Rejected By My Mate; Claimed By Lycan Quadruplets Chapter 42

Alpha Enzo’s POV

The morning was particularly still, the kind of calm that usually preceded something…uncomfortable. Birds chirped in an annoyingly perfect rhythm, and the breeze carried just enough chill to cut through the early sunlight without being unpleasant.

It should’ve been a relaxing hour.

I should’ve been reviewing the training schedules Ash left on my desk or scanning reports from our sentry posts. Hell, I should’ve been anywhere else but wandering aimlessly toward the garden like a man avoiding paperwork. But even alphas needed fresh air, and I found the stillness of the garden did a better job at clearing my mind than the suffocating quiet of my study ever could.

I took the eastern path, boots brushing against dew-kissed grass as I made my way around the circular hedge maze. It was built by my great-grandfather for reasons no one cared about anymore, but I kept it because it gave me the solitude I often craved.

Then I heard them.

Voices. Female.

I paused.

Calla’s, I recognized immediately. But the other—

“…you think the rogues got in on their own? That’s ridiculous. No one breaches this pack’s defenses without help.”

Lisa.

I didn't move. Didn’t make a sound. Just stood there behind the hedge wall, listening.

“They were desperate, not strategic,” Calla responded, her voice lower. “You’re giving them too much credit.”

“And you’re giving our soldiers too much,” Lisa shot back. “If it wasn’t for Kael, they would’ve broken out and possibly killed someone else. Does that sound like a secured prison to you?”

“You don’t understand how things work here,” Calla said, but I could hear the frustration in her tone.

“And maybe that’s the problem. No one wants anyone to understand. Just nod, follow orders, and keep quiet.”

That was when I stepped out.

They both flinched, spinning around like children caught stealing cookies. I didn’t speak at first. I simply walked forward, slow and deliberate, and watched their faces pale a little.

Calla was the first to drop her head in a respectful bow. Lisa followed, hesitating only a beat.

I arched a brow.

“Didn’t realize the garden had become a war room.”

They said nothing.

“I assumed you both had duties to attend to,” I added.

Calla cleared her throat. “I was just about to return to the kitchen. I’ll get your morning tea—”

“Do that,” I cut in, my gaze shifting to Lisa. “She stays.”

Calla didn’t argue. She gave Lisa a quick glance that said be careful, then practically sprinted away.

I turned fully to the omega in front of me, taking in the barely contained emotion on her face. She looked like she was still running on leftover adrenaline, like a cornered lioness but still unwilling to show her belly.

“Walk with me,” I said, not really a request.

She obeyed without a word.

We moved in silence down the curved stone path, past rows of wild roses and flowering vines. She kept a small distance beside me, her steps timid but not sluggish. I could feel the tension coming off her like heat waves.

Eventually, she spoke.

“You heard everything, didn’t you?”

“I did.”

She didn’t seem embarrassed. Only defiant.

“I wasn’t trying to disrespect the pack,” she said. “I just… I don’t think pretending nothing happened helps anyone.”

“Pretending?” I echoed, glancing at her. “No one’s pretending, Lisa.”

“You could’ve fooled me,” she muttered, then immediately looked regretful for saying it out loud.

I stopped walking.

She stopped too.

“Do you think we’re not doing enough?” I asked, voice level.

Lisa looked up at me slowly. Her eyes were uncertain, but something about them—maybe the quiet conviction—made them impossible to ignore.

“I think people are scared,” she said. “But no one wants to admit it. Not the guards, not the maids, not the omegas, not even the damn alphas.”

I let out a breath, more amused than angry. “You really don’t know when to shut up.”

“I do,” she said. “I just don’t see the point in using it.”

A beat of silence.

“And what would you have us do, then?” I asked. “Announce to the world that rogues slipped through our defenses? Open our doors and cry about it?”

“Maybe not cry,” she replied. “But maybe being honest for once would help.”

I started walking again. She matched my pace.

“You talk about honesty like it’s free,” I said. “Like it doesn’t carry consequences.”

She frowned. “And silence doesn’t?”

“You’re in no place to question our leadership.”

“Then why am I here?” she shot back before she could stop herself.

I paused again. She clamped her lips shut, visibly scolding herself.

“You’re here because you were bought,” I said coldly. “Not because you were chosen. Don’t mistake the two.”

I regretted the words almost instantly.

Not because they weren’t true. But because of the way her face fell just a little. That strange light in her eyes dimmed. For a second, I forgot she was the same girl who had screamed and fainted at the sight of blood.

She looked away, blinking furiously like she was holding something in.

“I understand,” she said finally, her voice soft.

I stared at her.

“Do you?”

“I was stupid to argue with you,” she said, her tone muted now. “You’re the Alpha. You know what’s best.”

The words sounded hollow.

Mocking, even.

But she didn’t smile. Didn’t raise her voice. She just stood there, hands at her sides, retreating behind that quiet shell she wore when she didn’t want to be seen.

I should’ve been relieved.

Instead, it made my chest feel tight.

Before I could respond, Calla returned with a tray.

“Your tea, Alpha.”

I nodded at her and took the cup.

“You may both go.”

Lisa bowed quickly and turned, her pace brisk as she disappeared around the hedge wall. Calla looked like she wanted to speak but thought better of it and followed after her.

I stood there for a long time, sipping the steaming tea and staring at the path she’d vanished down.

She was reckless. Far too stubborn for her own good.

But she wasn’t wrong.

And I hated that I saw it.