Chapter 4 4: The Triplets' Scheme

Chapter 4

There was less than an hour left before Alpha Samuel Kan's wedding, yet the groom felt no joy. Instead, a weight pressed on him - a mix of anxiety and melancholy. It had been years since he'd last seen Maya, the woman he had finally found again after so long.

Hours before the ceremony, he was in his office, surrounded by the leaders of the family's companies.

While the elders discussed the details of the event with enthusiasm, Samuel barely listened.

His mind was far away - with Maya. The woman he was certain had been the one he'd waited for all this time. The elders, of course, had no idea.

For a long time, they had demanded that Kan marry and finally produce heirs to continue his hybrid bloodline, but he had always refused, for reasons he kept locked in his heart. There was someone he had been waiting for.

More than a hundred years had passed since the wolves had been cast into that new world.

There, he had built an empire of power and influence among humans, who advanced further each year into modernity.

"A centenarian wolf still without heirs! This is outrageous!" one of the elders barked.

Samuel barely reacted. Heirs, power, lineage - none of it mattered. All he wanted was to find his true mate, the only one his heart recognized as his Luna.

Over the years, the elders had tried to convince him to accept an aristocratic marriage, and he knew that sooner or later he would have to give in - but his hope had been rekindled.

When he met Maya, he knew instantly: his Luna had been reborn. It was her.

The goddess had kept her word. Samuel found her alive, though without memories of her former life - a fragile teenager, with no trace of the power she once possessed. For that reason, he hid his identity and forced her family to do the same.

He wanted her to live in peace, free from the burden of a past she couldn't remember.

Samuel carried a curse left by the blade that had taken his mate's life. A cut on his right ear, which never healed, glowed with a poisonous green light.

Once a year, he had to endure the pain to resist the venom forged to kill gods.

Each burning reminded him of her - reminded him that he still had to wait.

"Samuel Kan is finally getting married," his father announced solemnly. "Soon, we'll witness the rebirth of what was once forgotten."

Samuel only nodded, emotionless.

When the meeting ended, he rose, ending the discussion with firm authority.

"I'm tired, gentlemen. I have other matters to attend to with my brothers - one last meeting before the wedding."

The elders bowed and left the room.

Samuel walked to the adjoining hall, where his three brothers were waiting, laughing as if nothing in the world could touch them.

"I see you're enjoying yourselves," he said with a faint smile, though he knew they were plotting something.

He still remembered their last punishment - days imprisoned underground, face-to-face with creatures from the underworld. They would never forget that terror, but neither would they stop provoking Kan, even knowing his leadership was untouchable.

"We came to apologize, brother," one of them said, bowing his head in false submission.

"That's all right," Samuel replied with irony. "Today is my wedding day - the day when many things will realign."

The three exchanged confused glances.

"We thought you'd only marry once your mate reincarnated," another said.

Samuel smiled coldly.

"I won't wait any longer. My legacy is at risk. I must do what a leader is bound to do."

The brothers poured him a drink. He watched them cautiously, sensing the trace of magic in the liquid - yet he drank as always, proud of the fact that as a demigod, such things had no effect on him.

"You're giving up centuries of waiting?" one taunted. "And what if the goddess truly brings her back? Will you abandon your destined mate?"

"She will return," he replied calmly. "But there are more urgent matters now."

Samuel would never reveal that Maya had already been reborn. Protecting her was his priority - and this marriage was part of that protection.

He lifted the glass to his lips but hesitated. Something felt wrong. His sense of security wavered for a split second, then he grabbed the bottle and drank directly from it. Laughter echoed through the room.

Then the floor began to spin. A strange heat pulsed through his veins.

"What is this? The bottle too?" he muttered, dizzy, staring at his brothers.

"The seller was right - the effect is immediate. Amazing," one said with glee.

"A potion for demigods. The glass had the one meant for wolves - a diversion. We knew you'd notice. But the potion for hybrids, for those with divine blood, is harder to detect," another explained, amused. "It awakens uncontrollable desires... and only fades once they're satisfied. The best part? It also suppresses the mate bond for a while - though you hardly need that, do you?"

Samuel's mind began to blur. They dragged him into a locked room, where three women waited for him.

His instincts surged, his body burning from the inside out. But the memory of Maya made him fight it.

She was the only one.

The only one for whom he would break curses and wait centuries if he had to.

And so, in one final act of desperate will, he vanished - leaping out the window with monstrous agility. Neither poison, nor destiny, nor desire would make him yield before holding her in his arms again.

But he didn't expect to be found - by the one person he could never have imagined.