Daddy's Little Brat: The Alpha's Temptress

If someone ever asked your husband to choose between your life and his mistress's... would he choose you?

No-let me rephrase that. How would you feel if your husband, the man you had stood beside all your life, the man you had protected since the moment he became the Alpha of one of the strongest packs in the world... had a mistress?

Most would rage. Demand answers. Tear the world apart.

But that wasn't what I did.

I simply... accepted it.

No, more than that, I overlooked the fact that his mistress was no other than my twin sister.

Mary.

From the very beginning, I knew our marriage had never been born from love. I knew Ethan had never truly felt anything for me. He married me for his late father's wishes, for power, for ambition.

I knew all of that.

That who he had truly wanted was Mary.

And yet, never in my life did I imagine that when the moment came, when both his mistress and I knelt before him with daggers pressed to our throats, my vision swimming, breath shallow-he wouldn't hesitate.

"Come on, Alpha Ethan. Who will you save? Your Luna... or her sister? Time is ticking, or they both die."

The man behind me mocked him, his voice dripping with amusement as he pressed the blade deeper into my neck. A thin bead of blood slid down my skin, warm and slow.

I didn't feel the pain.

Not when he said her name.

"Mary. I-I want to save Mary. Let her go."

He didn't even pause.

Held on his knees by two men behind him, he spoke without hesitation, without struggle, like it was the most natural choice in the world.

Something inside me shattered.

I closed my eyes, forcing back the tears burning behind them, refusing to break, refusing to cry in front of them as Mary burst into tears, relief flooding her face, a trembling smile spreading across her lips.

"Ethan..."

She whispered his name like a prayer.

And I... I just watched.

A bitter smile tugged at my lips as my vision blurred, my body heavy, numb. I could barely think, barely breathe.

I had been drugged.

All three of us had been ambushed on our way out of the packhouse. Ethan and Mary said they wanted to talk to me, and I thought they finally meant to confess their affair. Even though I already knew, I followed anyway. I thought... perhaps I deserved an explanation.

But we hadn't even gotten far before we were attacked.

I was the one specifically targeted. Before I could react, a needle pierced my skin, the drug flooding my veins, leaving me powerless, unable to fight, unable to move.

But it hadn't been their plan like I thought it was.

We truly had been kidnapped, and the masked men went for me first because I was the strongest among us.

And now, here we were... with my husband choosing for me to die in place of his mistress.

"Wow! Seems like the boss was right. Thank goddess I bid on the mistress. Haha, everyone better pay up!"

The man behind me chuckled, clearly entertained. Around me, I could hear the others grumbling, their voices slipping through the haze in my mind.

"Man, what a bummer. I should've chosen the mistress to bet on, but that bastard is heartless. Even I wouldn't choose anyone else over my wife."

"Right? Isn't she also his beta? I heard she's the reason no one dares go after him because of her protection."

As their whispers circled me, I watched Ethan continue staring at Mary with worried eyes, as though she was the only one in the world... as though I wasn't even here.

Before I knew it, a slow, bitter laugh escaped my lips.

Everyone turned toward me.

Ethan's gaze finally shifted, landing on me as I chuckled weakly, barely able to keep my voice steady.

"How cruel... Alpha Ethan," I whispered shakily.

If not for the man forcing me to my knees, I might have collapsed completely. Still, I forced myself to speak, turning my gaze toward my crying sister, who looked pale with fear as I held my smile in place.

"Choosing my sister over your Luna... do you mind explaining why you made that choice?"

I already knew the answer.

Yet I still wanted to hear it.

Why he would abandon me.

Why I wasn't enough.

Why he chose my sister over me... just like everyone else always had.

All my life, it had been that way.

My parents and two brothers adored my twin sister because she was more cute at first. Though we looked alike, she smiled more, spoke more, shone like a ray of sunlight, while I was the quiet girl who rarely smiled, who rarely spoke, who never quite knew how to interact with others.

Then, on our eighteenth birthday, their favoritism deepened into something worse. I failed to form a bond with my wolf... but my sister bonded with a rare white breeder wolf, one capable of birthing stronger pups.

From that day on, I became the family's black sheep. No one wanted to be around me. While my sister received everything she desired, I was left alone.

But I didn't let that break me.

Even without a wolf, I trained relentlessly. I honed my body, my blade, my instincts. Since I couldn't draw strength from a wolf, I forged it myself until I could stand shoulder to shoulder with the most powerful people in the pack.

That was what the late Alpha admired about me.

My strength.

So he made me promise to take care of his second son, Ethan, the heir to the Alpha position then. And he left Ethan with a single condition: if he didn't marry me, he would never become Alpha.

So, despite wanting my sister instead... he was forced to marry me. Yet I had foolishly believed that, with time, we could learn to love each other, to care for one another.

But that had only been a fool's dream.

I was never the one meant for him. And after my son's death months ago, after discovering their affair, that bitter truth had finally sunk in.

"Eleanor..." Ethan began, his voice trembling, desperate, as he looked at me like a man terrified of losing what he loved most. "I am sorry, Eleanor, b-but please... can you die for your sister? You are strong. Your sister is weak. She has never been happy since the moment you became my Luna. You took her spot, so this time... can you die for your sister?"

The moment those words left his mouth, the entire place fell into a suffocating silence. Even the masked men around us looked at Ethan, dumbfounded, as if they couldn't believe what they had just heard.

But all I did... was smile.

And before I knew it, I was laughing.

Laughing so hard that tears streamed down my face.

I couldn't take it anymore.

No... I couldn't.

"Die for my sister?"

The words slipped out in broken, ragged mumbles, barely audible over the pounding of my own heart. Everyone froze, watching me. My head hung low, tears sliding down my cheeks and splattering onto the ground.

"Why?"

I murmured it to myself, a whisper trembling through my lips.

No one heard me.

Mary's soft voice echoed in the background, repeating his name that she was scared.

"Why do I have to die?"

I heard Ethan's hurried reassurances that she would be fine, that she would live. His voice was distant, but it seemed to echo loudly in my ears.

"Why... why... why..."

And then-something snapped.

I screamed.

"Why!"

My head snapped up as I glared at Ethan, raw fury in my eyes, all restraint finally shattering. My roar echoed through the space, making them all turn toward me. Ethan's eyes widened in shock as he stared at me crying. It was the first time he had ever seen me like this.

Ethan froze, eyes widening in shock. He had never seen me like this-never seen the desperation, the terror, the unrestrained rage that clawed through me. The air seemed to thicken with tension, as if the walls themselves were holding their breath.

To him, I had always been nothing more than strong. Unbreakable. Silent.

But I didn't stop.

"Why should I die for her?!" I shouted, my voice cracking under the weight of years of buried pain. "Why should I give up my life? Why?! Am I not human?! Am I not your Beta?! Am I not your Luna?!"

I roared, struggling to crawl toward Ethan, but the man behind me pressed the dagger tighter against my neck. More blood slipped out, warm and sticky, yet I didn't care. I laughed and cried at the same time, my gaze slowly shifting to Mary as everyone watched.

She stiffened instantly under my eyes.

"Or wait..." I continued hoarsely, my lips trembling into a broken smile, "is it because you care so much about your mistress?"

The whole room fell into a suffocating silence.

The moment those words left my mouth, shock flashed across their faces.

They were stunned that I already knew.

Ethan's face drained of colour as he opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything, the man behind me burst into laughter, his voice slicing through the tense air.

"Ah, now that we've reached such an interesting topic!" he said gleefully. "Since you've chosen to save your mistress, your wife will die instead. But..."

He leaned closer, his tone suddenly playful and cruel.

"You'll have to answer one question if you want you and your mistress to leave this place in one piece!"

Ethan and Mary both turned to him in confusion, while I lowered my head, my eyes vacant, tears continuing to fall without pause.

The man slowly pulled the dagger away from my neck, clearly confident I was too weak to resist. As I crumpled to the ground, my limbs trembling, he stepped forward and raised a single finger into the air, his eyes glinting beneath the mask.

"If you want to leave here intact," he said leisurely, "you must confess a secret your wife doesn't know yet. A secret that involves the two of you." He gestured lazily toward Ethan and Mary. "If you don't tell me the one I want to hear... the both of you will leave this place without an arm."

At his words, Ethan and Mary exchanged a look, both sucking in a sharp breath as realization dawned on them, what he wanted to hear, what they had been hiding from me all this time.

Yet I didn't look up.

I didn't bother to.

My gaze remained fixed on the ground, hollow and unfocused, my breathing shallow as I struggled to stay conscious.

Through my blurred vision, I saw the masked man clap his hands once.

Almost immediately, two other masked men stepped forward, each holding a sword. Before Ethan or Mary could react, they were forced to their knees, their hands slammed onto the ground as cold blades hovered just above them.

The masked man's voice rang out over their terrified cries.

"The time starts now!"