Never have I ever imagined myself to be torn between two hottest Alphas—and most certainly not as their mate.

Having two mates is rare, perhaps that’s why the she-wolves around me are so jealous to the point that their glares sometimes would turn into threatening stares.

The Zane twins, Xeus and Xavier, are complete opposites.

The older one, Xeus, is rough (in bed and in real life) and strict and has a reputation to be ruthless if need be. He’s the type to always prioritize his reputation and he will slay anyone who dares to harm the ones he cared for.

Xavier, on the other hand, is wild and bubbly and carefree. He likes role-playing in bed and is also the type to not care what happens tomorrow. What matters for him is the present. He’s the more friendly type, and he’s more approachable than Xeus.

I am Louise Black, an Alpha’s daughter. When my father died when I was seven, my wicked uncle took over the pack. Luckily, my mother’s bestfriend who was a Luna of another pack took me in.

And that’s how I met the Zane twins. They are my mother’s bestfriend’s sons.

Despite the fact they were the dream mates of most of my age, none of them would dare to marry me. They do not like commitment or starting a family and the word marriage became the one that they both despise the most.

However, the next day at my twenty-eighth birthday party, the two of them proposed. Well, not to me—but to a Beta’s daughter, Lucille Clarke, right in front of everyone. Right in front of me.

And that’s not the worst thing that happened that night: I accidentally drunk a poisoned wine meant for the Alpha of the Blood Ruby Pack, the mate and husband of my mother’s bestfriend.

This angered the Alpha and the culprit was eventually caught.

However, the Zane twins’ actions were enough to ignite something within me. After being treated in the pack’s hospital, I called my mother, who bizarrely remarried my uncle, and demanded, “I’m now agreeing to marry Alpha Xaden Reid of Crystal Tears Pack.”

***

The next day as I stepped outside, the crisp autumn wind and chill bit my fingers. It was the lesser things I could worry about. I picked up my phone to answer an incoming call.

“Where the hell are you, Louise?” Xeus’ voice is definitely ruthless. I think this is the first time I heard him speak to me like that. “Do you really think you can escape your responsibility to apologize by leaving?”

“What?” I yelled. “What responsibility?”

Xeus growled, the sound even shook the sleepiness off of me. “Get back here and say sorry to Lucille!”

I groaned, “Okay.” I cleared my throat and lifted my chin, “Tell Lucille I’m sorry.”

I know I’m not often the one to be sarcastic but...I can’t help it. Lucille is one hell of a cunning hellcat.

“You—”

But I heard Xavier demanded his brother to give him the phone. “Louise, why are you doing this? Lucille said you accused her of poisoning you, of—of poisoning our father. She told us you’re the one who scattered the rumors that it was her! Are you mad to blame an innocent beautiful woman?”

“What are you talking about? I didn’t say anything and I absolutely didn’t blame her either! She’s the one who’s mad to claim that I’m setting her up!”

Xeus snarled so loud I briefly removed the phone from my ears. “Lou, do you know how delicate Lucille is? We have to protect her in all the ways we can. She can’t even fucking eat because of you!”

Xavier claimed the phone again and spurted more of their nonsense that I changed, that I’ve gone mad, that Lucille was once just like me so I shouldn’t threaten her, blah blah blah.

To be honest, I know several women are indeed jealous of me for being able to ‘ensnare’ the Zane brothers for twenty years and keep them for myself but Lucille’s actions are so petty that it’s obvious she wants to have what was mine. No matter if she’s stealing the twins from me and putting herself as that fragile little virgin dove that all males should look after.

“Bullshit,” was all I replied and put down my phone.

Just a few minutes after I hung up, my mother called and asked if my decision last night was final.

“Of course, mother. I wouldn’t just blurt out my decision if I didn’t think of it thoroughly.”

Although my mother claimed she already tamed my uncle, it wasn’t enough to interest me to return to the Dark Tide Pack.

I missed the smell of the sea since my pack is located beside serene waters, the feel of sand beneath my feet, and the cool summer nights.

The Reid family has long wanted to build ties with my pack, especially with my mother as Luna Shea is a Reid.

My mother informed me that she had promised my hand to the son and heir of the Alpha of the Crystal Tears Pack.

My mother still left the choice to me even with that promise. She told me that I am free to break the engagement if I ever wished so.

It was the time I still believed in true love and the powers of it. I first met that feeling with the Zane brothers. But seeing my situation now, it seems true love was nothing but an illusion. A fake emotion that they weaved so that I shall remain loyal to them to be their spare time amusement.

I bet that’s what they’re doing to Lucille too. Sooner or later, Lucille will be just like me now.

As if my thoughts conjured her presence, a notification for my social media appeared on the top of my screen with a picture of her flaunting two engagement rings: one with a ruby and another with an amethyst.

I wouldn’t deny that I’m jealous—because I fucking am!

Those twenty years have just been a waste.

Wiping the tears from my face, I blocked her.

“Mom, I mean it. I want to have my own child soon.” I texted my mother.

During my hospital stay, the doctor told me that this latest incident had significantly weakened my health. I should get pregnant while I’m young and while I can.

My time is running out and I wouldn’t waste it on Lucille and the Zane twins.

Then, a sudden thought struck me: what if those twenty years are never a waste? What if they’re a lesson?

I looked up at the dull, gray sky. Thunder grumbled in the distance and raindrops started to fall from the heavens.

The doctor said it would take about a week to recover fully—and I would use this week to show Xeus and Xavier and Lucille that I can live without them.

I glanced at the mirror facing me. And there I saw the innermost part of myself: my lifeless soul. My snow-white face, gaunt and one step closer to my grave.

This is the effect of that lethal poison I drank. The Head Doctor, the head of the pack’s healers, told me that if I was a minute late rushed to the hospital, I would probably be dead by now.

I stared at my reflection—at myself. This was the girl the Zane twins pampered and showered with affection for twenty years. And now...I look as if I was a living ghost.

That’s what Lucille does: he twisted Xeus and Xavier to just focus on her. The brothers did not even ask me if I was alright after the poisoning incident. They just want me to apologize in her face and treat her like some precious porcelain doll that needs an ample amount of caring.

I sighed. I can’t do anything now that Lucille has entered our lives. Me going to their mansion and explaining to the Zane twins my side of the story would be as good as handing my head on a platter to them.

I bid farewell to Luna Shea Zane, my mother’s bestfriend and the woman I considered as my second mother. She secretly visited me without the knowledge of her husband or sons.

“I’m sorry about my sons, Lou,” she whispered in my ear as she kissed my forehead. “They are their father’s children. Besides, boys will be boys.” She chuckled without amusement, but I didn’t return her reaction.

I just stared at her with a lifeless gaze and nodded tightly.

‘She’s right,’ my wolf mused. ‘Boys will be boys. The Zane twins are boys!’

I cracked a smile at that.

The Luna caressed my cheeks. “There. That’s what I love about you: your smile.”

I beamed at her. “I really should go, Luna Shea. Thank you for the twenty years of taking care of me.”

I was about to turn around when she grabbed my arm gently. “You know...I always hoped that one day, you’ll be my daughter. My actual daughter.”

I can see her emotions even with her blink, the movement of her lips, and the swaying of her hair in the passing wind. “I know,” I whispered and compelled my voice to remain steady. “I also hoped for that too.”

And then I walked away.

***

A month ago...

I just came back from the hospital after breaking my leg. I fell from the stairs when Lucille surprised me by the foot of the staircase.

The taxi stopped right in front of the Zanes’ mansion.

I may be an Alpha’s daughter but I wasn’t trained to be as strong as Warriors or as enduring as Healers.

The injury left me quite numb. And it worsened when a very cold water soaked me as soon as I got out of the taxi.

“Lou!” Lucille exclaimed, the same tone she used when she surprised me and I fell down the stairs. She was watering the garden with the garden hose and it was angled right towards me.

Even when my teeth chatter that I can barely bellow out her name back, she still dozed me with water until all of me was wet.

She only lowered the hose when the twins approached.

As the cold morning breeze hit me, I felt a couple of sharp shivers crawling down my spine and into my injured leg. I almost dropped to the ground but I flattened my palm against a wall, forcing myself not to faint in front of them.

Xeus and Xavier exchanged looks, a silent communication going between them. Then, they sneered at me: my body a breath away from the floor, crouching to the wall one-hand as my other hand was on my chest.

“It seemed you’re putting on an act again as soon as you returned, Louise,” Xeus drawled.

I didn’t hide my glare at them and shot Lucille a stare that can instantly kill. “Is that what this woman told you? That my leg injury was just acting?” I scoffed. “I didn’t know you can fake a cry of pain nor an outright injury.”

There was a bite in my words that Lucille flinched. In a matter of heartbeats, she yielded a pitiful face again—the same face that won her the attention of the Zane twins in just months.

Xavier cleared his throat. “If you’re so tough, Louise, why did you come back to this house?” he dragged his gaze to Lucille, who’s faking another silent cry. Best actress indeed.

“Oh, her own mother didn’t even want her there. Even her Alpha uncle,” Xeus’ mocking voice didn’t falter as his tone dripped with sarcasm. “Where else would she go but here?”

Their words pierced so deeply into my heart that I burst into tears. Real tears, not the ones Lucille was compelling her eyes to show right now.

“Xeus. Xavier. That’s enough,” she uttered with a trembling voice like a victim showing mercy to her abuser. Even early in the morning, Lucille won’t really get tired of stirring up drama.

At that moment, the memory of the first time I arrived at the Zane mansion crossed my mind. At that time, Xavier had held my hand and done everything he could to cheer me up. Xeus even caressed my cheek and assured me that their home is free to be my new home too.

But then Lucille arrived just three months ago. My once-glorious paradise that I so adored became my bullying ground and living hell. She was a Beta’s daughter who came with her mother under the guise of helping in the household. The Alpha didn’t mind it but Luna Shea rolled her eyes at Lucille’s sweet smiles and gentle words as if both of us could see right through Lucille’s facade.

Looking at their faces now, those twenty years of the Zane mansion being my home has stopped. This has become my prison. Worse, their torturing ground for me.

At that moment, I realized my time is up. And I shouldn’t waste anymore time living here. I should leave as soon as I can.

Lucille changed the brothers in just months. At first, I tried to be understanding because I was once in her shoes. After all, she was just helping in the household and seemed inexperienced in doing so.

However, when she ‘accidentally’ smashed the only gift my late father left me right in front of me and the twins, I could not stay silent. I confront her, complete with scolding and yelling. When Lucille began bawling, that was when Xeus pushed me aside with a deep frown on both of their faces.

“Lucille's life has not been easy, Louise,” he snarled. “You are just a spoiled princess here. It’s just a figurine. Why do you have to make things difficult for someone who’s only helping us?”

Spoiled princess? They’re the ones who ‘spoiled’ me!

And ‘just a figurine’?! They very well know the story behind it, that it was the last thing my father was clutching before he breathed his last breath. It was his last and first gift to me.

Xavier added, “She is younger than you, Louise. You’re the adult here, you should show her a little more kindness!”

As I clutched the pieces of my broken wolf-shaped glass figurine on the floor, the feeling of hopelessness and helplessness struck my heart for the first time in twenty years.

Ever since that time, everything has been different. I was no longer the most important female in their lives. Slowly but surely, Lucille took my place as if we were in competition. To be honest, we can just share the mansion, the privilege, and the twins. But Lucille, perhaps who lacked everything since childhood, was devoured by greed the moment she saw opportunity with the Zane family. She established herself as the new focus of the house and shoved me out by the throat.

Although this house had given me so many memories I should cherish, it was never truly my home in the end. For twenty years I just convinced myself it is, but deep down, I know it wasn’t.

***

That memory a month ago haunted me. But that memory from a week ago...it stole the life of me.

“There won’t be next time,” I once told the Zane twins. Now, I can’t believe myself to really make it true.

Even when I said goodbye to Luna Shea, a deep part of me still wants to see the Zane mansion for one last time.

I told myself last night that there are no things there that I need to pack. Everything was broken and thrown by Lucille anyway.

But...it’s not things that I want to pack. I want to see the home I had for twenty years for one last time. I want to pack my feelings and memories for one last time.

Since it had come to this, there was nothing left for me to hold onto. Nothing for me to have a reason to stay. I just want to see it for one last time and leave.

However, even as I crawled to the house on silent feet, I saw that all my belongings had been tossed into the hallway like some trash that needs to immediately be taken out.

Xeus stood by my room’s door, his massive hand holding Lucille's. His eyes stared me down with a cold that could rival the winter winds. Disdain contorted his face as his mouth quivered to the side.

“Louise, you should know your place. You're nothing more than a freeloader clinging to the Blood Ruby Pack and Zane family so you have no right to look down on Lucy, let alone throw a tantrum at her,” he lectured.

I arched a brow and didn’t bother to put on my wicked self. “Lucille has been a freeloader too since four months ago, remember? Just because a new pitiful one entered your life, you’re going to toss away the female who’d been with you for twenty years?!” Lucille was standing behind Xeus and I jerked my chin to her. “Congratulations, whore. You’ve done it!”

I clapped my two hands with a sarcastic laugh escaping my lips. I didn’t bother to check my attitude in front of the Zane twins. “Lucille also has no right to be cruel and scheming in front of the daughter of the Luna of the Dark Tide Pack and the niece of its Alpha.”

Xavier bared his teeth at me. “You—”

“From now on, you’ll be staying in the Omegas’ quarters,” Xeus continued, ignoring his brother. “Lucille will handle all pack matters as our right-hand Beta and I’m transferring you to do miscellaneous tasks. Don’t worry, it’s lighter than the Omegas’ jobs. Once you learn to get along with Lucille, we can talk and maybe reconsider you.”

Xavier kissed one side of Lucille’s cheek. She blushed. I almost vomited on the carpet. “Louise Black,” Xavier started. “If you throw another fit and upset Lucille again, I won't let you off so easily. You’ll find yourself begging for my mercy.”

I rolled my eyes and Xeus shouted a warning. I ignored all of them.

However, now with a plan to leave, I had no time to bicker with them. I shrugged and simply replied, “You’re absolutely right, Xeus. Xavier. I’ll move out as soon as possible. And don’t bother transferring me to the Omegas’ quarters, I’m leaving the Blood Ruby Pack.”

Xeus sneered, “You're still insisting and playing as a victim, huh? Fine. I’ll overlook this just once for my mother’s sake. However, I expect you to remember your place from now on.”

“Ha! Lucille should be the one to remember her place. She only came here to help, remember? Now, she feels as if she’s the equivalent of a Luna. If I were Luna Shea, I would behead her immediately in front of you. Good thing your poor mother is kinder than me.” I walked past them and glanced at my nails when I said, “There won’t be a next time, Xeus.”

I looked each of them in the eye as I breathed. “I’m returning to my mother. Now.”