shining like moonlight on marble.

Her arms flew up instinctively to cover herself, but it was too late. I had already seen her.

Every damn inch.

Her round backside, pale and perfect, the soft curve of her waist... And God help me, her breasts—shivering from the cold and barely hidden behind her trembling arms. Her nipples were a soft pink, hardened from the chill, peeking through her fingers.

My gaze dropped lower—her stomach was smooth and tight, her hips curving into that forbidden place she now tried to shield with her tightly pressed thighs.

But my eyes had already gone there.

And my wolf... snapped.

Mine.

His voice growled in my head, low and trembling. Ours. She’s ours. Claim her. Take her—

And I was so shocked by my wolf’s voice rather than the scene in front of me. I instinctively shouted at him in my mind.

Shut up.

I snarled back at him, but he wasn’t listening.

He was salivating, practically panting at the sight of her. I could feel it—his tongue running metaphorically across his teeth, his claws scratching just under my skin. It was hunger, lust, and possession.

She’s standing there bare, and you’re just watching? Weak, pathetic man. She’s beautiful. She’s perfect. Take what’s—

Enough!

I barked inside my mind, and then, like a wounded pup, he whimpered.

The sudden stillness in my head was jarring. I didn’t know what disturbed me more—his reaction or mine. I slammed the door shut, backing away like I’d just stepped into fire.

I paced outside the door like a man who had just looked into the sun and gone blind.

What the hell was that?

My wolf wasn’t just stirred... The moment he saw her, something in him had lunged forward like a starved beast. He wanted her. He wanted to claim her. And I didn’t understand it.

Why? She wasn’t our mate. There was no celestial thread tying us together.

I was not some unhinged animal. I had trained my wolf with discipline and silence. For years, he had been steady—cold, distant from the heat that drove others mad. I didn’t even feel the instinct to rut, not the way most Alphas did. I didn’t want to feel it.

And yet—

The second I saw her, dripping and bare, her silver hair clinging to her back like strands of light... He lost control.

I slammed my fist against the wall.

"Why?" I asked him, not out loud but within. My voice was cold and sharp. "What is wrong with you?"

He didn’t answer.

The damn beast who never spoke and never cared about anyone was now hiding like a coward in the corners of my mind. Whimpering and whining.

And clawing at my head.

Like I had done something wrong by stopping him. Disgust twisted through my gut.

You’re pathetic, I spat at him, trying to push him back.

But he didn’t fight me like he used to when he wanted blood. He didn’t lash out or rage.

He just curled inward with a pained noise, like I’d kicked a wounded animal. And still... those claws remained, raking through my thoughts.

I clenched my jaw, dragging a hand through my hair as frustration burned in my throat. I wasn’t some pup seeing a naked woman for the first time. I’d seen plenty—bold ones, graceful ones, even powerful ones. I hadn’t felt a damn thing for any of them. Just... emptiness. They’d repulsed me.

But for Selene...my wolf had howled for her.

What the hell was wrong with him?

I rubbed my temples, a headache forming fast behind my eyes. I needed to get a grip. The event wasn’t supposed to happen. She wasn’t supposed to be here. And I definitely wasn’t supposed to feel like this.

She was supposed to be in the omega quarters, not wandering around like she owned the place. And she wouldn’t have come here on her own; she didn’t have the nerve.

Unless someone brought her.

That’s when another scent hit me.

Lucian.

It was faint, but there. And behind it another scent, sharp and unfamiliar at first, but then it clicked.

The prince.

My eyes narrowed.

I didn’t waste a second.

["Get to the quarters. Now."]

I mind-linked all three of my brothers at once, my tone sharp and unyielding. ["We have a situation."]

I needed answers, and I was done waiting.

Who brought her here? Why was she allowed to bathe in our space? And why the hell was my wolf still aching for someone I was supposed to hate?