CHAPTER 2: THE TWIN ULTIMATUM

ELENA

"Faster!" I screamed, slamming my hands against the back of the taxi’s seat. "Please, just step on it!"

The human driver glared at me through the rearview mirror, but the raw terror in my voice—and my shredded shirt held together by my trembling fingers—must have convinced him. He stomped on the gas, the tires splashing through the deep puddles of the human slums.

My chest heaved. The hungry burn of Kaelen’s lips still branded my mouth. My skin was tingling with the residual energy of the mate-bond. I wanted to throw up from the sheer adrenaline.

The locket.

I reached up again, my fingers desperately brushing my bare collarbone. Nothing. Just the broken metal loop where the chain used to be. Inside that silver heart were two tiny photos of Leo and Lily. They had his silver eyes. Anyone could look at them and know they belonged to the Lycan King.

"No, no, no," I whimpered, rocking back and forth.

If Kaelen found out he had heirs, he wouldn't just take them; he would lock me in a golden cage forever to breed more pure-blood pups. Lycans valued bloodline above everything. To them, children were power. And to Kaelen, I was the mate who had dared to run.

The taxi screeched to a halt in front of a crumbling, grey apartment complex on the edge of Sector 4. I threw a crumpled fifty-dollar bill at the driver, not waiting for change, and threw myself out into the pouring rain.

I sprinted up the three flights of stairs, my lungs burning. My hands shook so violently I dropped my keys twice before finally bursting through the door of my small, drafty apartment.

"Mommy!"

Two tiny streaks of lightning collided with my knees. Lily, her bright silver eyes wide with innocence, wrapped her arms around my leg. Leo, her twin brother, stood just behind her, his tiny brow furrowed in a scowl that looked terrifyingly identical to the man who had just pinned me against a wall.

"Elena? Oh my god, what happened to you?" Mrs. Gable, our elderly human neighbor who babysat for me, stood up from the worn-out sofa, her eyes darting to my torn clothes.

"We have to leave," I gasped, my voice cracking. I grabbed a duffel bag from the closet and began shoving their clothes inside. "Right now. Mrs. Gable, thank you, but you need to go home. Please. It's not safe."

"Is it... him?" she whispered, knowing the vague shadows of my past.

I couldn't answer. I just nodded, tears mixing with the rainwater dripping from my hair.

As Mrs. Gable hurried out, I scooped both of my three-year-olds into my arms. They were heavy, but adrenaline made me strong. I didn't know where we were going. A bus to the southern human wastes? A boat across the border? Anywhere. Just anywhere away from the King.

I reached for the doorknob to leave.

Before my fingers could touch the brass, the wood exploded inward.

A massive, black-suited Beta enforcer stood in the doorway, his chest blocking the entire frame. Behind him, the narrow hallway was completely lined with Kaelen’s elite guards.

"Going somewhere, Luna?" the Beta asked, his voice completely devoid of emotion.

I stumbled back into the living room, clutching Leo and Lily tightly against my chest. They whimpered, burying their faces into my neck. I looked toward the fire escape window, but another guard was already stepping through it, his golden eyes glowing in the dark room.

We were surrounded. There was no escape.

The guards suddenly parted, stepping aside and bowing their heads in unison.

Heavy, slow footsteps echoed in the hallway. The scent of rain, blood, and the dominant Lycan scent flooded my tiny apartment, suffocating me. Kaelen stepped through the ruined doorway. His suit jacket was gone, his white dress shirt stained with a circle of crimson blood where I had stabbed him. The wound was already healed, leaving only a tear in the fabric.

In his massive, calloused hand, dangling from a broken silver chain, was my locket.

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KAELEN

My shoulder still burned from the silver spike she had driven into me. It wasn't the physical pain that angered me—it was the fact that my little human mate still had enough fight in her to make me bleed.

I looked down at the tiny silver locket crushed in my palm.

When she had fled into the rain, I had been ready to tear the city apart stone by stone to bring her back. But then I saw what was trapped in the clasp of the necklace.

I snapped the locket open with my thumb. Two tiny faces stared back at me. A boy and a girl. They had her delicate human nose, but their eyes—their eyes were the piercing, unmistakable silver of my royal bloodline.

My pups.

A roar of pure, possessive fury and primal pride had ripped from my chest, shattering the windows of the VIP lounge. She hadn't just run from me. She had stolen my legacy. She had hidden my children in the dirt of the human slums.

Now, I stood in her pathetic, cramped living room.

Elena backed away from me, her pale face frozen in terror. She was holding them, My wolve howled inside my mind, demanding I claim all three of them right here, right now.

I stepped closer, my heavy boots thudding against the cheap floor. I let my dominant aura flare, filling the room until her knees trembled.

"You hid them from me," I growled, my voice dropping dangerously low register that it made my own guards flinch.

"You rejected me!" Elena yelled back, her voice shaking but her eyes fierce as she shielded the twins with her body. "You told me a human was useless to your pack! You didn't want me!"

"I did what I had to do to keep you alive while I slaughtered my enemies," I roared, stepping directly into her space. I towered over her, my shadow swallowing her completely. "But the war is over. I am the King now. And nobody steals from the King."

I reached out, my large hand gently but firmly cupping the back of the little boy's head. Leo peered up at me, his tiny nostrils flaring as he sniffed my scent. He didn't cry. He bared his tiny, growing pup fangs at me in a defensive growl.

A dark, proud smirk twisted my lips. Definitely my son.

"What are you going to do to us?" Elena whispered, tears finally overflowing her beautiful eyes. Her soft body was pressed against mine again, and despite my fury, my blood instantly turned to liquid fire. The need to pin her down and remind her who she belonged to was nearly overwhelming.

I leaned down until my lips brushed her ear, my hot breath making her shiver.

"Pack your things, Elena," I purred, my hand moving from the boy's head to grip the back of her soft neck, forcing her to look into my golden eyes. "You and my heirs are moving into the royal palace tonight. And tomorrow, you become my Queen. You won't b

e leaving my bed for a very, very long time."