Promised to the Alfa's Son, Fated to Another

Chapter 3

Riley sat in the dining room, a damp towel draped over his shoulders, watching the maids set a plate in front of him. Everyone else had eaten. Only he and Alfie had been missing, still running in the pack’s forest for nearly three hours. They weren’t close, but when survival of the pack was at stake, they knew how to put aside their differences.

Alfie strode into the room, broad and confident, his smirk already in place. For all their rivalry, they could never deny the resemblance. People often thought them twins, though Riley was taller, heavier in the shoulders, and carried himself with quieter strength.

Alfie’s smirk widened when he noticed the maid speaking to his brother and Riley giving no reply.

“Too good to talk to the help?” Alfie teased.

“None of your business.” Riley took the plate and began to eat, unbothered.

“Charming as always.” Alfie gestured for his own plate, eyes flicking back to Riley with open provocation.

Silence stretched between them, the only sounds the clink of cutlery. They had shared meals before, but never conversation. Tonight Alfie’s good mood was unsettling. Riley didn’t trust it.

The moment broke when footsteps sounded in the hall. Riley almost thanked the gods when their mother entered.

“There you are, boys!” Savanna’s voice was bright, her smile warm. “How was the run?”

“Regular,” Riley muttered, kissing her cheek.

“Perfect,” Alfie added, with a grin that didn’t reach his eyes.

Savanna laughed, settling gracefully beside Riley. She knew her eldest too well. Alfie wasn’t smiling for her. He was smiling at his brother.

“Want to share?” she asked lightly.

Alfie’s gaze lingered on Riley before he answered, “Met someone in the forest. Surprised me.”

Savanna’s heart sank. She didn’t miss the way Alfie’s words were aimed not at her, but at Riley. She had lived long enough with her sons’ rivalry to recognize a new spark.

“I need to talk to you privately,” she said, tone shifting. “I received a call from Angely.”

“I have no secrets from my brother,” Alfie replied smoothly.

Riley leaned back, arms crossed over his chest. He didn’t trust Alfie’s good humor, and he trusted less that he was being included in something that smelled like manipulation.

“In that case.” Savanna folded her hands in her lap. “Angely said Casey will give her final answer tomorrow. And Alfie—you must be free tomorrow evening if she confirms.”

“If?” Alfie’s smirk slipped, replaced by something harder. “You think she might refuse me?”

Savanna sighed. “Considering her… condition after the kidnapping, we are trying to be reasonable with her.”

Riley’s lips curved into the faintest smile. “Rejection never crossed your mind, brother?”

Alfie growled low in his throat, eyes flashing.

“Enough!” Savanna raised her voice, sharp enough to silence them both. “This childish rivalry ends here. Alfie, you will be engaged and married. Riley, you will stand as his right hand. You are brothers. Remember that.”

Alfie turned to her, his expression dark with disbelief. “And if she refuses?”

“Then your father will find you another fiancée,” Savanna said firmly.

Her words struck, but Alfie hardly heard them. Casey’s face burned in his memory—platinum hair, sharp green eyes, every curve seared into him. He remembered seeing her in college years ago, his body reacting before he could stop it. Beautiful, fragile, haunted. And precisely because she resisted, because she might dare to say no, he wanted her more.

No one knew how many women he had refused since. Only his father understood that Alfie had already chosen—and that he would not bend.

Riley watched him in silence, though his own chest was tight. He, too, had seen Casey. Not often, just enough to feel it: the pull. Unlike Alfie’s hunger, his was different. Protective. Possessive. A craving to hide her away in a place no one could find, to guard her from everyone, including his own brother. Yet when he thought of her curves, her mouth, the fire in her eyes… his wolf growled with need.

“I’ll clear my evening tomorrow,” Alfie said at last, voice clipped. He pushed back his chair and stalked out of the room, footsteps echoing through the hall.

Silence lingered.

Savanna exhaled slowly, her smile gone. She looked at Riley, but her younger son only sat back, arms crossed, face unreadable. He had no intention of telling her what burned in his chest.

Because Riley knew one thing his brother didn’t.

He didn’t just want Casey.

He felt her.

And if Alfie was chosen, Riley wasn’t sure which instinct would win—duty to his pack, or the hunger to claim the girl who was never meant to belong to either of them.

.