Two Lifetimes of Alpha Trash

The moment my twins drew their first breaths-their tiny mouths forming feral snarls as lunar energy crackled in the air-I staggered to my knees before alpha Leonard Thorne, blood pooling at my feet like a wolf's kill.

"I beg to renounce my title," I panted.​

In that cursed timeline, I'd birthed a son on the same night as Nancy Davis.

Leonard, my alpha, had demanded a ritual draught to blind his senses, then drawn a lot to decide which child would inherit his lunar throne.

The Dowager, scenting Nancy's weakness, had swapped the lots-my son's name was called, but the next moonrise told a different tale.​

Nancy had knelt in the rain with her still - warm pup, her flesh burning under the full moon.

By dawn, both lay dead, and Leonard's howl of grief shook the keep.

He'd dragged me and my surviving child to the Beast Garden, where we'd been torn apart by shadow - wolves as he screamed: "Your greed killed them! A lowborn wolf like Nancy deserved her pup's birthright!"​

Now, back in the birthing chamber, I could smell Nancy's scheming scent lingering in the air.

She lurked just beyond the door, her pulse racing with anticipation.

Leonard stood above me, his alpha aura suffocating as he watched my twins suckle, their tiny hands already sprouting downy fur.​

"Swap them," I whispered to my midwife.

She palmed my daughter's silver - collared ankle, replacing her with Nancy's wailing infant. The moment the switch was made, Leonard's nostrils flared.​

"Where is my heir?" he growled.

I pushed the pup toward him, my own twins hidden in a cradle.​

"Take him," I said.

"Nancy deserves the title of mother to the next alpha. As for me..." I looked into his feral eyes, remembering the Beast Garden's stench.

"I choose exile."​

Leonard's snarl rattled the chandeliers, but before he could strike, Nancy burst in.

"Alpha! Our son-" She stopped, sniffing the air.

"Why does he smell... different?"​

"Silence," Leonard snapped, though his own brow furrowed.

He lifted the pup, who whimpered at the alpha's cold touch. "You may go, Eleanor," he said, not looking at me.

"But know this-if any harm befalls Nancy or my heir, I'll hunt you to the ends of the wolf lands."

As I fled the keep, rain began to fall-the same rain that had drowned Nancy's hopes in my past life.

But this time, I carried my twins close, their tiny hearts beating in sync with the approaching full moon.

In the distance, I heard Leonard's howl ...

Flashback

Freshly - birthed concubine mate, their bodies still smeared with blood and sweat, huddled together in the courtyard, their werewolf auras flickering weakly.

The air was thick with blood and the anxious whines of newborn pups.​

"With the Luna having birthed twins, the eldest heir's position should rightfully belong to her child. Why this charade?"

one of the concubines hissed, her wolfish eyes glowing faintly with irritation.​

A dozen baskets lined the courtyard, the silk covers doing little to muffle the cries of the infants within.

Yet,Leonard Thorne remained conspicuously absent.

Sensing their distress, I ordered my servants to distribute thick cloaks, hoping to ease their discomfort.

The hostile glares from the concubine mates softened slightly, though suspicion still lingered in their scents.​

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Leonard Thorne arrived, accompanied by Nancy Davis.

Nancy, swathed in a thick fox fur, looked radiant.

Leonard's nostrils flared as he took in the scene.

"Is this how you fulfill your duties as Luna? Keeping these new mothers out in the cold while you stay warm?" he growled, his alpha aura flaring menacingly.

At his command, servants stripped me of my cloak and ransacked my chambers for more warm clothes, leaving me exposed to the biting cold.​

Weak from the difficult birth and now chilled to the bone, I gritted my teeth, my wolfish eyes fixed on Leonard as he approached the baskets.

With a swift motion, he lifted the cover of one basket and retrieved a squirming infant.​

"The eldest son of the manor is..."