Rejected By My Mate; Claimed By Lycan Quadruplets Chapter 70

Alpha Enzo's POV

I leaned back in my chair, pen tapping lazily against the edge of the paper I’d been reviewing for the last fifteen minutes. The numbers blurred together sometimes, but I didn’t mind. It was quiet, peaceful—well, peaceful by my standards. Beta Ash sat across from me, legs crossed, his sharp eyes scanning through his own stack of reports. I liked working with him because he didn’t chatter unless it was necessary. And when you run a pack, unnecessary chatter is the one thing you can’t afford.

I set the pen down, finally pulling my gaze from the paper. “Bryan’s changed,” I said, the words coming out like a casual observation but holding more weight than I let on. “Grown mature over the past few months. You notice it?”

Ash looked up, the faintest smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. “Yeah. He’s not the pushover I met some months back. I remember thinking he’d get eaten alive in his first council argument. Now he’s holding his own.”

I chuckled low under my breath. “He still annoys me, but at least now he annoys me with backbone.”

“That’s progress,” Ash said, shrugging. “You’ve been harder on him than most.”

“Hard makes strong,” I replied simply, glancing back down at the paper. “This pack doesn’t raise weak wolves. Especially not in positions of influence.”

We lapsed into a comfortable silence again, the only sounds being the rustle of paper and the occasional scratch of a pen. My mind was halfway between pack budgets and the potential headache of next month’s gathering when my door swung open without so much as a knock.

Atlas.

Of course.

“Enzo,” he drawled, leaning casually against the doorframe as if he owned the place. “Do you ever smile in this room, or is your study a permanent graveyard for joy?”

I didn’t even look up. “Get out.”

“Wow. Straight to hostility. Not even a warm greeting for your dear friend?” Atlas stepped in, hands in his pockets, a grin on his face that told me he’d come here for one reason—to be a nuisance.

Ash didn’t even blink. He just kept reading, probably used to the intrusion by now.

“What do you want?” I asked, finally lifting my gaze. My patience was already thinning, and I hadn’t even had my second coffee.

Atlas’ smirk widened. “I came to check on the infamous Irene situation. You know… the whole ‘locking her up’ thing? I swear, Enzo, you’re so strict sometimes it’s like you’re trying to win ‘Most Struct Alpha of the Year.’”

“Strict,” I repeated, leaning back in my chair. “That’s cute, coming from someone who hasn’t taken responsibility for anything bigger than his breakfast plate.”

“Hey, I take responsibility for lunch too,” he said, feigning offense.

I gave him a slow, deliberate look. “Atlas…”

“What?” He grinned wider, clearly enjoying himself.

“If you don’t find something useful to do around the pack,” I said evenly, “I will break your skull open and make an example out of you.”

Ash coughed, which might have been him trying to hide a laugh. Atlas, however, didn’t look remotely threatened. If anything, he looked entertained.

“You love me too much to break my skull,” he said, strolling over to the side of my desk like he had all the time in the world. “Besides, if I wasn’t around, who would remind you that you’re turning into an old man?”

I shook my head slowly. “Old men don’t have the patience to deal with idiots like you. They’d just kill you on sight.”

He was about to reply when the door slammed open again.

Kael.

The only person who could possibly be more irritating than Atlas—and somehow, fate had decided to bless me with both of them in the same minute.

“Enzo!” Kael burst in like the room was on fire, completely ignoring the fact that I was mid-conversation. “I had a dream.”

Ash’s pen froze on the page. Atlas raised an eyebrow. I didn’t even want to know, but Kael was already moving toward my desk with that wild look in his eyes.

I sighed. “I’m not your dream interpreter.”

“You’re gonna want to hear this one,” Kael insisted, planting his palms on my desk like he was about to tell me the secret to eternal life. “In the dream, you told me you love me.”

There was silence. Not because anyone was shocked, but because even Ash—calm, unbothered Ash—didn’t know how to respond to that level of nonsense.

Atlas smirked. “Wow. That’s… romantic.”

I closed my eyes for a second, willing myself not to throw something. “Ash,” I said quietly.

“Yeah?”

“If you don’t get those two senseless beings out of my study in the next ten seconds, I will commit murder.”

Atlas leaned back against the wall, unfazed. “You can’t murder me, Enzo. I’m your entertainment.”

Kael nodded vigorously. “And I’m your emotional support.”

I stood. That alone was enough to make both of them step back slightly. “Ash…”

“On it,” Ash said, setting his papers aside and standing up. He didn’t raise his voice, but something in his stance shifted—the way it always did when he was about to handle a problem.

Atlas grinned at him. “You’re really gonna throw us out?”

“Yes,” Ash replied without hesitation. “Before Enzo decides to make good on that murder threat.”

Kael looked between us like he couldn’t decide if we were joking or not. “You guys have no appreciation for prophetic dreams.”

“Kael,” I said slowly, “if you stay in this room one second longer, your prophecy will be about me burying you in the woods.”

Atlas snorted. “You’d have to catch me first.”

“You’d trip over your own ego before you got ten feet,” I shot back.

Ash stepped forward, placing a hand on Atlas’ shoulder and another on Kael’s. “Let’s go.”

“Wait, I—” Kael started, but Ash didn’t let him finish. He herded them both toward the door with the patience of a saint, which I certainly didn’t have right now.

Atlas twisted around to call over his shoulder as Ash shoved them into the hall. “We’ll be back!”

“Not if you value your lives!” I called after them.

The door shut, leaving blessed silence behind. I let out a long breath and dropped back into my chair.

Ash returned a moment later, shaking his head. “You attract chaos.”

“I don’t attract it,” I muttered. “It breaks into my study uninvited.”

He smirked faintly. “Want me to post a guard outside the door?”

“Post two,” I said without hesitation. “And make sure they know they’re authorized to throw Atlas and Kael in the training pit if they try coming back.”

Ash chuckled, reclaiming his seat. “You know they’ll take that as a challenge.”

“Then I’ll take it as entertainment,” I said, picking up my pen again. “Now, where were we before those two idiots decided to test my self-control?”

He glanced at his notes. “Bryan. His progress. And the fact that he’s starting to get under your skin in a good way.”

I snorted. “Careful, Ash. If you start sounding like you admire him, I might think you’ve gone soft.”

“Not soft,” he replied. “Just realistic. If he keeps going the way he is, he’ll be more than capable in another year.”

I leaned back, considering that. “If he survives a year in this pack without losing his mind, I’ll personally give him a medal.”

Ash gave me a look that said he thought I was half-joking—but only half.