Bound to the Alpha king and his brother

His lips brush my neck, a barely-there touch that steals the strength from my knees. I’m still standing, but my body betrays me, remembering every moment that ever pulled me back to him—every ache, every spark, every promise whispered in the dark.

I can’t stop myself. My hands slide behind his neck, pulling him down until his mouth meets mine. Heat flares between us, sharp and consuming. He draws me closer, guiding me backward until the mattress finds me, his hands moving with slow, deliberate intent that unravels me far too easily.

My patience snaps. I shift, taking control, pushing him back beneath me. His breath catches, and the tension between us burns hotter—familiar, irresistible. The world narrows to the rhythm of touch and breath, to the gravity that has always existed between us.

But in a heartbeat, everything changes.He suddenly pushes away, breath steady, expression cold.

“Get dressed,” he says. “Leave.”

I stare at him, waiting for the smirk, the apology, the pull back into his arms. None comes. The sound of the shower fills the silence between us, drowning the questions rising in my throat.

Anger flares. I storm into the bathroom—but he’s already there, dripping from the water. When he reaches for me, the intensity returns, sharp and overwhelming, as if nothing had happened. Our emotions collide—want, confusion, hurt—blurring into something neither of us controls.

Later, when I finally leave his bed, the night stretches endlessly. His words echo in my mind: Get dressed. Leave.

Why hasn’t he marked me?

Why does he keep me hidden?

The questions gnaw at me until dawn.By morning, I’m at his door again. He opens it, surprise flickering across his face.

“Hey… you’re here?”

“I couldn’t sleep,” I whisper. “I had to see you.”

He gives that familiar half-smile. “Couldn’t stay away .huh?”

I step back. “Don’t. Please.”

He frowns, confused. “Why?”

“When will you make me your mark?”

His expression hardens instantly. “I told you. You’re not mine. I can’t mark you.”The words strike like a blow. “Not yours? After everything?”He leans closer, voice low and cutting. “You’ll always respond to me. You know that.”

Humiliation burns through me. I slap him, voice breaking. “You promised. You said soon. That the council needed time. That what we shared meant something.”The truth sinks cold and heavy inside me: I was kept in the shadows because I was never meant to be claimed.

Desperation forces the words out. “I’m pregnant.” His reply is ice. “I won’t be involved.”Something inside me shatters.

Days blur together. My thoughts spiral with questions I can’t silence.

Why didn’t I leave the first night?

Or the second?

Or the ninth?

Why did I stay when every sign pointed to heartbreak?

I stayed because I believed him. Because being one of nine daughters meant every step of my life had been shaped around becoming a Luna. And now… how do I tell my father, my law-bound mother, that I have been cast aside,–unmarked and unwanted?

*****

By the third night, I break.

I return to his door. Before I can knock, it swings open. Varyn stands there, shirtless, water still clinging to his skin. His eyes widen, then narrow.

“You again.”

“I had to see you,” I say, voice trembling despite my effort to steady it.

He crosses his arms. “You never listen.”

“You don’t understand,” I breathe. “You’ve ruined me, Varyn. My heart—my entire being—answers to you. And you act like it means nothing.”

His jaw tightens. His eyes darken with that familiar, dangerous pull.

“I told you,” he says quietly. “Even without a mark, you’ll always feel me.”

Tears sting, but I hold them back. “I want more than this. More than hiding. More than being something you walk away from.”

For the first time, he doesn’t smirk. Doesn’t touch me. He simply watches, calculating—deciding whether what I feel is worth keeping… or worth breaking.

And in that silence, I finally understand:

This is not what he promised me.In the soft moments—in warm breaths and whispered sweetness—he made me believe I was his only fated mate, his Luna, even without a mark. He made me feel chosen. Cherished. Irreplaceable.

But now, standing in the ruins of those promises, I see the truth.He never intended to keep any of them.Even as the truth settles, another question rises,one I’ve been too afraid to face.

If everything he said was a lie… then what was I holding on to? A dream? A fantasy stitched together from stolen nights and half-spoken promises? Or was it the version of him I created just to survive the loneliness he left behind?

The wind outside his door chills my skin, but it’s the emptiness in his eyes that turns my bones to ice. For the first time, I understand that love, real love should not feel like begging at a locked door. And yet, even knowing this, part of me still reaches for him, desperate for a reason to stay… or a reason to finally walk away.

If I must accept Varyn’s rejection, then I will turn it into hatred that lasts a lifetime.

I wait for the full moon, glued to the window as silver light creeps across the night. When the great orb finally rises, I step into its glow. Moonlight pours over me, the Goddess’s power heavy on my skin. I beg for the usual gift. stamina, speed, strength to ready myself for the war I plan with Varyn.

I strip bare beneath her gaze, waiting for rage to ignite inside me. But instead, warmth blossoms. Dense. Golden. A shimmer that is not fury. My hand lowers to my stomach. Something answers me there, faint but undeniable—a spark of life. My chest caves. A pup.

I turn from the truth, but a flash on my skin draws me back. Etched across thigh glows the scar of an Alpha. My heart clenches. Varyn has marked me.

Rage steadies my legs as I pull a robe around me and march to Varyn’s house. My chest is tight, breath jagged, every step fueled by betrayal and defiance.

The doo