Ever since Alpha Griffin and Alpha Xavier discovered they were fated to share one mate, their rivalry had only grown fiercer.
It became another spark in the fire that had always burned between them- an unending blaze of pride, power, and hatred.
Their feud had begun long before they became the respected and powerful Alpha princes they were now.
Some said it was inherited from the deep hatred between their packs; others believed it was born from their own unrelenting need to outshine one another in everything... dominance, fame, leadership, and glory within the wolf world.
Yet, for all their rage and competition, it had never reached the bloodshed of their ancestors who once slaughtered each other without hesitation for the throne of the strongest Alpha.
Still, Griffin and Xavier could never stand each other's presence. They couldn't share the same air, couldn't last a moment in the same room.
And yet, despite every reason it should have been impossible, there they were, dragged into one room by the mate they were both bound to.
The control they had clung to for so long was breaking.
A bond they believed that was forged by the Moon Goddess was agony for any wolf kept from their mate... especially during a mating season like the one that had just begun that night.
It tore through them like a fever, demanding in every cruel way possible.
Against their own will, they stood on opposite sides of the wide bed, bodies tense, every breath uneven.
They were about to do something they had never imagined, sleep in the same bed and share a mate... something they could never confess to their packs even though they knew their packs; the elders and their fathers- the fierce old Alphas- were all waiting for them to find their destined mates and finally take the throne.
At the age of twenty, as Alpha princes, they were expected to have already done so.
And they had.
But it was something they could never reveal, because their packs would never allow it, and neither would their pride.
But as much as they hated the idea of sharing anything, let alone a mate, neither was willing to give up the one the Moon Goddess had chosen for them- or so they believed.
Aria, their mate, lay between them. Her eyes flicked from one Alpha to the other, as though silently pleading for them to stop fighting and accept what fate had forced upon them.
But neither Griffin nor Xavier moved to meet that silent plea. Their gazes were locked, sharp and stubborn, daring the other to act first.
Griffin tugged at his black shirt, already unbuttoned halfway. His usual composure was gone; the perfection that marked every move of his had dissolved under the weight of the moment.
Each motion was slow, the kind that could stop breath mid-chest. One by one, the buttons came undone. His eyes never left Xavier... burning and provoking.
Xavier's glare, sharp and brimming with fury, faltered as he watched Griffin's fingers move.
The anger that had filled his chest wavered beneath the heat stirring in its place, something he didn't know how to name.
His jaw clenched, but his pulse betrayed him, hammering faster with every inch of skin revealed.
When Griffin finally let the shirt fall from his shoulders, it slid down his arms and dropped to the floor without a sound.
Xavier's breath caught.
His eyes followed the motion, tracing the ripple of muscle and the play of light across Griffin's skin.
He hated that he couldn't look away.
His hands moved before he realized it, tugging at his own shirt, movements quicker, fueled by defiance rather than grace. Yet even so, Griffin's gaze followed him... watching, studying, drawn despite himself to the lines of pale skin now exposed.
Xavier's body was lean, muscled, yet not as broad or sculpted as Griffin's. His skin was lighter, making Griffin's darker tone stand out sharper, stronger, more defined.
The difference burned between them like open flame, impossible to ignore, impossible to resist. The air grew hotter, heavier, thick with the scent of dominance and restrained need.
"There's no need for us to share a bed the three of us," Xavier said at last, his voice vibrating through the tension, low and controlled.
His eyes never shifted from Griffin's. "One takes the first place, another the second."
"You're right," Griffin replied, "And since you're the one who suggested that... Why don't we stop wasting time? Leave, and come back later. Take the second place."
"Just because I suggested it doesn't mean I should be the one taking the second place." Xavier's voice sank lower, the edge of control thinning with every word.
He stepped closer to the bed. Heat shimmered off his skin, faint glints of sweat forming on his skin, the raw scent of need filled in the air.
The season was digging into him, stripping away restraint, dragging out the beast that lived beneath his calm.
"Then why did you suggest it at all?!" Griffin's snapped, his tone breaking into a growl as he moved into the bed too.
"Stop fighting… please." Aria's soft voice cut through the storm of dominance and desire.
Her body shifted slightly, caught between their opposing energy, unable to bear the heat pressing in on both sides.
Her words were a plea, but the act was perfect... too perfect. Her lashes lowered just enough to hide the flicker of amusement in her eyes, the small, knowing curve of her lips that didn't belong to a desperate mate but to someone watching her plan unfold exactly as intended.
Something neither Alpha noticed. They were too caught up in each other.