His Twin Brother Tries to Claim Her — And the Alpha King Goes Insane With Jealousy

Part 1

The bear was massive, easily twice my height, and its breath steamed in the frozen winter air.

It lowered its heavy head, sniffing toward something small and trembling in the snow.

Despite being only eight years old, I didn’t stop to think about the terrible danger.

I thrust my heavy iron lantern forward and screamed at the top of my lungs.

My knees were knocking together so hard I could barely stand, but I stepped forward anyway.

Ignoring the painful burn of the hot metal against my palm, I swung the lantern higher.

The bear let out a low huff that vibrated right through my tiny bones.

They were pressed so tightly together they looked like a single trembling bundle.

My sheer audacity startled the beast, making it flinch.

By some miracle, the massive predator turned and lumbered back into the dark trees.

Still clutching my raised lantern, I stood frozen in the bitter wind.

Once the terrifying shape vanished into the shadows, my legs finally gave out.

Collapsing into the snow, I reached carefully for the shivering pups.

I whispered softly to them, promising they were safe now.

The lighter pup nudged its wet nose into my hands with a soft whine of relief.

Watching me with weary, pale eyes, the darker pup grudgingly let me scoop it up too.

I wrapped them both securely in my wool shawl and tucked them against my chest.

Eighteen summers came and went like water slipping over smooth stones.

At the forest’s edge, the three of us tangled together as an inseparable trio.

Except they didn’t stay little wolf pups for long.

They were actually shifters, hiding from a world I didn’t understand.

Growing into tall, powerful men with broad shoulders and dangerous grace, they became Craig and Tyler.

Craig would disappear into the deep woods, returning with scraped knuckles and a predatory stare.

We spent every waking moment together, moving as one inseparable unit so I never had to choose.

Craig’s pale eyes met mine the day he pulled me aside, looking shadowed with a heavy burden.

Without mincing words, he told me that things had to change and they couldn’t visit me anymore.

Before I could even process it, he vanished into the trees without a proper goodbye.

A whole month passed in a heavy, crushing silence.

Then a sharp knock on my cottage door startled me awake on one warm summer night.

Moonlight illuminated Tyler standing on my doorstep, catching the amber warmth of his eyes.

Pulling me into a desperate embrace, he traced my cheekbone right before his mouth crashed down over mine.

It felt natural and inevitable, like a question we had been waiting years to answer.

We stumbled backward into the dark cottage with his hands acting gentle but insistent.

I gave myself to him that night, falling asleep wrapped in his warm, steady arms.

Dawn was just breaking when a sharp, terrible feeling yanked me from my sleep.

Standing in the doorway of my bedroom, Craig stared down at us tangled in the heavy quilt.

For one wild heartbeat, I gripped the bedsheets as a sudden, breathless warmth rushed through my veins.

I offered him a sleepy smile, but his jaw clenched so tightly the muscles jumped beneath his skin, his eyes narrowing into twin slits of ice.

Turning on his heel, he stalked right out of the cottage.

Yanking on Tyler’s oversized linen shirt, I scrambled out of bed and sprinted out the door after him.

I grabbed a heavy pinecone from the dirt and chucked it hard at the back of his head.

He spun around and demanded to know what I was doing, his voice cracking with raw anger.

Crossing my arms defensively, I told him he had no right to judge me after abandoning me.

He stepped closer with his jaw locked in rage, declaring Tyler was not for me.

Stepping firmly between us, Tyler suddenly crashed through the tree line.

He threw a protective arm around my waist and declared boldly that I was his chosen mate.

All the color drained from Craig’s face, leaving him looking like a ghost.

Sneering darkly, Craig asked if Tyler honestly thought the King would ever allow a peasant marriage.

Tyler flinched and murmured uncertainly that the King wouldn’t say no to him.

I blinked rapidly, my brow furrowing as my gaze darted back and forth between them.

Craig just turned his back and disappeared into the shadows of the forest without explaining.

Begging me to say yes to his proposal, Tyler held my face in his hands.

He finally confessed the massive secret they had kept hidden for our entire lives.

Hidden in the woods by their father to protect them from assassins, they were actually princes.

Tyler told me he had to take me to the royal court to present me to the King.

Less than a day later, I stood shivering in an itchy, ridiculously heavy silk gown.

Surrounded by hundreds of whispering courtiers, we walked through the massive, echoing throne room.

I stared up at the towering marble dais with my heart hammering furiously against my ribs.

Footsteps echoed through the vast space, measured and terrifyingly deliberate.

Based on what they had described, I expected an old man who looked like their father.

Stepping up to the throne, however, the man wore a heavy crown of gold and dark iron.

It was Craig.

My Craig, the boy who used to catch frogs with me in the mud, was sitting up there as the Alpha King.

Tyler bowed deeply, presenting me formally as his chosen mate and intended bride.

Looking down at us, Craig’s eyes were cold and unforgiving as winter ice.

His voice echoed like a death sentence through the silent hall as he flatly denied the union.