Claimed By The Alpha Twins

The Golden Trap

SARA:

"You shouldn't sneak up on people like that," I said, my voice coming out tighter than I intended as I pressed my back against the edge of the stone planter.

Kyle didn't apologize. Instead, he pushed off the iron doorframe and sauntered toward me, his movements fluid and feline. Every step he took raised the temperature in the glass greenhouse, the golden warmth of his aura rolling over my senses like a heatwave.

"I wasn't sneaking," he drawled, stopping just a breath away. His tall frame blocked out the morning light filtering through the frost kissed glass. "You were just too far gone in your own head to notice. Thinking about my stoic brother, I presume?"

My cheeks flushed hot. "I was thinking about the pack."

"Liar," Kyle whispered smoothly. He reached out, his long fingers lightly brushing a stray strand of hair behind my ear. The touch was feather-light, but the split mate bond flared beneath my skin like lit gasoline, sending a sharp, delicious shiver straight down my spine. "I felt the bond surging last night, Sara. I know you were in his room. I know how close you two got."

My breath caught in my throat. I tried to lean back, but the hard stone planter gave me nowhere to run. "Kyle… "

"Don't look so guilty," he murmured, his smirk softening into something far more dangerous, far more intense. He rested one hand on the edge of the planter right beside my hip, leaning down until his amber eyes were locked directly onto mine. "Zayne plays the noble martyr, carrying the weight of the entire world while he bleeds out in the dark. But I don't hide behind duty, Sara. And I don't share well, either."

The sheer confidence radiating off him was dizzying. Unlike Zayne’s heavy, commanding presence, Kyle felt like an unpredictable flame, thrilling, dangerous, and impossible to ignore. My heart hammered against my ribs as his scent of cedar and ozone completely wrapped around me.

"You think you have to choose," Kyle continued, his voice dropping to a low, rough purr that sent warmth pool in my stomach. "You think one of us is going to pull you under and the other will let you go. But this bond tied you to both of us for a reason. And I intend to make sure you remember my touch just as clearly as his."

He tilted his head, his lips hovering mere inches from my jawline. My eyes fluttered shut, my body betraying me as my wolf leaned instinctively into his heat, craving the same wild surrender I had felt with Zayne.

Suddenly, a low, metallic blare shattered the quiet morning air.

The heavy sound of the pack war horns echoed down from the mountain towers, reverberating through the glass panels above us.

Kyle froze. The playful, seductive edge melted off his face instantly, replaced by the razor-sharp focus of an Alpha warrior. He straightened up, his jaw clenching as he looked back toward the main fortress.

"Vane," he muttered darkly. "The old snake isn't wasting any time."

He turned back to me, his hand reaching down to wrap firmly around mine. He pulled my knuckles to his lips, pressing a lingering, burning kiss to my skin while his amber eyes held mine.

"The council is assembling," Kyle said, his voice laced with iron. "It's time to go see what trap Vane set for us. Stay behind me and Zayne, Sara. No matter what they say in that room, you belong to the Alpha line now, and we won't let them take you."

The grand hall of the Bloodmoon Pack fortress was suffocating, thick with the scent of pine resin, burning iron, and the heavy, electric tension of hundreds of restless wolves. Heavy stone pillars reached up into the shadows of the vaulted ceiling, and high above, the iron chandeliers flickered, casting long, dancing shadows across the polished obsidian floor. Pack members lined the upper balconies and crowded the perimeter of the room, their murmurs sounding like a swarm of angry hornets.

Kyle’s fingers remained locked firmly around mine as he led me through the towering double doors. His grip was warm, solid, and completely unapologetic. The golden heat of his aura radiated against my side, shielding me from the hostile glares of the council members seated along the elevated perimeter.

At the base of the dais, standing before the empty throne of the Alpha King, was Zayne.

He looked majestic, dangerous, and impossibly cold. He was dressed in a tailored black suit, his dark hair neatly styled, though I could see the subtle rigidity in his posture, a slight stiffness in his left shoulder where my bandages hid his silver wound beneath the fabric.

As the heavy oak doors clicked shut behind us, Zayne’s head snapped in our direction. His sharp blue eyes swept over the crowded floor, searching for his brother, but the moment his gaze dropped to our joined hands, his expression transformed.

The stoic, unreadable mask he wore for the pack fractured. His jaw clenched so hard a muscle twitched in his cheek, and his icy eyes darkened into a storm of raw, possessive fury. The twin connection between them flared with a sudden, violent spark, a silent, crackling hostility that made the air in the room feel heavy and thin.

My heart thundered against my ribs. I felt the dangerous urge to pull my hand away, to hide from the blinding intensity of his stare, but my wolf inside me growled, a low, stubborn sound of defiance. I wasn't going to run anymore. I wasn't going to pretend that this terrifying, sacred bond hadn't rewritten my entire existence.

Without breaking eye contact with Zayne, I took a step forward. I didn't release Kyle’s hand. Instead, I walked straight to Zayne’s right side, reached down, and gently wrapped my free fingers around his cold, trembling fist.

Zayne stiffened at my touch. His fingers twitched beneath mine, resisting for half a second before his hand opened and laced tightly through mine.

A collective gasp rippled through the assembled crowd. The visual was undeniable: a hybrid girl standing at the foot of the throne, holding hands with both twin Alpha heirs, physically accepting the rare and forbidden split mate bond that bound us all together.

Among the crowd near the front row, I caught sight of my family. My mother stood with her hands clasped tightly over her chest, her eyes wide with a mixture of terror and quiet heartbreak. Besided her, my father stood tall, his arms crossed tightly over his chest. His jaw was set like granite, his eyes locked firmly on the iron banners hanging from the ceiling. Even here, surrounded by the entire pack, he refused to look at me. He acted as if I were a ghost standing between two kings, completely invisible to him. The cold rejection sliced through me, deeper than any physical blade, making my breath hitch in my throat.

"Order!"

A sharp, raspy voice echoed through the high ceilinged hall, cutting through the murmuring crowd like a whip.

Elder Vane stepped out from the shadowy alcove behind the throne. His dark, traditionalist robes trailed behind him, his face carved with deep, cynical lines. He raised his silver-tipped staff, striking the obsidian floor with a loud, ringing thud that instantly silenced the room.

"We assemble today under the darkest shadow our pack has seen in a generation," Vane proclaimed, his voice carrying effortlessly to every corner of the vast hall. "Alpha Jonathan lies incapacitated, his mind shrouded, his strength drained. The borders are being probed by human threats, and yet, our leadership remains fractured, distracted, and weak."

Vane’s pale, venomous eyes slid slowly down the dais, landing squarely on the three of us. A cruel, triumphant smirk touched the corners of his thin lips.

"The council cannot, and will not, hand the ultimate authority of the Bloodmoon Pack to a divided house," Vane continued, his voice dropping into a dangerous, commanding cadence. "Two Alphas cannot share a single throne, just as they cannot share a single stray. A choice must be made today."

Zayne stepped half an inch forward, his grip on my hand tightening until it almost hurt, his voice ringing out low and lethal. "The split mate bond is sacred, Vane. My brother and I co-rule by blood and strength. You have no authority to dictate our succession."

"I have the duty to protect this pack from total collapse, Lord Zayne!" Vane countered loudly, playing directly to the traditionalist elders surrounding him. Murmurs of agreement broke out among the older warriors in the crowd. "If you two refuse to settle this succession mutually and name one single Alpha King to take the seat today, then ancient pack law dictates the alternative."

Kyle let out a dark, mocking laugh, stepping forward to align his shoulder with Zayne's. "And what archaic, bloody law are you pulling out of the dark today, old man?"

Elder Vane smiled, a slow, terrifying expression that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. He lowered his staff, pointing the sharp, silver tip directly at my chest.

"A king is nothing without his line," Vane announced, his voice echoing with absolute authority. "If neither twin will yield the throne to his brother, then the crown will belong to the one who secures the future of the pack first. The seat will go to whichever Alpha makes their bound mate pregnant first."

The room plunged into a suffocating, absolute silence.

The words hung in the air like a heavy, poisonous cloud. My entire body went rigid. The blood drained from my face so fast that my head spun, my vision blurring at the edges.

Pregnant.

They were treating my body as a prize, a breeding ground to settle a political war.

Slowly, the heavy weight of hundreds of eyes shifted. Every elder, every warrior, every family member in the hall turned their gaze directly onto me. I could feel the intense, burning scrutiny of the crowd, evaluating my hybrid blood, my small frame, assessing my worth as a vessel for the next Alpha line.

Beneath my skin, my wolf construct shifted violently, thrashing against my ribs in a mixture of raw humiliation and territorial rage. My breath came in short, jagged gasps as I stood pinned between the two men holding my hands, completely exposed to the entire pack.