Fated and Claimed by Four Alphas

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~Spring's POV~

Then Madelyn gave a theatrical wave and turned, hair whipping dramatically as she strode down the corridor.

Eva smiled nervously at me. "They really like you, huh?"

I forced a smile back. "Yeah."

But inside, I was quiet. I should've felt giddy. Triumphant. Instead, something ached.

Lilith had deserved consequences, but to be erased from the school?

Even with all she did, I couldn't shake the chill curling down my spine.

And my mates… Just how far would they go for me, and what would that cost us all, eventually?

Just then, Chloe's voice rendered the air in my half-focused thoughts until my brain finally focused on her when she gently tapped my shoulder.

And when I looked up at her, the look she gave me—that grin that screamed I know everything, I immediately recalled last night.

"Oh shit."

"Oh yes."

At once, Eva was eager to hear what the issue was and Chloe was already wriggling her brows at me like she was sitting on the juiciest secret of the decade.

Before I could even breathe, Chloe spun on her heel to face Eva with the same energy a town crier would carry before announcing a royal scandal.

"Spring slept with one of her mates," she whispered with far too much excitement.

My soul left my body for a second.

Eva's eyes widened like someone had just revealed the identity of the Moon Goddess herself. She gasped, clutching her books to her chest.

"Spring, you did what?"

"Did what?" Nari's voice cut in just as she approached, frowning in confusion.

"That—" Eva began, already breathless with glee, "—she had sex. With one of her mates."

Nari blinked, stunned, her mouth opening and closing before her voice came out. "I-is it true?"

I groaned internally, rubbing my forehead. "It is either you believe me or you believe Chloe. She's not really one to fact-check her theories."

"I do too fact-check!" Chloe huffed. "You were glowing and you still are, in that radiant way that says…"

"No, you assume," I corrected. "Besides…"

"Besides," Nari interjected smugly, "even if she did do it, I wouldn't expect her to admit it. A girl's got to keep a little mystery."

"Besides," I retorted sharply, "I didn't."

"You can say that all you want, but the glow on your face is proof enough," she teased.

I could feel the heat crawl up my neck.

Before I could respond, a new voice broke through the cluster of chaos.

"Besides," it echoed smoothly, "even if she does have sex, I wouldn't want my love to kiss and tell now…"

I froze mid-breath, spine going ramrod straight. That voice. I knew that voice. It wasn't just any one of my mates.

It was Storm.

He appeared beside me as if summoned by drama itself, calm and confident, that glint of possession hidden beneath his casual smile.

His hand slid around my waist and pulled me flush against his firm chest, grounding me in a way that made it hard to think.

The group fell completely silent. Chloe's mouth was parted in pure glee. Eva had practically stopped blinking.

And Nari? She was just staring like she'd stepped into the final chapter of a romance novel and accidentally spoiled the entire thing.

"I—" I started, but Storm leaned down, close enough to make my thoughts short-circuit.

"Let them talk," he murmured against my ear, voice low. "Only we know what's real."

And just like that, I forgot what we were even arguing about. And to make matters worse, he pressed a kiss against my cheek, winked at me and added, "Success in your assessments today."

That was all, and Storm left, but the little time he was here… felt like firecrackers exploding all over.

"Hold, Eva," I blurted out before I could stop myself, as she literally swooned and missed her step, falling.

I lunged forward.

Too late.

Her ankle buckled in slow motion, books tumbling from her arms as she clutched dramatically at the air like some tragic damsel in a historical drama.

She landed with an unceremonious thud on the corridor tiles.

"Ow," she whispered, dazed.

Chloe bent over laughing. "Did you just faint from a man's voice?"

"I didn't faint!" Eva snapped, rubbing her hip as I helped her up. "I slipped… on air."

"Sure," Nari muttered, deadpan. "Let's blame physics and hormones."

I crouched, scooping up Eva's fallen books. "You good?"

"I will be once I get therapy for that wink," she said solemnly.

I shook my head, cheeks still warm. Storm's presence was like flint against flannel—constant friction, barely-contained sparks.

He always knew how to rattle the calmest parts of me. And somehow, always did it at the exact wrong time.

The bell rang, pulling our attention back to the most crucial thing… TEST.

"Okay, okay, test time!" Nari exclaimed. "Let's go. Before we get distracted by another alpha strutting through like a damn runway model."

We scrambled into the hallway and made our way to the lecture hall for the written assessment.

It was one of the many lined up for the week—each one tougher than the last.

But as I entered and took my seat, something strange settled inside me.

Calm.

"Switch off your phones, keep your bags and take just your pencil and eraser."

Phones were turned off, bags kept to the side, leaving only our erasers.

"You have thirty-five minutes to complete the test," the instructor's voice rang out sharply.

Sheets rustled as the assistants moved around, placing the test papers on each desk. When one was dropped on mine, I blinked down at it. My breath hitched—not in panic but familiarity.

I knew this paper.

The questions stared back at me like old memories from a life lived long ago.

Formulas, chemical equations, complex problems… each one was exactly as I remembered from a test I had taken during Spring's life, last year.

Back then, she'd solved these same equations. Now, sitting here in Noxshade Academy, I picked up my pencil.

Question 1: What compound reaction best neutralises an acid-based mana burst?

Answer: Varellium Root and Ashlight Resin.

Question 2: Identify the magical sequence in an inverted leyline collapse.

Answer: Converge, Repulse, Break, Restore.

They were all the same.

I couldn't help but smile. To others, this would be advanced magical theory. But to me, it felt like revising a first-grade pop quiz.

I flipped page after page, my pencil dancing across the sheet like my hand already knew what to do.

Eighteen minutes later, I was done.