Stealing the Alpha’s Heritage

Chapter 10

POV Thorne

"Welcome home, my princes."

The words taste like victory as I carry the sleeping twins through Silverfang's main gates.

"You actually did it." Jules matches my pace.

"Never underestimate what proper motivation can accomplish." I shift Finn's weight, his blonde hair tickling my jaw.

"Thorne!" Serena's shrill voice cuts through the courtyard like nails on stone. "What the hell are those?"

She stands on the main steps in that red dress she thinks makes her irresistible, her face cycling through confusion, rage, and something uglier.

"These are my sons." The declaration rings across the stone walls. "The future Alphas of Silverfang."

"Your sons?" Her laugh cracks like breaking glass. "You mean the bastards your runaway Luna whelped while spreading her legs for another Alpha?"

I want to grip her throat but my hands are busy. "Watch your tongue, or I'll remove it."

I stride past Serena without another glance, feeling her rage burn against my back. The suite doors open to reveal a child's paradise—toys covering every surface, beds shaped like racing cars, walls painted with forests and moons. Three years of missed birthdays compensated for in one obscene shopping spree.

"Station four guards." I lay Kael on the red bed, then Finn on the blue. "Rotating shifts, no gaps. If these boys so much as stub a toe, I'll use someone's spine as a back scratcher."

"Understood, Alpha."

The sedative should wear off within the hour. I settle into the chair between their beds, studying their faces. Kael looks exactly like my childhood photos—sharp jaw, dark hair that will never cooperate, the kind of bone structure that commands attention. But Finn... Finn has Aria's softness around the eyes, her delicate mouth.

"My princes." The words come out rough. "My stolen princes."

"Mama?"

Kael's eyes flutter open, green like mine but hazed with confusion. He sits up too fast, swaying slightly.

"Easy, little wolf." I move to his bed, keeping my voice gentle despite the triumph roaring through my chest.

"Where's Mama?" His eyes dart around the unfamiliar room, landing on his still-sleeping brother. "Why are we here? This isn't our room."

"Your mama sent you for a special visit with Papa." The lie rolls off my tongue smooth as aged whiskey.

"Mama never sends us places." Kael's tiny jaw sets exactly like mine when someone's feeding me bullshit.

"Sometimes grown-ups need space to handle grown-up problems."

"You're lying."

The accusation comes from the blue bed. Finn sits up, his lighter hair sticking up. His gray eyes pin me with startling intelligence.

"Finn—"

"Mama would never send us away." His voice stays flat, emotionless in a way that raises the hair on my neck. "You took us. Through the window. I remember the window."

"You were having a bad dream, little one."

But Finn just stares at me with those unsettling gray eyes, then deliberately turns his back, pulling the covers over his head. The dismissal from a three-year-old shouldn't sting, but it does.

"I want Mama!" Kael's voice rises to a pitch that could shatter crystal. "I want Mama now!" He launches himself at me, tiny fists swinging with surprising force.

I catch his wrists gently, marveling at the fight in him. Pure Blackwood temper. "We'll call your mama later, alright?"

"Promise?" Hope flickers across his face so fast I almost miss it.

"We'll send her a picture right now." I pull out my phone, angling it to capture both boys—Kael's tear-stained defiance and Finn's turned back. "Say hello to Mama."

"Mama, come get us!" Kael shouts at the phone. "Please come get us!"

Finn doesn't move, doesn't acknowledge the camera exists.

"Can we go home now?" Kael's voice breaks on the last word.

"This is your home now." I ruffle his dark hair, ignoring how he flinches away. "Your real home. Where Alphas are made."

"Our home is with Mama and Uncle Evander and Aunt Elena." Kael's chin juts out.

Uncle Evander, right.

"Forget about them." My voice comes out harder than intended. "You're Silverfang princes now."

"I don't want to be a prince!" Kael screams. "I want Mama!"

The door opens without warning. My mother enters like she owns the space—because technically, she still does. Rowena Blackwood, former Luna of three packs.

"So these are my grandsons." Her voice carries that particular tone that makes grown Alphas reconsider their life choices.

She approaches the beds with measured steps, her silver hair catching the light like a crown. Kael shrinks back, but Finn finally turns, studying her with those unsettling eyes.

"You look like the pictures." Finn's first words to anyone except calling me a liar. "Mama showed us pictures of you."

"Did she now?" Rowena smiles. "And what did your mama say about me?"

"That you're sad." Finn tilts his head. "That you loved us before we were born."

Something flickers across Rowena's face. She studies their faces with an intensity that makes even me uncomfortable.

"Kael and Finn." She says their names like she's tasting them. "Do you know what you are?"

"Boys?" Kael ventures, confused by the question.

"Twins." Her smile carries edges. "Blackwood twins. The first in three generations."

"Mother, don't start—"

"Did Aria ever tell you about the twin curse?" She settles on Finn's bed despite his attempt to maintain distance. "Every third generation, Blackwood Alphas produce twins. And those twins... well, they're special."

"Special how?" Finn asks despite himself.

"One leads, one follows. One builds, one destroys." She touches Finn's hair gently. "The curse ensures they can never both be happy. One always pays for the other's joy."

"Mother, enough." My voice carries enough command to make the guards outside shift nervously. "They're three years old."

"Three years old and already showing the signs." She stands, her eyes meeting mine with that look that used to precede legendary punishments.

"There is no curse."

"Tell that to your grandfather's twin brother." Her smile turns sharp. "Oh wait, you can't. He died at four when your grandfather survived scarlet fever. One lives, one dies. One rises, one falls. Always."

"Stop it." My voice drops to a growl. "You're scaring them."

"I'm preparing them." She moves toward the door, then pauses. "You wanted your heirs back, Thorne. But did you ever ask yourself why the universe gave you two?"

She leaves before I can respond, her words hanging in the air like smoke from a funeral pyre.

"The mean lady is wrong." Kael whispers to his brother. "We're both gonna be happy. Together. Always."

Finn doesn't respond. He just turns back to the wall, pulling the covers over his head again.

I stare at my sons and wonder if my mother's words carry more weight than I want to admit.

The curse doesn't care about age.

Neither does truth.