Bloodbound To My Four Archenemies.

July 16 2026, 10:14am.

Elara pressed her hands to her forehead as she tried to read the book before her but failed to assimilate anything due to the chaos happening upstairs between her mother and her husband, her stepfather.

Both of them had been going at it for several minutes now, their quarrel turning into a full-blown fight with each passing second.

From here, she could not hear the exact words they said to each other but she could hear the sounds of breaking glasses echoing in the distance, of wood splintering as the confrontation intensified... in fact, she would not be shocked to find out that there are a few broken bones by the time she goes up to check... not like she would ever go up to check.

She squeezed her eyes shut as she desperately tried not to think about her unruly guardians, but as soon as her eyes snapped shut, a memory flashed in her mind and she froze.

Nyx’ara.

She could remember how that wench had walked proudly into that grand hall three nights ago... she could remember even how prouder she had seemed when she walked out with the Alphas flanking her like she was some most prized jewel.

But beyond all of these, she remembered the jealousy in Flynn’s eyes. The way his eyes had followed her out and the way they’d almost kissed under the moonlight... back at their pack, only for him to mutter a name under his breath...

"Nyx’ara."

Nothing in the entire universe had infuriated her more than that. Nothing had pushed her so close to bloodlust than the look he’d had in his eyes when he’d thought she was Nyx’ara for a second.

His drunken state and glazed eyes had made her for a moment remember that night at the rooftop— the night the Princess, Leilani, had been killed— and she had almost been pushed to tell the truth.

Almost.

That is until—

"At this rate, you’ll make your eyes pop out of their sockets by how hard you’ve been staring at that book." A deep masculine voice said from beside her, jolting her out of her train of thought.

Her head jerked up quickly to see Tristan walking over. He looked very much like an eye candy with his wet hair, sleeveless black tank top, and his gray sweatpants that hung so low, she could literally see the V of his waist.

Her eyes wandered shamelessly down his body but she quickly caught herself when he plopped down beside her and began to unscrew the cap of his water bottle.

"Good morning, little sister." He drawled softly, "I hope you rested well?"

His use of the words: ’little sister’ infuriated her to no end. She hated the way he looked at her like she was just that— a kid. Hated the way he ruffled her hair whenever he passed by her... and if she was being true to herself, then she would admit that he’s definitely been acting that way ever since she left the hospital about a week ago.

Her face scrunched up into a frown, and she leaned close to him— so close that she could smell his father’s stolen perfume on his clothes.

She let her eyes meaningfully drag along his face only to stop at his plump lips, and then she hissed; "Do not... call me your kid sister! Ever!"

"But that is exactly who you are!" Tristan bit back, sounding not the least surprised by her reaction. If anything, he was satisfied that he’d managed to rile her up with something as little as this. He was also glad that to some extent, that was all he had begun to see her as, which was strange.

He did not know what changed or clicked in his head, but somewhere along the line, sometime around the period she had been hospitalized, he had begun to unsee whatever he used to see in her that made him crave her time and attention, and for some reason, he also resorted to viewing her through the same lens he used to view Nyx’ara through.

’Come to think of it, Elara and Nyx’ara shared some physical similarities.’ He thought to himself, but shaking that thought off, he beamed a smile at Elara and turned away to pick up the TV’s remote control.

He briefly winced when the noise from upstairs grew louder but he

"For how long have Mom and Dad been going at it like this?" He asked, and as soon as the question slipped out of his lips, Elara stilled.

Tristan never calls her mother mom. He never acknowledged them as a part of his family, mostly due to his affair with her.

Was this his way of breaking up with her? Was this his way of dumping her? By suddenly beginning to refer to her as his sister?

Her blood boiled with rage and she shot up from her chair, refusing to answer his question. Tristan’s eyes snapped open when she rose with force but he did not try to stop her.

He did not care to soothe her either, and could only watch her as she stormed away from him, her feet pounding against the floor as she went.

She had only just arrived at the foot of the stairs when she suddenly stopped. She turned to him and hissed; "Flynn wants us to speed up the wedding process." She said, hoping to make him jealous.

Usually, whenever she talked about Flynn, Tristan would respond by throwing a tantrum. He would scream and curse and would even threaten to expose their affair just to make sure she didn’t end up with Flynn.

But do you know what he did this time?

He smiled.

He fucking smiled at her then leaned back into his chair as he drawled;

"Can I come with a plus one?"

His response hit her like a freaking tornado. She knew it! He was cheating on her! And he promised he never would!

Her hands balled into tight fists as she turned away. At the moment, her face was as red as a tomato due to the rage she felt and the jealousy she could feel being directed at the unknown girl. With a snort, she marched up the stairs, refusing to look back at him... but he wasn’t even looking at her to begin with.

His attention had returned to the TV and now, he was smiling as he watched Dwayne Johnson’s acting in the newly released Jumanji.

—

Elara’s first thought was to go to her room and lock herself in until Tristan was out of the house. However, as she climbed up the stairs and began to realize that the chaos was louder from up here, she subconsciously began to walk over to her "parents’" room.

She could not understand why her heart raced as she went and it wasn’t until she had arrived at about two inches away from the door that she began to understand why she was so antsy.

They were not fighting per se.

Her stepfather was yelling from one end of the room while her mother screamed from the other end, throwing objects around.

The door was slightly left ajar, giving her access to only see her mother, but that was not the main point here. The main point was the fact that this was the most distraught she had ever seen her mother in her entire life.

In fact, her mother was usually the perfect depiction of ’the calm under storm’. She was incapable of allowing anything or anyone to get under her skin.

Her body buzzed when she watched her mother’s knees hit the floor with a thud and she was just about to rush into the room when she heard her mother say:

"Elara is also your daughter! Your biological daughter! You cannot be heartless enough to push her out of your will when that is the only thing you’ve done so far to her all her life! I know she doesn’t deserve your love but she deserves that. There is literally no difference between her and your first wife, Selene!"

The words hit Elara like a ton of bricks and for a moment, her mind was so foggy, she could barely make sense of what she’d just heard.

Her hand shot to her mouth to keep herself from making a sound. But she was not sleek enough.

A gasp slipped through her parted lips.