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!"

Fear gripped them both at once.

"Ah! Ethan, help!" Mary screamed, her voice sharp with panic.

"W-what are you doing?! Let us go! Let us go! Do you know who I am? I am the Alpha of the Bloodthorn Pack!" Ethan roared, his face pale with fury and fear.

But the men only chuckled, completely unbothered, lazily twirling the swords above their hands as if they were toys.

Desperate, Ethan instinctively turned toward me.

"Eleanor! Eleanor! Save us! Do something!"

He screamed my name again and again.

But I didn't react.

I remained on the ground, lost in a daze, as if his voice could no longer reach me at all.

For the first time, I didn't risk my life to do whatever I could to save him.

"Four minutes left,"

the masked man hummed lazily while the others laughed in amusement.

Ethan's eyes widened in horror as realization struck him, if he didn't speak, he and Mary would truly lose an arm. He turned sharply toward the masked man, stammering frantically.

"I- I will speak! I will speak!"

His eyes trembled as he shook his head, trying to think.

"W-what Eleanor doesn't know..." He paused, swallowing hard before continuing, "She doesn't know that Mary is pregnant right now!"

He yelled it out, desperation lacing his voice. Mary shakily nodded along, crying even harder as the sword glistened ominously above her hand.

Yet... I didn't lift my head.

I didn't react.

I felt nothing.

Silence stretched after his confession. For a moment, the men did nothing-then suddenly, they burst out laughing, their voices echoing through the air.

"Wrong!"

The masked man laughed along with them, raising three fingers casually.

"Three minutes left."

Ethan and Mary's faces turned deathly pale. They glanced at each other, clearly uncomfortable with what they were about to say, but with no other choice left, Ethan sucked in a deep breath and spoke again, this time refusing to look at me.

"W-we..." he stuttered, lifting his gaze toward the masked man. "Today... we wanted to kill her. That was why we tried to lure her out of the packhouse... so we could do it. Because if she died, then Mary... Mary would become Luna."

As soon as he finished speaking, silence once again fell over the abandoned building. Everyone instinctively turned to see how I would react.

But once again... I didn't.

My heart hurt so much it ached, a dull, crushing pain spreading through my chest, yet I still didn't react.

They wanted to kill me so they could be together.

My husband... and my twin sister.

"Damn, you're even more ruthless than us," the masked man muttered, shaking his head in mock disbelief. But he only chuckled and added,

"But wrong answer again! You have one minute left!"

Ethan and Mary let out shaky gasps at his words, turning to look at each other as the men around them laughed at their expressions.

I didn't know what they wanted.

I didn't know why they were doing this.

I didn't know what they wanted Ethan to say but whatever it was, it didn't matter.

I was going to die anyway.

I had lost hope.

I had lost the strength to live.

All I wanted now... was to finally die.

"You know what we want to know, Alpha Ethan,"

the masked man drawled, his voice dripping with mockery. "So tell us, and you two can walk away with your limbs. Let your wife know what you did."

His words lingered heavily in the air.

Ethan and Mary both swallowed hard, clearly understanding what he meant and the next second, Ethan squeezed his eyes shut, his hands clenching tightly at his sides. When he opened them again, there was a forced determination in them.

I could feel his gaze turn toward me.

Then he spoke.

Those words.

The words that made something inside me finally snap.

The words I had never, not even in my worst nightmares, imagined he would say...

"Our son... our son's death wasn't your fault..."

His voice trailed off, trembling, before he forced himself to finish.

"It was Mary who pushed him down the stairs... by accident."

The moment those words reached my ears, I finally reacted.

My eyes widened violently, my heart dropping straight into my stomach as I jerked my head up to look at Ethan then at Mary, who lowered her head and cried even harder.

His confession echoed endlessly in my mind, over and over again, drowning out every other sound.

And just as I struggled to even comprehend what I had heard-

The masked man clapped his hands brightly.

"Ding dong! You are correct!"

"Caleb... Caleb, wake up! Mommy is here, Mommy is here, please wake up!"

"You killed your son! If you had been there taking care of him, he wouldn't have died that way! It's all your fault!"

"Caleb fell down the stairs because of you. What kind of mother doesn't look after her son? You're always saying you're busy. Are you busier than my son, the Alpha, himself?! You are not worthy to be the Luna!"

"Why weren't you there to watch over our son? That's why I'm saying you should be like your sister. This is all your fault, Eleanor! All your fault!"

I was in a daze. My mind went blank, my body froze. I couldn't hear anything around me, couldn't see anyone. All that tore through me were those words, sharp and unrelenting, slicing deeper than any blade.

"Our son... our son's death wasn't your fault... It was Mary who pushed him down the stairs... by accident."

Before I could even process it, a tear slipped down my cheek. Then another. And another. My vision blurred as a raw, agonizing pain surged through me. I didn't even realize I was speaking until a breathless whisper escaped my lips, slicing through the tense air.

"W-what did you just say?"

I forced myself to focus, narrowing my eyes on Ethan. He was crying, eyes downcast, refusing to meet mine. The masked men around us didn't move, didn't speak, they simply watched. I waited for Ethan to tell me it had been a mistake, but he didn't.

Mary, beside me, began to stammer, her soft cries piercing the heavy silence.

"E-Eleanor, I-"

Before she could finish, something inside me shattered. A surge of raw strength, of rage, of desperate need for the truth, coursed through me. A scream tore from my chest, wild and unrestrained, as I slammed my hands against the ground, my eyes blazing red.

"I am speaking to you, Ethan! What did you say?! Tell me! Repeat what you've just said!!"

I roared, and he flinched, his eyes snapping to mine as if my fury had caught him completely off guard. As if he hadn't expected me to react that way, even after confessing that my son's death wasn't an accident, as everyone had claimed.

That my five-year-old son hadn't simply fallen down the stairs... he had been shoved. By my twin sister, Mary.

It couldn't be true. No, it couldn't.

That day, I had returned from the meeting Ethan had insisted I attend in his place. When I arrived at the packhouse, everyone was there: my parents, my brothers, my mother-in-law, and Mary with Ethan looking visibly shaken.

I had thought, at first, that they were going to accuse me of doing something to Mary again, that perhaps they were there to yell at me. But then...

"Your son fell down the stairs... by accident. He's dead, and it's all your fault for not watching him"

When I had heard those words, it had felt as though the world itself had stopped. I had desperately hoped, prayed it was a dream, or a cruel joke. But then I saw him: my boy, lifeless and cold on the ground.

And for the first time in my life, I broke completely, sobbing as everyone blamed me.

I had believed them. I had thought it was my fault, that I had been too wrapped up in Ethan's work and had neglected Caleb. Since that day, I had buried myself in more tasks, trying to numb the pain. Caleb had been the only thing keeping me sane, my hope that someday everything would be better.

That had been a month ago.

But now...

"I-I am sorry, Eleanor. I am truly sorry. It was a mistake. Caleb saw Mary and me... being intimate, and when he ran out, Mary tried to stop him but... she pushed him off the stairs by accident. I am sorry."

Now that my husband spoke those words, reality crashed into me, my son's death hadn't been an accident. He had been shoved. Killed. By my sister. And my husband had known all along.

"No..." I whispered, shaking my head, refusing to accept what I was hearing. "You told me it was an accident. Everyone told me it was an accident. Dad, Mom, my brothers, your mother-"

"We all lied!"

Ethan cut me off sharply, his voice rising as he stared at me without a trace of remorse. Only frustration. Only exhaustion. Tears streamed down his face as he yelled,

"We all lied to keep Mary safe! We knew that if you found out, you would hurt your sister. You would never forgive her, so we all agreed to lie and keep it a secret!"

My eyes widened, my mouth falling open in a daze as every word sank into me.

"I- I am sorry, Eleanor. I really didn't mean to, I swear!"

Mary cried out, her voice trembling, and Ethan continued.

"You knew I never loved you. You knew you weren't the one I should have been with. I was sad when my son died too, Eleanor, but Mary is pregnant. She can give me another child. A child from someone I genuinely love, unlike you. Plus..." he whispered, shaking his head, "...it was more or less your fault. If you had been there that day, he wouldn't have died. So don't blame Mary. It is not her fault."

I watched him say all of that so easily. So calmly as he reached up to wipe his tears, drawing in a shaky breath before closing his eyes and opening them again, turning toward the masked man with desperate hope.

"That is what you wanted to hear, right? I- I have said it. Please let me and Mary go. S-she is pregnant... please, let us go."

He pleaded, his voice breaking.

The entire place fell silent.

The masked men didn't laugh. They didn't react. They only stared at Ethan with cold, disdainful eyes.

Then the same masked man from earlier clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Tsk. Alright. Knock them out and take them away."

He ordered casually.

Even without looking at them, I could feel it-the sudden wave of relief that washed over Ethan and Mary. The way their tense shoulders sagged, the way they exhaled like they had just escaped death.

The other masked men grumbled, already stepping forward to obey.

And then...

I laughed.

A slow, antagonizing laugh that crawled out from the deepest, darkest part of me.

My chest hurt. My throat clenched. Yet my laughter only grew louder, sharper, echoing through the silent space as everyone froze and jerked their heads toward me in shock.

Tears streamed down my face, dripping onto the ground, my lips stretching so wide it almost hurt as I laughed and cried at the same time.

All my life, I had always thought that I didn't deserve to be loved. That I was a disappointment. But when the late Alpha asked me to protect his son, I had felt a sense of responsibility.

Yes, I never loved Ethan. All I ever felt toward him was the duty of fulfilling the wish of a dying man.

But now...

Now, all I felt was the urge to kill.

I wanted to kill the man I had sworn to protect.

I wanted to kill the woman who shared the same blood as me.

"I will kill you..."

I whispered shakily, my vision swimming, seeing nothing but red as the last bit of strength surged through me, a suffocating killing intent flooding the air as Ethan's wide eyes met mine.

"E-Eleanor..."

He stammered, stunned.

"I will kill every one of you," I whispered again, my voice breaking, barely able to hold onto my consciousness. "I will kill you... I will kill you!!"

This time, a piercing scream tore from my throat as I lunged forward, taking everyone by surprise. But instead of rushing straight at them, I veered toward one of the masked men. Before he could react, I yanked the sword from his grip and spun-

Straight toward Ethan.

His eyes went impossibly wide as he scrambled back, hands raised in panic.

"E-Eleanor, what are you doing-?!" he screamed.

I raised the sword high above my head, my gaze dazed, empty, like someone who had completely lost her sanity. The blade trembled in my grip as I brought it down toward him, however-

Thud!

A heavy force slammed into me from the side, pinning me to the ground. The sword slipped from my fingers, clattering loudly across the floor, but I didn't stop struggling. I thrashed wildly, reaching out toward him, screaming hoarsely,

"I will kill you! I will kill you!!"

I watched, helplessly, as the masked man on top of me barked orders. I watched as Ethan and Mary were knocked unconscious.

I watched as they were carried away, dragged out of my sight... and still, I didn't stop struggling.

My vision blurred, darkening at the edges as I stretched my hand toward them, as if I could still pull them back and end them myself.

But I couldn't.

I was powerless.

I was weak.

I had told myself that I was strong. That even without a wolf, I had my sword.

I had thought that was enough. Enough to prove that I deserved to be loved too. That I deserved to be seen, just like Mary.

But it had never been enough.

My husband and my twin had an affair.

My twin killed my son.

My family and his mother covered it up... and blamed everything on me.

And now, I was about to meet my end.

Tears flowed helplessly as I continued to struggle against the man pinning me down, my strength fading, my consciousness slipping away.

Yet, even then, I only wanted one thing.

If I was going to die...

Let me avenge my son.

Let me kill them and drag them to hell with me.

Let me have my revenge.

"Do you want revenge?"

Just as my eyes began to flutter shut and my struggling grew weaker, I heard his voice.

Deep. Dry. Emotionless.

Through my fading vision, I heard slow, measured footsteps approaching. Then I saw him-

A man walking toward me, unhurried, steady, as if he had all the time in the world.

The man on top of me immediately stood up and stepped aside the moment he arrived.

The stranger stopped right in front of me and spoke again.

"Do you want them to feel it, that same helplessness... the same crushing despair of watching everything ripped away, piece by piece, just as you do now? Tell me, Eleanor Blackwell... just how far can you go for revenge?"

His voice echoed in my ears.

Even through the haze clouding my mind, I didn't hesitate.

My voice slipped out, soft, barely audible.

"Revenge... I-I want revenge. Anything... I will do anything."

I gasped weakly, my trembling hand reaching toward his shoes as another tear slid down my cheek.

Please... let me have my revenge.

I wanted to say it aloud, but my lips refused to move.

And then-

The man crouched down.

He leaned closer, cold, empty eyes staring down at me, and when I managed to catch a clear glimpse of his face, everything inside me went cold.

It was him.

The air around us shifted. The entire space fell into a suffocating, deadly silence as the corners of his lips slowly curved upward.

A smile.

One that didn't quite reach his eyes.

One that looked like the devil himself had carved it onto his face.

"I will help you get your revenge," he said softly.

Those were the last words I heard before darkness swallowed me whole.

And as everything faded away, another voice, faint, distant, from five years ago, slid back into my mind.

"I want you to protect my second son, Ethan. Be his wife and marry him, please... I need you to protect him from his older brother, Alexander