Fated and Claimed by Four Alphas
Chapter 96: Rhys’ Embarrassing Tale

Chapter 96: Rhys’ Embarrassing Tale

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Chapter 96

~Spring’s POV~

"Hey, stop being such a crybaby," Rhys teased, the corner of his mouth lifting in that usual smug tilt.

But Eryx wasn’t having it. His face was the picture of deadpan irritation. "Call me that all you want, but it is your turn, Rhys."

The room stilled for a second. Not in tension—no, we’d burned through that already—but in that kind of collective anticipation that hung in the air right before someone dropped a wild confession or spilled something unfiltered.

And right now? I was here for it.

I leaned back against the pillows, my fingers loosely curled around a half-full mug of lemon tea I had before they came, which had gone cold without me noticing. I didn’t care.

This was too good. After the emotional mess we’d just tiptoed through with Eryx and his sister’s complex confessional, I was still trying to catch my breath.

Honestly, I wasn’t sure whether I was eager to hear the rest or just mildly entertained by how mortified all of them looked reliving their past lives as hormonal disasters.

A small part of me—the part moulded from the priestess, the daughter of a king, the girl who had learned to build walls—was trying not to crumble at the sight of this: brothers, teasing, sharing... protecting.

I didn’t grow up with this, and maybe that’s why it felt so novel, warm and exciting.

I turned to Rhys, who was now slowly rubbing his jaw like he could massage the memories back into his brain.

His eyes cut sideways toward Kaius like he was already planning his own revenge story once his turn was over.

"Okay, I’ll play," Rhys said with a devil-may-care shrug. "I was nineteen. And yes, it was awkward and not remotely romantic."

"Come on, Mr. Trauma-by-anatomy," Kaius drawled, clearly still high from telling on Eryx earlier. "Let’s hear another tragic tale of Rhys the Romantic."

Rhys gave him a flat stare. "Tragic is putting it lightly."

Eryx grinned. "We’re listening."

Rhys sighed, long and dramatic. "Okay, fine. But if we’re doing this, I’m telling the story my way, which means no interrupting, no embellishing. And no laughing until I’m done."

"Like that’s going to happen," Kaius muttered under his breath.

I pulled my knees to my chest and rested my chin atop them.

"Is it worse than being locked out half-naked in the rain?" Kaius inquired.

Rhys hesitated. "Depends on your definition of ’worse’."

Eryx folded his arms. "You slept with someone’s girlfriend, didn’t you?"

"No," Rhys shot back. Then added after a beat, "Not that I knew, anyway."

We all gasped at the same time.

"Oh my gods," I muttered. "You did?"

"I was nineteen," Rhys admitted, scratching the back of his neck. "She was in my psych class. Smart, gorgeous. She knew what she wanted. I thought she was single. We hooked up after final exams that semester. Turns out, she had a boyfriend."

Kaius was already wheezing.

"But it gets worse," Rhys said, holding up a hand. "Guess who the boyfriend was?"

Eryx leaned forward. "Please tell me it wasn’t your professor."

"No. Worse. Her stepbrother."

My jaw dropped.

"He showed up at my apartment the next day," Rhys continued. "With three of his football buddies. I had to scale the back fence, barefoot, with nothing but a towel and my med bag."

"Rhys!" I gasped, half laughing, half horrified.

"What?" he threw his hands up. "It was finals week! I wasn’t about to let broken ribs mess up my scholarship."

"Duh, dad had the money to fund your education six times, and he wouldn’t break a sweat."

"I like earning my things," Rhys waved off.

Eryx was laughing so hard now that his shoulders shook. "I cannot believe you lived through that."

"I barely did," Rhys grumbled. "Taught me to double-check relationship statuses."

"And people say I’m the chaotic one," Kaius added smugly.

"You are the chaotic one," Rhys and Eryx chorused.

I turned toward Kaius, resting my cheek on my palm. "Alright, your turn. Tell me your most scandalous first."

Kaius lifted his mug in mock toast, a glint of mischief already lighting up his eyes. "Ah, sweet Spring. You want the truth?"

"I want the embarrassing truth," I corrected.

He smirked, that lopsided Kaius grin that always made him look like a charming troublemaker caught in the act.

"Fine. I was eighteen. It was summer. I had just finished finals, and I thought I was invincible. You know... that ’I’m legal, I’m hot, and the world is my stage’ phase?"

Rhys groaned dramatically. "I remember this. I tried to stop him, but no one listens to the voice of reason."

"Voice of reason?" Kaius shot him a look. "You weren’t even in town. You were at med camp dissecting cadavers."

Eryx waved a hand. "Focus. We’re here for the shame."

Kaius sighed, setting his mug down. "So I went to this summer house party—my friend Niko’s cousin was throwing it. The cousin was older. Way older. Like... twenty-five. And hot in that dangerous, wears-red-lipstick-and-kills-dreams kind of way."

I blinked. "You slept with an older woman?"

He nodded slowly, not even pretending to be ashamed. "She asked if I was ’legal.’ I said, ’barely, but bold.’ That line worked, by the way."

"Oh my gods," I muttered.

"She had this laugh—sounded like a threat and a promise all rolled into one. We flirted. We drank. She dared me to kiss her in front of everyone. So I did." He paused. "And then she dared me to follow her upstairs."

Eryx groaned into his palm. "Here we go."

Kaius grinned like the devil. "Let’s just say the woman was not into soft and slow. She shoved me onto a chaise lounge so aggressively, it slid into a bookshelf."

"Ohh..."

"We broke a mirror," Kaius continued, "The antique kind. I got rug burns on both elbows, and she told me to shut up when I apologised mid-make-out."

I gaped. "You apologised while making out?"

"She said I talked too much." He rubbed the back of his neck with a faint wince. "But it didn’t stop her."

"Oh my gods," I repeated, covering my mouth. "You’re serious?"

Kaius nodded solemnly. "I thought I was going to die. Either from embarrassment or exhaustion. I crawled out of that room the next morning like a man who had seen war."

Rhys was full-on laughing now. "Tell her what happened at breakfast."