Bloodbound To My Four Archenemies.

July 16 2026, 6:59pm.

"...we have run out of things to do to you."

The words sounded comical the more Nyx’ara thought about it. It made the corners of her lips curl upwards as she glared between one brother and the next.

Her smile caught Rhy’s attention who cocked his eyebrows at her and asked; "What’s funny?"

She shook her head quickly— too quickly— until a sharp pain tore through her scalp, and said; "N-nothing."

All four brothers said nothing else as they turned away and began to walk out of the room one after the other. Kieran left first because he was tired while Azriel followed because he was still embarrassed and could not stand being in front of her for now.

Rhys was about to walk out when suddenly, Nyx’ara spoke again, halting him in his tracks. She asked; "W-what about the marriage?"

He frowned. "What about it?"

For a moment, Nyx’ara contemplated letting it go. She thought about simply pretending not to know what she was hinting at, seeing as he didn’t seem very current on matters that had been brought up by them in the first place.

Her fingers dug into her bedsheets as she looked up at him, a flicker of uncertainty crossing her eyes before it slowly disappeared. She lowered her head when the two brothers, Draven and Rhys, would not stop watching her like she was some strange alien. And then she muttered;

"Y-you wanted to dissolve it. Yo-you wanted to dissolve the mate-bond too—" you wanted to set me free. "W-what about the document you tried to m-make me sign t-that day? Does it st-still stand?"

Simply talking about it made her chest feel tight and made her pulse quicken so much she feared she was about to hyperventilate, but deep down, she didn’t know if she was excited or simply sad. She didn’t know if the ache spreading in her chest was a result of sadness or the fact that she was so happy, she didn’t know what to do with her happiness.

Because come to think of it, if they let her go now, then it would be the freest she has ever been in her entire life.

And she needed that.

She was jolted out of her thoughts when a deep rumble resonated through the room, and it wasn’t until her head snapped up and she turned in Rhys’ direction that she realized he had growled.

And goddess, he looked pissed.

The sound emanating from the back of his throat forced the cat, Coco, to peel its eyes open. It lifted its large head and glared straight at Rhys for having disrupted its beauty sleep.

Nyx’ara, on the other hand, was confused. She could not understand why he was staring at her like she had just committed arson... or like she had stolen something extremely valuable... something that was so precious, it made him mad.

She also could not understand why he crossed the room and began stalking her slowly. He walked with the pace of a predator stalking its prey, and when he arrived about less than an inch close to the bed, he leaned forward carefully— careful because he did not want to be too close to her, careful because he was still new to the kind of feelings that rise in his chest whenever she was within reach— and smirked.

He clipped his finger under her chin and forced her face up until her eyes met his. His touch was gentle and so were his words... but something about his eyes did not feel gentle.

It was hard in every sense of the word. Solid. Cold. It made shivers wrack up her body.

She shivered when his warm breath fanned her face but in a desperate attempt not to breathe in the same air as the one he’d breathed out, she turned away.

He forced her one more time to look at him.

"Are you looking for a way out?" He asked softly— too softly, it almost sounded intimate. "Did you think we would throw that document at you, then after you sign it, you’ll be gone from here? From our lives? Like a free bird when you should be all but that?"

Nyx’ara gulped. "I-I know you guys do n-not want to be w-with me. I know about just how much you hate me. Y-you have said it many times and have ev-even mentioned divorce once. S-so it is only normal that I should ask about it... seeing as it has to-to do with my future."

"Your future?" Rhys echoed, a mocking tone touching his voice. "You think we hate you?"

"I know you do—" she bit back, but as soon as she began talking, he hushed her by pressing his index finger over her mouth and then began to slowly rub it against the slightly chapped lips.

"You are not wrong, darling..." he said slowly, provocatively. "I do hate you. My brothers hate you. We all hate you for killing our sister. We hate you for being everything we do not want. We hate that you are a thief who has no atom of truth or integrity in her life or tongue. We hate that you’re miserable and you’re making us all miserable as well... but we— I— would rather die than let you walk free. I would rather die than allow you to be free. I would sooner sink into the abyss of hell before I let you walk out of this house... and before I let you go be with another man."

"Alpha..." the word slipped out of her mouth like a broken cry, but that was all that it was. She could not go further. She could not bring herself to speak.

She was hurt.

"I would sooner pin you on my bed and force my seed inside of you, and I would sooner watch your stomach swell with children I’ll hate right from the moment they are born than let you return to that fool, Flynn. I promise you."

"Rhys, enough!" Draven thundered from behind them, his voice so powerful, it made the walls quake like the beginnings of an earthquake.

Nyx’ara’s breath caught in her throat and her tears burned at the corners of her eyes. But they did not drop.

She could not allow it to drop.

She felt that crying at a time like this would only show how weak she was. She feared that he would see through her facade and find out the truth which was the last thing she wanted.

The one finger clipped underneath her chin slowly turned into his entire five fingers. He gripped her— hard— and for a split second, gone was the sweet-talking man who seemed slightly shy around her. Gone was the man who was curious and intrigued about her. Gone was the man who had slapped Seraphina for her sake and ordered a man beheaded for laying his hand on her.

In was the daredevil she used to hear twisted stories about.

"If I find out that you’re doing all of these... stealing, lying... everything, for your lover’s sake, then I will kill you, kill him, and put a bullet through my own skull. Is that clear?"

Nyx’ara gulped again as a shudder ran through her body. She wanted to nod her head until she remembered how much he hated that. So she rasped; "Y-yes."

She had half expected him to leave as soon as she responded. She had expected that he would let her go and give her a second to breathe.

However, to her utmost shock, as soon as she responded, he smiled. He then patted her gently on the head, ruffling her tangled hair as he muttered; "Good girl."

But she didn’t want to be his good girl. She didn’t want to be his anything.

She was jolted out of that thought when her face was forced even higher, she winced and tried to scramble away only to have her lips possessed by his in the next second.

He kissed her.

And it wasn’t gentle. It was hard.