Seducing My Ex’s Twin

Episode3

Chapter 3: The Return of the Exile

MALACHI POV

The air in the Silverfang Kingdom smelled like rot. It didn’t matter how much gold they painted on the walls or how many expensive flowers the Empress planted in the gardens; the place stank of weakness and lies. As the helicopter descended, the wind from the blades kicking up a storm of dust, I adjusted my cuffs and stared out at the gray stone towers. Beside me, my twin brother Maverick was a vibrating cord of tension. We hadn't set foot on this soil in ten years. Ten years of cold, hard exile in England, building an empire out of nothing but spite and blood.

We hadn't come back for a family reunion. We had come back because our father, the King, was a dying man, and we were the only ones strong enough to hold the crown. I hated him. I hated the way he had let our mother die while he chased after a new woman. I hated the Empress and her sniveling, cowardly son, Leo. We had grown wealthy and powerful enough to buy this entire kingdom ten times over, and now we were here to take what was ours.

"I’m going to burn this place down, Malachi," Maverick growled over the roar of the engines. His eyes were already dark with the wolf. He hated this palace even more than I did. "I’m going to kill every guard who looks at us wrong."

"Patience," I said, though my own blood was boiling. "We take the throne first. Then we decide who lives and who dies."

The door of the helicopter hissed open. I stepped out onto the tarmac, the cold wind whipping my hair. My suit was custom-made, my boots were polished to a mirror shine, and I felt the weight of the guns and the money I carried in my name. I was an Alpha of Alphas, and I didn't care about royal traditions or bowing to a man who had forgotten my name.

We walked toward the main courtyard, our footsteps sounding like a death march. I expected a formal greeting, a line of soldiers, or maybe a fake smile from the Empress. But as we rounded the corner into the courtyard, the scene that met my eyes made my heart stop.

There was a crowd of nobles on the balconies, dressed in their silks, laughing and drinking wine. In the center of the courtyard, tied to a filthy wooden block, was a girl. She was small, pale, and completely naked. Her back was a mess of bright red blood and raw meat. A guard was raising a heavy whip, ready to tear into her again.

And then, the wind shifted.

A scent hit me like a physical blow to the chest. It was sweet, like rain on dry earth, mixed with something ancient and powerful. It was the scent of a soul meant only for me. My inner wolf, who had been silent and cold for a decade, suddenly stood up and roared with a hunger so violent I almost fell to my knees. Beside me, Maverick gasped, his breath hitching.

Mate.

My vision turned red. I didn't see the palace anymore. I didn't see the King. I only saw her—the small girl with the shocking blue eyes who was currently being tortured in the dirt. Every instinct I had, every ounce of Alpha power I had spent years building, screamed for one thing: Protection.

We moved. We didn't walk; we hunted. The crowd went silent as we crossed the courtyard. I saw the Empress on the balcony, her face turning pale as she realized who we were. I saw Leo standing there, a wine glass in his hand, looking confused and weak. He was the one who had allowed this. He was the one watching her bleed.

Maverick reached the executioner first. With one swift, brutal motion, my brother grabbed the man’s arm and snapped the bone like a dry twig. The whip fell into the dirt. I stepped up to the block, my eyes fixed on the girl. She was trembling, her blue eyes wide with a pain so deep it made my own soul ache. She looked at us like we were just another nightmare, but I wanted to be her only salvation.

I looked at her bleeding back, the raw skin exposed to the cold air, and then at the way she was tied down like an animal. A low, vibrating growl started in my chest, a sound of pure, deadly rage that made the nearby guards stumble back in fear. This was my mate. My life. My queen. And these bastards had whipped her.

I looked up at the balcony, my gaze locking onto Leo’s cowardly face. The mate bond was a heavy, golden chain pulling at my heart, and for the first time in my life, I felt a spark of something other than hate. I felt a possessive, terrifying love.

Maverick and I turned our heads at the same time. Our voices came out as one, a deep, primal roar that shook the very foundation of the Silverfang Palace.

"MATE!"

The silence that followed was absolute. No one dared to move. I reached down, my hands trembling with a tenderness I didn't know I possessed. I broke the ropes holding her wrists with a single tug. I pulled my heavy royal cloak from my shoulders and wrapped it around her, pulling her small, broken body against my chest. She was so cold. So small.

I looked at her blue eyes, which were filled with tears and confusion. I felt the bond snapping into place, making me want to kill everyone in the room just for looking at her. But as I held her, a cold thought entered my mind. She was a servant. She was the girl Leo had just tried to kill.

I leaned down, my nose brushing against her temple, breathing in her sweet, rainy scent. My wolf was purring now, but my human mind was still filled with a dark, arrogant confusion. I had spent my life making sure I was never weak, and now, this tiny girl was my greatest vulnerability.

I looked at her, my voice low and dangerous, filled with a mix of hunger and anger.

"Why are you my mate?" I whispered into the dark.

I didn't wait for an answer. I signaled to Maverick, and he stepped up to my side, his eyes glowing gold. We didn't look at the King. We didn't look at the Empress. We ignored the cries of shock and the questions from the crowd. We turned our backs on the royal family and carried our mate toward the penthouse.

As we walked, I felt the weight of her in my arms. She was the key to everything. She was the reason we would burn this kingdom to the ground. Leo had thrown away a goddess, and now, he was going to watch as his stepbrothers worshipped her.

I looked at Maverick, and I saw the same thought in his eyes. This wasn't just about a throne anymore. This was about her. We would show her what it meant to be loved by Kings. We would wash the blood from her skin and replace it with our marks.

But as we entered the elevator, I looked down at Rose one more time. She looked so fragile, like she might break if I squeezed too hard. I am Malachi Thorne. I am the man who conquered the London underground. I am a King without a crown. And yet, looking at this girl, I realized I was already her slave.

"Why are you so small?" I muttered, more to myself than her. "Why did the moon give us a girl who has already been broken?"

It didn't matter. Whether she was broken or not, she was ours. And by the time we were done, the name of Leo Thorne would be a memory, and Rose would be the only thing this kingdom feared.