Billionaire Quadruplet Alphas

Monday 28th September, 2020.

Harper

I stared at my mate. She was gazing at the statues. There was one of the Queen and one of my birth mother. I smiled at them. There was a third statue. I furrowed my brow. I could have sworn there had only been two before. I got closer to this one, scrutinising it. Asriel!

“Asriel! He wasn’t here before! Oh my God!” I exclaimed.

Holly’s smile widened. I pulled her to me, crashing my lips to hers. She gave a squeak of surprise but began kissing me back just as eagerly. We parted and she half hid behind me while she talked.

“These statues have to them! I just know it! The only thing we need to do now is to figure out how to change them from stone to flesh again,” said Holly.

Dad walked up to the statue of my mother slowly. He reached out and caressed the cheek of the statue. His eyes were brimming with tears. I looked away, giving him some time to process it. I knew he would not want me to see him cry.

“She looks just like Star,” commented Zaya in awe of the statue.

“Star looks just like her mother,” corrected Dad, still gazing at Mom’s statue.

“Somebody call Jamie,” said Jonah promptly.

“Poor Jamie. We can’t bother her for everything! Jessie will be pissed,” said Noah. “Can’t we figure this one out ourselves?”

Dad was still mesmerised by Mom’s statue. He stood there as if transfixed to the spot in front of her.

“Star and I can try, and Holly of course,” I said, winking at my clever little mate.

Holly blushed and hid her face in my shirt.

“My magic is crude, My Lord. This might be beyond me,” she confessed, her voice muffled by the fabric.

“What about Toby though?” Asked Star, circling the statues.

“The flower,” mumbled Holly.

“This rose? You think that’s Toby?” Asked Star incredulously.

I felt Holly nod against my chest.

“Why though?” Asked Noah. “Why would anyone one turn him into a flower? And who would waste their time to do that?” He chuckled.

“Holden or his half-brother,” I responded. “They could hardly have a statue of Toby here in the Ice Moon Castle! That would make no damn sense, Noah,” I snapped, defending my mate.

“We don’t disagree with Holly. We just want to make sure we have the pieces together,” said Star, annoyed that I snapped at her mate, Noah.

I frowned at my twin.

“These three statues are of a Werewolf-Fae Princess, a Fae Queen and a Fae Prince. Toby has to be the rose. They can’t throw in a random dude into the mix without it being obvious,” I reasoned.

Jonah snorted with laughter.

“I agree,” said Jonah. “Princess, Queen, Prince, Toby. They had to hide him somehow.”

“I hope the earrings are ok,” mumbled Zaya, getting close enough to the Asriel statue to look at his ears.

“Erin and Rein are here, I think. The statue is definitely wearing earrings,” said Eli.

“Everyone is accounted for,” I declared.

The fake Queen was dead, leaving me to rule. I mind-linked one of the wolf guards I had seen patrolling tonight to summon the magically gifted members of the Fae court.

“I’m waking up the castle,” I told everyone. “This is a pressing matter. All the magically gifted Fae have to be consulted on this.”

“My Lord, what if I’m wrong?” Whispered Holly, looking frightened.

“Princess, if you are wrong, we will just keep searching and trying,” I said reassuringly, cupping her face in my hands.

I kissed her forehead gently.

In less than ten minutes, the guard I had mind-linked had brought at least a dozen members of the Fae court. He led them to the statues and he went to fetch the others. I nodded at him in approval as he departed.

“Your Highness, is it true? Is this really Princess Hesper and the rightful Winter Fae Queen,” said one of the eldest Fae, Prince Solander.

He was the uncle of the Queen, her father’s brother according to Dad, making him my Great Great Uncle or something like that.

“I believe it to be true Uncle Solander,” I said to him, looking into his milky grey eyes.

His irises were so pale they almost blended into the whites of his eyes. The intermingling of his pale blonde hair with the white hair of old age produced a similar effect. His hair was waist-length, falling in bone-straight sheets. His pale lashes and eyebrows were barely visible. He wore dark grey robes and carried a sceptre topped with a glowing orb. The sceptre doubled as a wand and a walking stick. His voice revealed his great age more than his appearance. He always spoke in hoarse whispers.

“The most important factor when assisting someone who has been turned to stone is discovering the method by which they were turned to stone in the first place,” he rasped.

It was the loudest I had ever heard him speak and all the Fae court members were paying him their full attention. He was the oldest magic practitioner present.

“We might not have to wake Jamie,” whispered Jonah to Noah. “This guy looks like he was there, back when magic was first invented.”

“He missed that meeting actually! He was getting cataract surgery that day,” added Jonah.

I accidentally bumped into Jonah, knocking him sideways, and then stood in front of him. He growled but I silenced him with a black-eyed look.

“Chill,” he said softly.

“Put some clothes on,” I retorted.

Jonah flushed. He seemed to have forgotten he was standing amongst Fae royalty in his f*****g boxers, smelling like my twin. I was not going to begrudge Star her quality time but Jonah did not have to advertise it to the whole Fae family. Star blushed and conjured two shirts, one for Noah and one for Jonah, so they did not have to go all the way back to their rooms. I could tell the designer shirts belonged to them. I blinked and changed the pattern on Jonah’s to pink unicorns. Jonah took a full five minutes to notice.

“Star,” grumbled Jonah.

“What’s wrong?” She asked.

She gasped at his shirt.

“That’s not the one I brought,” she giggled.

She tried to change it back but she couldn’t. Ha. I loved my twin dearly but Jonah still irked me. She glared at me.

“What’s wrong, Movie Star?” I asked.

“Fix his shirt,” hissed Star.

“I’m sorry for the stupid joke ok,” said Jonah, sounding the opposite of sorry.

“I don’t know what either of you are talking ab-,” I began but Dad tore his gaze away from Mom’s statue for a moment to bark at all of us.

“Stop your antics!” He snarled. “All of you! You’re adults now. Act like it.”

I sighed and fixed Jonah’s shirt. I gave him and Noah some pants too. Dad nodded.

“Let this be the last time you streak at the Ice Moon Castle,” said Dad, lowering his voice, looking at Jonah and Noah. “The Fae are not used to nudity. They don’t have to rip out of their clothes at a moment’s notice. You won’t get away with that here.”

Noah nodded fervently. Jonah smirked slightly, clearly unapologetic. Nudity was not a big deal to wolves but it was pretty scandalous among the Fae.

Dad turned to me.

“Since you like magic so much, focus on what you’re Great Great Uncle is saying! He is hundreds of years old. I would think you would respect his wisdom,” hissed Dad.

“I do!” I insisted.

Dad pushed me towards the group of elderly Fae who had just been given chairs so they might sit by the statues while they held an impromptu court.

“Uncle Solander, what were you saying about the manner in which they were turned to stone?” I mumbled sheepishly.

“It is the most important factor here,” he said patiently with a smile.

The other wizened Fae nodded.

“What methods do you know?” Asked Uncle Solander, seemingly testing my knowledge.

Everyone looked at me. The other groups of Fae and wolves gathered stopped talking. Great.

There are lots of ways to turn someone to stone, said Holly in my head. Some magical beings are inherently gifted with the specific ability of changing creatures to stone like the legendary Medusa, one of the three Gorgons.

Words could not express how much I adored my Luna. I gave her a grateful look.

“Some magical beings are inherently gifted with being able to turn others to stone like Medusa and her stare,” I said.

Everyone murmured in agreement. I knew about Medusa but I had been like a deer in the headlights just now. Holly continued listing the ways for me privately.

“There’s the direct approach, using transfiguration or transformation magic on the person. You could also use a potion if able to trick the target into drinking it. There are cursed objects that will turn whoever interacts with said object into stone. And lastly, some beings turn to stone as part of their natural life cycle like garden gnomes in the daytime who come to life at night,” I explained.

Damn, my woman was smart. I eyed her somewhat suspiciously. I was turned on also. I pulled her closer to me. I did not feel right taking the credit for her brilliance. The court was amazed at my list.

“My amazing Luna, Princess Holly, has been helping me study. She knows all about this,” I said, grinning at her.

She blushed as everyone’s eyes trailed over her.

“Excellent, excellent, what a great pair of rulers you will make,” croaked Solander.

“Which method do you think was used here?” Asked Solander.

I did not need Holly’s help for this one. I had questioned Holden more than Dad who had just stomped about, anxious to kill him. I held my mate tightly, realising the obvious. If someone took Holly from me for almost two decades and made me think she was dead, I would have a hard time keeping them alive too. I felt bad about getting angry with Dad now.

“Not a potion. My Mom and the real Queen would never trust Holden enough to drink something from him. He’s not inherently gifted with that ability. I doubt there’s a cursed object involved but I wouldn’t rule that one out entirely,” I said, thinking aloud. “It’s definitely not a natural life cycle thing. It would have to be the direct approach. He must have used transfiguration magic. I would put a cursed object second in case he somehow has one in his possession. He did have some interesting things in his chambers,” I said.

“We should search his chambers again,” said Holly.

“Of course we will, if need be,” said Solander nodding. “If they were directly turned to stone. They must be directly turned back with transfiguration magic. Unfortunately, turning flesh to stone is much much easier than turning stone to flesh,” said Solander, causing everyone to either chuckle sadly or shake their heads.

“How much harder is it?” I asked quickly.

“Magic-wise, turning flesh to stone is like baking a cake from eggs, butter, flour, sugar, milk. Simple. Stone back into flesh is like trying to retrieve every ingredient from that cake in its original form. Eggs back in their shells. Flour in powdery form. Butter soft and pure. Sugar sweet and rich. Milk unspoiled not curdled,” explained Solander.

f**k.

“Difficult is not impossible,” was all I chose to say.

“Ah, that is how a King speaks,” said Solander, with a smile.

I had my work cut out for me. I could not let Mom and Dad down. They deserved to be together, sooner rather than later. My cousin Asriel and my real Great Grandmother were counting on me too. Oh and Toby. Well, he was more Star’s friend but I wouldn’t leave him behind. He would be the most difficult if he really was that rose.

“If the rose is supposed to be a person, what order am I doing that in? From stone to a real rose and then a person or from a stone rose to a stone person and then a real person? Am I making this too complicated?” I asked Solander all in one breath.

“Let’s try turning Asriel and his rose into the real Asriel with a real rose and then we’ll take the rose and try to turn it into Toby,” suggested Star. “I wouldn’t want to damage Asriel’s statue by transforming the stone rose into a stone Toby.”

“Right. You’re right,” I said, taking Star’s hand.

Solander smiled and nodded.

“Aren’t you gonna help?” I asked him.

“No,” said Solander bluntly.

What the f**k?!

Solander laughed. “I’ll help if you two can’t manage. We all will,” he said.

The other elderly Fae looked on with interest.

“Us three,” I said, grabbing Holly’s hand.

She always calmed me down and Fae magic was more emotional than witchcraft. We sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the three statues. Star faced Mom, I faced the Queen and Holly faced Asriel and the rose. The Fae court formed a circle around us. Dad was right behind Star and me. I could feel his anxiety coming off him in waves which was distracting but I could also feel his desire, his love, his hope, pride in Star and me; all those emotions were helpful. The Quads were all staring at Star from one side of the hallway. I shut my eyes. I pictured my Mom, the image of Star but older, wiser (no offence to Star).

Wait! I said to Star and Holly.

What’s wrong? Asked Holly and Star in unison, both of them anxious.

Let’s change Mom first. Not all three at once. Three of us focusing on one statue. If Mom comes to life, she can help her grandmother and Asriel and Toby much better than we can. Especially Toby. He had to go and be complicated, I said.

It’s not his fault! Whined Star.

Yes, your Mom first, agreed Holly.

Okay, Mom first, said Star. I can’t wait to meet her. Please let this work.

Dad? I asked.

Yeah, he said, confused.

We don’t actually know Mom, I admitted sadly. Show us your memories of her. Please! I know it’s probably painful…

I’ll show you, agreed Dad, joining our mind-link effortlessly.

He was a very skilled pack warrior and pack attack orders were always given over mind-link. I felt his resistance like a wall incasing his most precious and most painful memories. The wall would not give at first but after a few moments he relaxed enough for me to look beyond it.

Heath (19 years ago)

“Impressive as always, Heath,” said Alpha Romeo of the Winter Moon Pack as he watched the demonstration.

The pack warriors I commanded were showing off their formations and combat skills for the four reigning Northern Alphas.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“I’m amazed. I really am,” said Alpha Romeo, nodding at me approvingly.

He was a brawny Alpha with olive skin, dark glossy hair and surprisingly gentle blue eyes. Winter Moon was a tough pack so I was honoured to be favoured by him. I was the youngest squad leader in my pack and the Northern Alphas had taken note of me. I had to struggle not to beam with pride.

“Thank you so much, Alpha Romeo,” I said, bowing my head a little.

“Formations always impress you Romeo,” joked Alpha Otto, my own Alpha, of the Ice Moon Pack.

“That’s because I can barely get my three toddlers to form a straight line,” chuckled Alpha Romeo.

Alpha Otto roared with laughter.

“You don’t know how lucky you are,” murmured Alpha Otto sadly.

I fidgeted uncomfortably. Alpha Otto was referring to having no son to pass on his Alpha lineage too.

“You can still have a son,” said Alpha Romeo, lowering his voice so the other two Northern Alphas would not hear.

“At my age?” Laughed Otto sadly. “Romeo, you’re half my age and you already have three. I envy you.”

“I cheated. My wife had triplets,” joked Romeo, trying to cheer up Otto. “I would be proud to have a daughter like Hesper. She’s admired by all.”

“I know, I know. She’s my pride and joy. I’ve put her in a…difficult position because she has no brother,” said Otto softly.

“How difficult a position are we talking?” Asked Romeo under his breath.

Otto sighed. “I wish your toddlers were of age. Maybe I could marry her off to one of them and join the two packs,” joked Otto, avoiding the subject.

“Well, they’ve just turned three so she has at least about fifteen more years to wait. That’ll fly by,” laughed Romeo, waving his hand dismissively.

The two alphas chuckled.

“She hasn’t found her mate yet?” Questioned Romeo.

Otto shook his head. “No and thank goodness,” he replied.

Romeo looked confused. “You’re happy she hasn’t found her mate?”

“It’ll complicate an already difficult situation,” mumbled Otto.

“My three will probably have to share a mate you know. They’re identical,” revealed Romeo, realising his friend didn’t want to talk about his daughter so much.

“Ahh, and do they look like their beautiful mother, Luna Ronnie?” Asked Otto.

“No, they look like their handsome father, me,” said Romeo.

Otto rolled his eyes. “They’ll all be savage brutes in no time then,” remarked Otto.

Romeo roared with laughter. “Like father, like sons,” he chuckled.

“Heath,” called Otto.

“Yes Alpha!” I said eagerly.

He rarely spoke to me directly or tasked me with anything. He thought me too young to be a squad leader but many pack warriors had vouched for me. I wanted to prove myself to Alpha Otto. Neighbouring Alphas liked me more than my own. Sometimes, I wished I had been born into one of their packs.

“I am entrusting you with the most important task of the day: escorting my reluctant daughter to this meeting,” said Otto.

Romeo laughed. I laughed nervously. I had never met Hesper. She had only recently come of age and there was a lot of talk surrounding what Otto would do about there being no male heir. I knew Hesper had a fiery temper and was partially of Winter Fae b***d. She was even rumoured to have tamed an Ice Dragon. I had seen the Dragon perched on the high towers of the Ice Moon Castle but I had never seen Hesper riding it.

I followed Alpha Otto’s instructions, leaving the coliseum, and heading towards the castle. I wanted to get her back to him in record time to show how persuasive and dependable I was. He sometimes talked about her like she was sort of a brat. I had no time for that sort of thing. I was nervous about how I would approach her. I nodded to the guards standing outside Hesper’s chambers.

“Is she ready?” I asked the guard I knew.

He snorted with laughter.

“She’s refusing to leave her room,” he said as though that were routine for her.

I walked down the hallway beyond the double doors they were guarding. I knocked on the door to her bedroom. I heard someone stomping around inside and huffing exasperatedly. It sounded like she was trashing her own room. My knocking did nothing to stop her. I knocked again, more forcefully.

“Princess?” I called.

She stopped at the sound of my voice. She came towards the door. I knew by her smell and the shadow under the door. Her smell made me shiver. I gripped the door knob. Oh no!

“Who is it?” She asked softly.

Her voice was beautiful and soothing, nothing like the grating whine of a tantrum-prone privileged girl like I had been expecting. This could not happen. I was terrified to answer her or open the door.

“It’s…Heath,” I answered. “One of your father’s squad leaders. He sent me to bring you to the Northern Alpha Meeting.”

“I’m not attending that,” she said, her voice hardening at the mention of her father’s wishes.

“May I ask why?” I questioned.

“No, you may not!” She said indignantly.

“Hesper,” I said disapprovingly.

“Excuse you! Princess Hesper! You cannot address me so informally!” She snapped though she sounded breathless.

I did not know what had come over me but I had an inkling of what it could be and it frightened me.

“Hesper…I don’t care if you go to the meeting,” I lied.

“Princess!” She admonished.

“Hesper,” I defiantly said her name again. “Open this door!” I commanded.

“You cannot command me,” she squeaked.

“Now!” I barked. “I need to see your face,” I said, unable to keep the desperation out of my voice now that I was speaking the truth.

I heard her shaky breathing. The door slowly swung inwards. I looked up and our eyes met and my world was forever changed in an instant.