Rejected By My Mate; Claimed By Lycan Quadruplets Chapter 172

Lisa's POV

I was stirring the herbs slowly, watching the steam curl upward as though it wanted to whisper secrets to me. My hands moved automatically, years of practice guiding me, but my mind was restless. I had been uneasy all morning, an ache tugging in my chest as though something unpleasant was about to disturb the fragile peace I had fought so hard to build here.

Then it happened.

“Mother! Mother!”

The sharp, urgent cry of Elias tore through the quiet. His voice always carried authority, even though he was still so young. My eldest, always protective of his siblings, always the first to sense danger.

Before I could respond, Aria’s softer, trembling voice followed, “Mama, come quick! Please—come quick!”

I dropped the wooden ladle into the pot and ran toward the sound of their voices. My heart pounded painfully against my ribs. The urgency, the fear, the unmistakable pull of their bond—it dragged me forward.

I found them at the edge of the grove, their little figures standing rigid, their faces pale. Kael and Lyra clung to Aria’s arms, their eyes wide. And then I saw what they were staring at.

My breath caught.

Armies.

An entire battalion stood at the border of my sanctuary. Men in armor, weapons gleaming, eyes sharp with exhaustion and desperation. And leading them—two faces I never thought I would see again.

Atlas. Kael.

The world tilted. For a moment, I thought I had imagined them. My sons… my blood… the men who had turned their backs on me when I needed them most. The ones who left scars I had buried deep, scars I thought had healed.

But there they were. Alive. Breathing. Standing before me with their armies like some twisted vision dragged out of my nightmares.

“Lisa…” Atlas spoke first. His voice was hoarse, cracked, filled with something dangerously close to reverence. “It’s you.”

I didn’t move. My body refused to obey. I simply stared at him, my face cold, my heart screaming.

Kael took a step forward, his eyes locked on mine. “We… we didn’t know. We thought—”

“Don’t.” My voice was sharp, slicing through his words. “Don’t you dare.”

The soldiers behind them shifted, murmuring among themselves. My children pressed closer to me, their small hands clinging to my dress. Elias’s jaw tightened, his little chest rising and falling in anger at the men who dared disturb us.

“You shouldn’t be here.” I forced the words out, steady and cold. “You shouldn’t have come. Whatever you want, I cannot give it to you.”

Atlas’s face crumpled, just slightly, before he straightened and tried again. “Lisa… we didn’t come to hurt you. We came to beg you.”

“Beg me?” I let out a bitter laugh. “After everything? After the years of silence? After abandoning me when I was broken? You come with armies and soldiers, and you think you can beg me?”

Kael stepped forward again, but my glare stopped him in his tracks. He looked like he wanted to speak, to pour out every word of regret that burned inside him. But I wasn’t ready.

Not for their voices. Not for their excuses.

“Leave,” I whispered. “Turn back the way you came and never come here again.”

The silence that followed was deafening. Soldiers exchanged uneasy glances. My children tightened their grips on me. And then Atlas did the unthinkable.

He fell to his knees.

The great Atlas Ross, warrior, commander, proud beyond measure—knelt.

Kael followed instantly, dropping beside him, his head bowed. “Please, Lisa. Please. Our people are dying. The plague is spreading. We… we have nowhere else to turn. Only you can save them.”

I swallowed hard, refusing to let the tremor in my chest break through my voice. “You should have thought of that before you left me to rot.”

Atlas’s voice cracked. “We were wrong. We were fools. But this… this is bigger than us. Please. Don’t punish them for our sins.”

I felt the sting of tears at the corners of my eyes, but I forced them back. I would not give them that satisfaction.

And then, before I could speak again, a tiny voice broke through the heavy silence.

“Mommy?”

I turned sharply.

Lyra. My youngest. Her little curls bounced as she stepped forward, her big brown eyes fixed not on me—but on the men kneeling before us.

“They’re handsome…” she whispered innocently. “They look kind. Why are you so angry at them?”

My heart lurched.

Elias quickly pulled her back, shaking his head. “Lyra, no. Don’t interfere.” But even his sternness faltered as Kael, the grown man, raised his eyes and met Lyra’s with something raw and broken.

“They are not kind,” I said firmly, though my voice trembled. “They hurt me. They left me.”

“But people are dying,” Aria’s voice piped up, soft but steady. She was always the peacemaker, always the one who sought light in shadows. “If they’re begging you, maybe you should help. You always tell us kindness is stronger than anger.”

My throat closed.

Elias clenched his fists, torn between loyalty to me and the compassion shining in his siblings’ eyes. “They abandoned her. They don’t deserve her help.”

“But they need her,” Kael—my son, my child, the man kneeling before me—whispered. “They need her, Elias. Just as much as you do.”

The world spun again. My knees felt weak, my chest tight.

I wanted to scream. To curse them for daring to crawl back into my life. To protect my heart and keep the walls I had built intact. But then Lyra reached for my hand and whispered, “Please, Mommy. Forgive them. Save their people. You’re strong. You can.”

Her little eyes shone with pure faith. Faith I didn’t deserve.

And in that moment, I broke.

I exhaled shakily and closed my eyes. When I opened them again, Atlas and Kael were still kneeling there, their eyes wide with disbelief and desperation.

“I will help,” I said at last, my voice soft but resolute. “But not because of you.”

Their heads jerked up.

“I will help because my children asked me to. And because innocent lives should not pay the price for your mistakes.”

Kael’s lips trembled. Atlas’s eyes shone with unshed tears. Soldiers behind them let out quiet sighs of relief.

But I wasn’t done.

“You will never speak to me as though nothing happened. You will never expect forgiveness from me. I will save your people, but you are strangers to me now. Do you understand?”

Atlas bowed his head. “Yes.”

Kael choked out, “Yes, Lisa.”

I turned away, clutching my children close, my heart beating wildly. I didn’t know if I could survive their presence again. But I would not let my children down. And I would not let innocents suffer for the sins of two men who once shattered me.

Still, as I walked back toward the sanctuary with Elias, Aria, Kael, and Lyra at my side, I could feel their eyes on me.

Heavy. Desperate. Regretful.

And no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t silence the small, treacherous part of me that whispered that once—long ago—I had loved them.