Bound to the Alpha Twins

The Royal Chamber

***THIRD POV***

Glossy black heels clattered against the polished floors, the sound echoing off the walls of the quiet hallway, precise in their movement.

The liveried guards did not hesitate as they moved away to make way.

The door opened.

She walked through, confidence evident in her strides. Raven-colored curls cascaded down her back, swaying as she went. Her gown was deep crimson, the color of wine and blood, cut to perfection.

Four pairs of eyes watched her as she made to take a seat.

"Elara." The voice held authority, commanded attention. But beneath it all was pure emotion in the way he said her name, like always.

"Father." She proceeded to kiss his left cheek. The left corner of his lips lifted slightly. Aldric Valerius was in awe of his only daughter and he never bothered to mask it.

She straightened and pulled back the high back chair to her father's left, settling into the cushion, crossing one leg over the other, as though she was carved there.

Only then did she lift her eyes to the rest of the room. Elara Valerius had taken her seat, a place that had always been hers.

The King sat at the head of the crested table. His hands rested on the carefully crafted arms of his chair. Behind him, the silver emblem of Silver Fang caught the firelight. He liked it, the position his ancestors had decided to have it be.

His gaze swept across the silent room in a thorough glance.

Near the great window, his mate stood with her back to the rest of the room. Most people would have assumed she was deep in thought, but he knew that she was in fact just savouring the coolness of the night's breeze.

The twins stayed apart. The tension between them was obvious in the way that even a blind person could pick it out. Lucian sat on the sofa, some few steps away from the table, his expression blank like a reflection of his father's. The fabric of his jacket still carried the scent of her, of the woman, and he seemed comfortable in his element.

He could not say the same for his other son. Kaelan stood near the fire, his right shoulder pressed against the wall, his arms crossed tightly over his chest. He looked relaxed but he was not fooling anyone. He was not.

The King's voice cut through the silence. "Now what is this that I'm hearing? A mate?"

Lucian inclined his head, his expression carefully blank. "Yes, Father. The bond awakened tonight at the ball."

"An Omega." The word left Lucian's mouth like it tasted wrong, a hint of something curling beneath it that could have been disgust or something close to it.

Kaelan's arms tightened across his chest. "She is our mate. That is what matters."

Lucian turned to look at his brother. "What matters is the pack and what the Council will say, not whether we feel the bond or not."

"She is not a problem to be solved, Lucian."

"She is an Omega, Kaelan. You cannot ignore what that means for the pack, for the family, for everything we have built."

Kaelan pushed off the wall, standing straight now, his voice low but steady. "I am not ignoring anything. I am asking that she be regarded with the same respect the Moon Goddess has given her."

The King watched them both, his eyes moving between his sons like a blade searching for weakness, and Kaelan's voice dropped lower. "She is mine, she is ours, and I will not let the Council or anyone else decide otherwise."

The love in his voice was evident, consuming, and the room felt it. Lucian said nothing. His face did not change.

The Queen turned from the window, her gown whispering against the stone floor as she faced them, her hands clasped before her. "The tension in this room is thick enough to choke on. Aldric, sit down. You are not at war yet."

He did not sit.

The Queen looked at her sons. "The Moon Goddess does not act without reason. She never has. If she has given you an Omega, there is a purpose behind it. The question is not whether she is worthy of the bond, the question is why. Why an Omega? What does this girl carry that the Moon Goddess saw fit to tie her to my sons?"

She looked at Kaelan. "You speak of claiming her, but claiming her without understanding why she was given to you is reckless."

Then she turned to Lucian. "And you speak of the pack and the Council as if the Moon Goddess answers to them. She does not."

Elara uncrossed her legs and leaned back in her chair, dark eyes flicking between her brothers with obvious boredom. "Can I go now?"

The King looked at her with annoyance. "Elara."

"I was dragged away from my soul-sisters for this." She gestured vaguely at the room. "A bond, an Omega, a Council meeting. None of this requires me."

"Your place is here."

"My place is wherever I want it to be, Father. You taught me that." She rose from her chair, smoothing down her crimson gown. "Call me when there is actually news."

She walked toward the door without looking back, her raven curls swaying, and the door closed behind her.

The Queen sighed. "She has your temper."

The King said nothing.

Lucian stared at the fire. Kaelan glared at his brother.

No one spoke. The weight of everything sat in the room like stone, and the moon pressed against the windows, watching.