Darren.

"Patricia! You bitch, you are so dead!"

The words tore out of my throat, loud and raw, echoing through the stone walls the very moment the news reached me, that she had been thrown into the dungeon.

And for what?

For daring...daring to hurt Maria.

My blood boiled instantly, rage coursing through my veins like wildfire. I had warned her. I had made it clear, painfully clear, that Maria was off limits. That she was not to be touched, not to be harmed, not even to be spoken to carelessly.

But Patricia...she never listened.

And this time, I wasn’t going to let it slide.

Not this time.

I stormed down the corridor, my steps heavy, each one fueled by anger and something darker...something far more possessive. The guards barely had time to react before I shoved the dungeon doors open with force.

The air inside was damp, suffocating, but I didn’t care.

My eyes locked onto her instantly.

Patricia.

There she was, disheveled, restrained, yet still carrying that same stubborn arrogance that made my blood boil even more.

In two long strides, I was in front of her.

Before she could even react, my hand shot forward, tangling into her hair as I yanked her head back harshly.

A gasp escaped her lips.

"Did you forget what I told you?" I snarled, my voice low but laced with deadly intent. "Did you think I was joking?"

I tightened my grip, not caring about the way she winced.

"I warned you, Patricia," I continued, my voice dropping even lower, more dangerous. "I told you not to lay a finger on her."

My chest rose and fell heavily, the anger inside me refusing to settle.

"My mate is Maria," I added firmly, each word deliberate, heavy with truth and possession. "Only she deserves to be my Luna... and that remains unchanged."

The declaration hung in the air.

For a split second, even I felt it, how absolute it sounded, how final but I didn’t have time to dwell on it, because almost immediately, a voice echoed.

"What did you just say?!"

The voices echoed in unison, sharp and disbelieving.

The Quadruplets.

I released Patricia’s hair slowly, straightening up as I turned to face them. Their presence filled the dungeon instantly, their auras heavy, suffocating, but I didn’t back down.

Not now.

Not when I had finally said it out loud.

"Maria is my mate," I repeated, louder this time, my chin lifting slightly as a smug sense of victory settled within me.

Let them hear it.

Let them feel it.

"There is no way that can be possible," Adrien muttered, his fists clenching so tightly I could see the tension in his arms.

I let out a small, humorless chuckle.

"What? You never knew?" I said, tilting my head slightly. "I didn’t reject Maria, Adrien. I only cast her out of the pack... based on some barbaric traditions."

Even as I said it, something twisted in my chest.

Regret.

"And I regret it," I added, my voice quieter now but no less firm.

The silence that followed was thick, heavy and uncomfortable.

"Don’t you think it’s a little too late to regret?" Davian’s voice cut through it, sharp as a blade. His eyes locked onto mine, cold and piercing. "Reject her... and stay clear away from her."

For a second, I just stared at him.

Then I scoffed.

"Reject her?" I repeated, disbelief lacing my tone. "Are you kidding me right now?" I took a step forward, my gaze sweeping across all of them, challenging...unyielding. "How do you expect me to reject the one the Moon Goddess herself has chosen for me?" I asked, a slow, dangerous smirk spreading across my lips.

The audacity of it.

The absurdity.

It almost amused me.

"You all are the ones who should step back," I continued, my voice dropping into something more commanding, more possessive. "Clear off... and bury every single thought you have about her."

My gaze lingered on each of them, one after the other.

Let them understand.

Let them feel it.

"Maria is taken," I finished, my tone final, unwavering. "She is mine."

Aidan let out a low, mocking scoff, the sound sharp enough to cut through the already tense air between us. "Yours?" he repeated slowly, his lips curling in faint disbelief.

He took a deliberate step closer, his gaze locked onto mine like he was daring me to challenge him further.

"How could you be so sure, Darren?" he asked, his voice laced with something between amusement and warning.

My jaw tightened, but before I could respond, he leaned in just slightly, his presence suddenly suffocating.

"Have you ever thought," he continued, his tone dropping into something colder, "that she actually stopped being your mate a long time ago... and is mated to someone else now?"

"What do you mean?" I demanded immediately.

The confidence I had been clinging to wavered at the edges, slipping through my fingers like sand. Something about the certainty in his voice didn’t sit right with me. It wasn’t just arrogance, there was conviction behind his words, and that alone sent a ripple of unease through my chest.

"What he means is that..." Damien shifted slightly, his posture relaxed but his eyes anything but. "...the Moon Goddess had long discarded your bond with Maria, Darren."

For a second, I just stared at him.

"What?" My voice rose despite myself, sharp and disbelieving. "How is that even possible?"

The words felt wrong the moment they left my mouth. Bonds weren’t just broken—not like that. Not without reason. Not without consequence.

"Shhhh!" Adrien suddenly cut in, bringing a finger to his lips as though my reaction amused him more than it concerned him. "Keep it down."

But I couldn’t.

Not when everything they were saying made absolutely no sense.

"Maria is our mate, Darren," Davian added calmly, his tone firm, leaving no room for doubt. "So... back off."

What?

My mind blanked for a moment, the words refusing to settle properly.

No.

No way.

That wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be.

"You’re lying," I managed to say, though my voice didn’t sound as steady as I wanted it to.

There was a crack in it, a small but undeniable fracture that betrayed the storm building inside me.

"Well," Aidan drawled, his smirk deepening, "I guess the mark from the bond doesn’t lie."

The moment those words registered, something inside me snapped.

"Wait—what?" I breathed, my eyes widening. "You marked her already?"

The image alone was enough to make my stomach twist violently. My steps faltered, and I staggered back slightly, as if the ground beneath me had suddenly shifted.

"She belongs to us now, Darren," they said together, their voices merging into one chilling declaration. "So back off."

I froze.

Completely.

The world around me seemed to blur, their faces still in front of me, their words still echoing, but nothing felt real anymore. It was too much, too sudden, too impossible.

Maria... marked?

By them?

No.

My fists clenched at my sides, nails digging into my palms as I tried to steady myself. My chest rose and fell unevenly, my thoughts colliding violently, refusing to settle into anything coherent.

Everything was spiraling out of control.

But even then, even with all of this, there was no way I was backing down.

She was mine first.

And no matter what they said, no matter what they claimed...that truth wasn’t something I was willing to let go of.