Chapter 92: Endless possibilities.
July 16 2026, 6:39pm.
After her brief encounter with Azriel, Nyx’ara fell into a deep sleep and was not interrupted by anyone until about 6 hours later when she heard the unfamiliar sounds of furniture dragging against the marble floor.
She tried to snap her eyes open, but because they were so heavy and she was so drowsy, it was almost impossible.
Suddenly, heat burned into her left side, but it wasn’t the kind to scald. It was one that felt comforting in ways she could hardly explain.
Her eyes peeled open slowly to find a white furry ball curled into her side, and as soon as she saw it, knowing it was the cat, a small smile bloomed across her face.
However, her smile soon disappeared when she noticed the figures standing not so far from the bed, dressed in dark suits with darker auras surrounding them like clouds. Between where they stood and the bed was a mobile table holding an assortment of food and fruit.
It contained many of her favorite things including fresh blueberries, a blueberry cheesecake, and some freshly squeezed blueberry juice.
It looked and smelled like heaven.
Her eyes gleamed with joy at the sight and she sat up quickly, wincing when a sizzling pain tore through her side.
"Argh...!" A gasp slipped through her lips, and as soon as the sound echoed through the quiet room, all four brothers instantly broke character.
Before going to visit her, they had had a brief conversation and agreement amongst themselves. They had decided that because she was found to be guilty of being a thief who had planted herself at their pack just to be able to steal from them... and because she was still their sister’s murderer, plus a girl who was probably after their lives as well... that they would let her get all the treatment that she needed. That they would continue to feed and clothe her... but that they would break all ties with her.
They had agreed to denounce their mate-bond with her, dissolve their marriage as well, and break her completely in the process.
They had also decided not to lay a finger on her both physically and intimately... so it came as a shock to not one, but all four of them when they found themselves rushing to her bedside like men under a spell at the sound of her pained cry.
Kieran pressed his hand to her forehead, breaking one of the rules, and grumbled; "She still has a high fever."
Rhys grabbed her hands and snapped; "Her hands are cold as well."
Draven, upon hearing that, let his eyes dart over to the air conditioning system above her bed and a frown creased across his face when he snarled; "The air conditioner has been cooling the air not warming it! Who the Hell did that?!"
It wasn’t until that moment that Azriel finally stepped out from the back. Ever since his towel accidentally dropped from his waist in front of Nyx’ara, he had been dreading seeing her. The thought of looking at her, knowing that she had seen all of him barely hours ago, made his face prickle with heat.
It made the nape of his neck crawl and made him, for the first time, experience shyness, which was strange for a man who had no problem with being seen naked.
He lowered his head and muttered; "The last time I checked on her, she was sweating profusely so I turned it down. I wanted her to cool off a little but I have not come in to check since then."
"Oh..." Draven muttered under his breath, his voice softer. He said nothing else as he picked up the remote control and began to turn up the heat.
By the time he was done, he took a step back, as if to admire his creation and then he smiled softly— one that didn’t quite reach his eyes— as he said; "Eloise asked us to bring you some food. She is indisposed and claims that you haven’t eaten anything since you woke up. Hence, forcing us to—"
"Thank you," Nyx’ara cut in lightly, interrupting him.
She did not see or care to see the stunned look on his face as soon as she spoke. She did not care about his obvious attempt to try to come off as someone who doesn’t care about her.
All she saw at the moment was the food, and it was the only thing she thought about as she picked up a piece of blueberry cheesecake and brought it to her lips.
"Mhmnn!" She moaned in delight as the delicious flavors exploded in her mouth while all four brothers clenched their fists because that sound had done something to them that they hated to talk about.
Tension crackled in the air and Draven could only watch her with a primal kind of hunger as she ate in silence. In truth, the Alpha brothers had been the ones to force Eloise to prepare something for Nyx’ara to eat. They had literally barked out orders at the kitchen staff, ordering them to prepare foods with blueberries, making sure they came in every form and deliciousness.
And by the time the food was ready, they had personally taken it up to her room— Azriel’s former room until Nyx’ara’s is fixed— and dished it on the table.
But she did not need to know that.
Hell, they did not need to give her the wrong ideas.
She continued to eat her food in silence, blissfully unaware of the ’stress’ the four brothers had gone through to ensure that she had so many varieties.
Hell, only an hour ago, they had been so annoyed by the kitchen staff’s idea of freshly squeezed blueberry juice that they had gone as far as making a new batch themselves. And now... now they were pretending not to care about her.
They were pretending like they were unaffected by her.
She muttered; "T-the juice tastes so good. Ca-can I have more?" And at the sound of her voice, all four brothers froze.
Why?
Because they hadn’t expected her to drink so much. Because they hadn’t done enough for her to have extra.
Kieran pressed his lips together as his eyes trailed from her expectant ones to the almost empty pitcher in front of her. The cat curled up in her bed meowed as if egging him on. A beat of silence settled between them and just when Nyx’ara began to lower her hand, he— against his will— snatched the pitcher from her hand and snapped;
"You’ll get more in a moment!"
Then he dashed out of the room, ignoring the way his brothers watched him leave with knowing glints in their eyes.
He did not return until a couple of minutes later, and from the sweat beading on his forehead and the way his sleeves were rolled up to his elbow, one would know that he had prepared it himself.
No one asked. He never spoke about it either.
He simply placed the now full pitcher on Nyx’ara’s table, took a step back, and hissed; "Do not get the wrong ideas. I am only helping out because you have a broken rib."
Nyx’ara did not look at him. She did not even reach for the pitcher as she bit back; "W-would my ribs have br-broken in th-the first place if you hadn’t asked your bodyguards to beat me up? Are y-you doing this because I look like I am a couple of inches away fr-from death or are you doing it because you feel sorry?"
"I do not feel sorry," Kieran responded easily. The words tasted like bile on his tongue but he pushed them back and continued; "I should not feel sorry for you, knowing that you had stolen all those items from us."
"I didn—"
"You did not only kill our sister, but you also plotted to kill us. You stole from us right under our noses, and only the goddess knows what else you’ve done besides all of that."
Nyx’ara wanted to defend herself. She wanted to prove to them just how wrong they were. But one look at his face then at the iciness in the remaining three brothers’ eyes had the words dying in her throat.
Her body shook because just like that the last time, she had no way to prove her innocence. She had no proof, no alibis. If anything, all she had were false witnesses and people who would do anything to ensure her downfall.
Tears spilled from her eyes, dropping into the plate in front of her, and with a voice barely above a whisper, she asked;
"N-now that you know all of this, what will you do to me?"
Kill me?
Get me whipped?
Exile me?
These different scenarios played out in her head over and over again, and as more seconds passed, they began to morph into even darker scenarios. Twisted ones. She imagined herself getting tortured with a heated iron... imagined them pulling out her teeth one after the other.
The list was endless and so were the possibilities.
But she was, however, jolted out of her thoughts when Draven spoke. He drawled;
"Nothing."
She paused. Her tears ceased. "Nothing?"
"Yes, nothing," Rhys added, "you’ll resume your schooling when you get better as we have run out of things to do to you."