Bloodbound To My Four Archenemies.

July 16 2026, 8:47pm.

The moment the words escaped her lips, Nyx’ara instantly knew that there was no taking it back. She felt the abrupt shift in the air, felt the way the two brothers scooted backwards as if wanting to be as far away from her as possible.

No one spoke for what felt like an eternity. And no one moved either. In fact, it felt as though they had all turned into stone— unmoving. Still. Out of breath.

Kieran was the first to break out of his reverie. He cast a long glance at Nyx’ara, hoping to the goddess that he would feel something... that he would sense something that could make him understand if she was telling a lie or not.

All he got in return was Coco’s hissing.

The cat glared at him like he was an intruder. It seemed pissed that her beauty sleep was being disturbed. Usually, this was the part where he would try to let it be, where he would decide to walk out of the time. But he did not.

This was important.

More important than some pompous cat’s beauty sleep.

"Nyx’ara, you know you do not have to lie to us..." he drawled softly— too softly, the sound washed over her skin like a caress. "Because we will always find out what the truth is eventually... and you may not like the outcome."

The hidden threat punctuated in each word made goosebumps scatter across her flesh. But instead of feeling afraid or backing down, for some reason, her chest suddenly felt inexplicably lighter— like some strange weight had been taken off it.

The truth.

She could not believe that she had told the truth just like that. That she had taken the bull by the horns without caring one bit about what Flynn would do to her... but now, now that she thought about it, she was scared of the repercussions of her actions.

Her fingers subconsciously wove through each other and her head dropped as if suddenly afraid to look up at the brothers— and she had every right to be afraid.

Why?

Because Rhys looked like he was about to murder her.

His eyes were cold and unreadable. His face was pale and frozen into a stoic mask for the past two minutes now. He glared at her as though he couldn’t quite see her. It felt as though he was looking right through her— which rattled her immensely.

He did not snap out of it until a couple of seconds later when he finely drawled; I don’t believe you."

His voice came cold and solid. It echoed through the room, vibrating with enough tension to have her backing further into the bed. When her eyes met his, her breath hitched at the ferocity of the rage she found blazing hot there.

But he didn’t look away. If anything, his eyes seemed to be daring her... intimidating her...

She rasped; "I-I don’t have any re-reason to lie to you. In fact, telling y-you the truth means I have some-something to lose now."

"What?" That was Kieran, the less hostile one at the moment. Kieran openly seemed as though he believed her, but deep down, he was almost as skeptical as Rhys.

He stepped forward, forcing Nyx’ara to glance away from Rhys to him, and then he spoke up in that same soft tone— in that same voice that sounded like he was whispering sweet nonsenses to her instead of interrogating her. He asked; "What do you have to lose?"

"B-Berlin."

"And who the fuck is Berlin?"

Nyx’ara gulped thickly. Suddenly, her throat felt tight with an array of emotions. Her body vibrated with some strange feelings she couldn’t quite name or understand and the corners of her eyes burned, but she blinked back whatever was wrong with her eyes and continued;

"Berlin is my best friend. S-she was the only person who stayed with me after I w-was branded a criminal and ac-accused of attempting to kill my sister. She would sneak in food and pastries into my cell when I was locked up in th-the dungeons for three years... a-and because Flynn realized th-that he co-could no longer control me after he got me out, he-he threatened to-to kill her."

"Just like that? For no reason?" Kieran asked while Rhys nodded. Obviously he wasn’t buying the story at all— not like you could blame him.

For so long, Nyx’ara had tried to stay strong. She had on several occasions reminded herself that everything that happened in her life before last month was in the past, but as the memories flooded into her head— raw and painful... and embarrassing— tears stung at the corners of her eyes.

They fell before she could stop them... and the two stone-cold brothers caught it.

Rhys’s hands clenched into fists.

"O-on the tenth of June... he released me from jail after exactly th-three years of being locked up. I thought he was being generous, that they had fi-finally decided to let me go after years of abuse... but I was wrong."

A chortling sound echoed in the room followed by a rumble that came from no one else but Rhys.

"He released me be-because someone had go-gotten into trouble and they w-wanted me to take the fall. I-I do not know w-who killed your sister but it wasn’t me. I wasn’t e-even out of jail yet at the time of her death. I-I never met her once and only agreed t-to take the blame be-because Flynn said he would kill and torture Berlin... and he might do it... now that I have told you the truth."

The room went dead silent for what felt like forever. Both brothers turned to share a look and when they turned back to Nyx’ara, she noticed that there was something different in their eyes.

Acknowledgement? Acceptance?

Hell, she did not know, and in truth, at the time, she did not care much.

All she cared about was getting Berlin safely out of Stormborn pack, and for that reason, she watched Kieran fish for his phone and then began to type furiously against the screen.

A couple of seconds later, he raised his head and informed Rhys— Rhys not her. "I have informed Draven and Azriel about the newest developments... and they will be here in a couple of minutes."

"A couple of minutes is too much time for the kind of wrath I intend to bestow upon the Alpha of Moonshine pack, as well as everyone else involved in this mess." Rhys hissed, his baritone echoing around the room and settling over Nyx’ara in such a way that it made her body go cold.

Then he added; "Also tell our brothers that we have a guest coming tonight and that she will be staying indefinitely..." his voice trailed off as he turned to look at Nyx’ara and when her eyes met his, he smirked.

"Her name is Berlin."