His Defiant Wolfless Mate's Secret Twins

Hali Alston POV:

I'm Hali Alston, the overlooked second daughter of the Alston family.

My stepsister, Kamryn, has lived off my mother's inheritance for ten years, treating me like a servant. Tonight, she drugged me and planned to send me to Elder Brock, a sixty-year-old rogue Alpha. But I ended up in the wrong man's bed.

I spent the night with a stranger-the most untouchable man in all of Emerald Bay. And the most ridiculous part? By the next morning, everyone believed the woman he'd spent the night with was my dear stepsister.

"Let go of my wrist, Kamryn!" I gasped, my fingernails scraping against the cold marble wall of the Aurora Territory Hotel's top-floor corridor as a firestorm raged through my veins.

Kamryn dragged me toward the end of the hall, her heels clicking sharply against the floor as a vicious smile twisted her lips. "Save your strength, my dear little sister. No matter how old or ugly Elder Brock is, he's still a tremendous blessing for a wolfless freak like you. Just lie back and enjoy yourself tonight."

I bit down hard on the tip of my tongue. The sharp, metallic taste of blood spread through my mouth, forcibly buying me a brief moment of clarity amid the dizzying heat clouding my vision.

"What did you put in my glass at the banquet?" I rasped.

Kamryn snatched my clutch purse from my trembling fingers and shoved me hard toward the half-open double doors of the presidential suite.

"Nothing much," she sneered, watching me stumble over the threshold. "Just a black-market herbal concoction strong enough to drive even a wolfless freak into a full-blown Heat!"

In werewolf society, being wolfless meant being worthless. No shifting, no mind-link, and no chance of ever receiving the Moon Goddess's mate recognition. To protect myself, I'd spent years using my mental energy to suppress my hidden white wolf bloodline. As a result, all of Emerald Bay believed I was nothing more than a useless outcast.

I crashed onto the thick carpet inside the pitch-black suite. The solid-wood door slammed shut behind me, followed by the cold click of the deadbolt locking from the outside.

"Kamryn! Open the door!" I tried to crawl back, my palms burning against the floor, but my limbs felt as heavy as lead.

There were no lights. A violent pressure squeezed the air from my lungs. Beneath that oppressive force lingered an intense, intoxicating scent of winter cedarwood and frozen snowfields.

I collapsed onto my side. The drug-induced fire in my blood collided with that icy scent. At the nape of my neck, my hidden white wolf paw birthmark suddenly throbbed with searing heat.

A low, guttural growl tore through the darkness. The floor-to-ceiling windows rattled violently in their frames. Two points of blood-red light-deep slate-blue eyes shifting into feral dark gold-suddenly snapped open beside the bed.

Before I could scream, a massive, hot body lunged forward and pinned me to the carpet. A rough hand clamped around my throat.

"Please... let me go!" I choked out, pounding my fists against a chest as hard as iron. "Don't do this!"

He had already lost his reason-a man in the grip of a violent Alpha Heat. His ragged breaths burned my collarbone as he buried his face against the side of my neck.

"Damn it..." His voice was a tortured, guttural snarl. "Why do you smell so good... Mine..."

With one brutal motion, he tore my thin silk dress apart. The Command of an apex Alpha crashed down on every nerve in my body, paralyzing me and stripping away my last shred of resistance.

The moment he claimed me in the darkness, blinding pain ripped through my lower body. An instant later, an electric current shot up my spine and straight into my skull. Goosebumps erupted across my skin, and my heart pounded wildly against my ribs. A strange, terrifying sensation washed over my crumbling consciousness.

Completeness.

Above me, his feral movements froze for a heartbeat. A low, trembling groan escaped his throat as the violent tremors in his muscles began to subside. His hot mouth pressed against my pulse point as if my scent alone were keeping him alive.

The night seemed endless. His relentless possession crashed over me again and again, dragging me between suffocating pleasure and unconscious darkness until my voice was completely gone.

When the first pale-gray light of dawn slipped through the gap in the curtains, every bone in my body felt shattered. I bit my lower lip to suppress a sob and pushed myself up from the sweat-soaked sheets.

Beside me, the tall man was fast asleep, his face buried in shadow. In the dim light, all I could see was a deep, jagged scar on the outside of his muscular left thigh-an old wound left by a short blade.

Kamryn's words about the filthy, brutal old Elder Brock came back to me. A wave of icy nausea churned in my stomach, and hot tears of humiliation rolled down my cheeks.

I scrambled out of bed, grabbed my torn coat from the carpet, wrapped it around my bruised body, and limped toward the door. The automatic morning lock clicked open as I pulled the handle from inside.

I stumbled into the empty corridor and headed toward the service elevator. In the polished wall mirror, I caught sight of Kamryn emerging from a recessed alcove. When she saw my ruined state, her eyes widened in shock, then twisted with delight.

Before the elevator doors closed, I saw her pull a small black vial from her purse and frantically spray black-market scent-masking mist all over her neck and dress. Then she slipped into the unlocked presidential suite.

Arjun Kane POV:

A dull ache throbbed behind my temples as I opened my eyes. The madness that had nearly torn my inner wolf apart the previous night had finally subsided.

For the first time in years, my blood was calm. My wolf rested quietly in my mind, sated and whole. It was only a temporary relief; I knew the madness would return.

I pressed a hand to my forehead and turned my head. A woman lay naked beside me, beneath the edge of the duvet.

"Last night..." My voice was cold and hoarse. "Was it you who saved me?"

Kamryn flinched, then pressed her face against my bare shoulder, her voice sickeningly sweet. "Yes, Alpha Kane. Your Heat was tearing you apart... I used my body to soothe your wolf."

I narrowed my eyes and inhaled deeply. A faint, intoxicating trace of snow-lotus fragrance lingered on the pillows. But when I breathed in near the woman in my arms, all I detected was the heavy, bitter smell of medicinal herbs.

A flicker of suspicion crossed my mind, and my jaw tightened. Still, there was no other woman in the suite, and the lethal rampage in my veins had unquestionably been cured.

I drew back slightly, my slate-blue eyes fixed on her flushed face. "The Dark Night Pack does not shortchange those who serve its leader. Tell me what reward you want. Whatever it is, you shall have it."

She lowered her gaze, clutching the sheet against her chest. "I don't want money or territory, Alpha. As long as you let me stay by your side, I'll do anything."