The Second Choice

INARA'S POV

I never thought I’d be standing in Alpha Grayson Ansel’s private chambers wearing my sister’s wedding gown.

The silk still carried a faint trace of Liora’s favorite jasmine perfume, but it felt wrong on my skin—like I was sliding into someone else’s life and hoping no one would notice the seams. 

My heart hammered so hard I was sure the guards outside could hear it. Two days. That’s all it took for my sister to destroy everything and leave me holding the broken pieces.

“Inara, you have to do this,” Mom had whispered earlier, her fingers digging into my arms like she was afraid I’d bolt too. “Your father and I… the pack elders… we can’t survive Alpha Grayson’s wrath. The alliance will collapse. Please, sweetheart. Just until things settle.”

As if “things” ever settled with a man like Grayson Ansel.

I’d admired him for years. Secretly, stupidly, from the edges of pack gatherings where I thought no one saw me staring. 

The way he moved—like a storm barely contained in human form. Those broad shoulders, the sharp cut of his jaw, the silver flecks in his dark eyes that seemed to see straight through lies. 

He was dangerously handsome. The kind of sexy that made my wolf pace restlessly even when I told her to behave. But he was never supposed to be mine. He was supposed to be Liora’s. The golden twin. The chosen one.

Now here I was. The replacement.

The heavy door creaked open behind me. I spun around, my breath catching.

Grayson filled the doorway like he owned the air itself. Tall, imposing, his black tunic stretched across a chest that looked carved from battle and moonlight. His dark hair was messy, like he’d dragged angry fingers through it more than once. 

That rich scent of pine, storm, and something darker—wild and forbidden—rolled over me, making my stomach flip.

His silver eyes locked on me. Cold. Flat. No spark of recognition. Just extreme irritation.

“So,” he said, voice low and rough like gravel under boots. “The second twin. They really expect me to accept this… consolation prize.”

Ouch. Straight to the heart.

I lifted my chin, refusing to let him see how much that stung. “My name is Inara Vallon. And I wasn’t exactly thrilled about being dragged here either, Alpha.”

He stepped inside, kicking the door shut with his heel. The sound echoed like a final nail in a coffin. 

He circled me slowly, assessing, and I felt every inch of his gaze like a physical touch. My wolf whimpered softly inside me, wanting to lean closer even as my human pride screamed to stand tall.

“You agreed to this,” he said, stopping right in front of me. Too close. Heat radiated off his body, and I had to tilt my head back to meet his eyes. “Your parents practically shoved you at my feet to save their own skins. Pathetic.”

I narrowed my eyes. “They didn’t shove me. They asked. And I said yes because walking away would’ve meant war between our packs. Unlike my sister, I actually care about what happens to our people.”

A muscle jumped in his jaw. Good. At least I’d gotten some reaction.

Grayson exhaled sharply, turning away to pour himself a glass of dark liquor from the side table. He didn’t offer me any. Of course he didn’t. “Liora ran off with some worthless rogue two days after the ceremony. Two days. The entire alliance watched me stand there like a fool while she humiliated us all.” His grip tightened on the glass until I thought it might shatter. “Now I’m stuck with you. A pale shadow meant to smile pretty and pretend everything’s fine.”

His words hurt more than I wanted to admit. I’d spent years watching him from afar, imagining what it would feel like if those intense eyes actually saw me. 

Not as the quiet twin. Not as the spare. But right now, he was looking at me like I was an inconvenience he had to tolerate.

I crossed my arms, trying to ignore how my pulse raced every time he moved. “I’m not Liora. I won’t try to be her. But I’m not going to shrink and play the silent, obedient Luna either. You need this alliance as much as we do, Alpha. So maybe stop treating me like dirt under your boot and we might both survive this.”

He turned back to me slowly, one dark eyebrow raised. For a second, something flickered in his gaze—surprise? Amusement? It was gone too fast to tell. 

He took a step closer, then another, until I could see the faint scar that cut through his left eyebrow. My breath hitched.

“You have fire,” he murmured, almost to himself. “More than your sister ever showed.” Then his expression hardened again. 

“But fire means nothing if you can’t hold up your end. You will stand by my side in public. You will act the part of Luna. And in private…” His eyes dropped to my lips for the briefest second before snapping back up. “You will not expect tenderness from me. This is a contract. Nothing more.”

My cheeks burned, but I held his stare. “I’m not expecting anything from you, Grayson. Least of all tenderness.”

Something shifted in the air between us. His scent thickened, wrapping around me, and my wolf pushed forward eagerly, drawn to the raw power rolling off him. 

I could almost taste the curse that clung to him—an ancient, bitter shadow that kept him from sensing a true mate. It made him even more isolated. Even more unreachable.

He stared at me for a long moment, like he was trying to figure me out. Then he turned sharply toward the window overlooking the moonlit training grounds. 

“The Luna Welcoming Ritual is in three nights. You’ll participate. Smile for the elders. Convince them this replacement isn’t a complete disaster. After that… we’ll see.”

Three nights. My stomach twisted. The ritual was supposed to bind a new Luna to the pack’s magic. What would happen when they realized I wasn’t the originally chosen twin? What if the moon rejected me?

Grayson glanced back at me, his expression unreadable. “You’re dismissed for now. Get some rest. You look like you need it.”

Dismissed. Like a servant.

I bit back a retort, nodding stiffly before heading for the door. My hand had just touched the handle when his voice stopped me.

“Inara.”

I paused, not turning around.

“Don’t make me regret this any more than I already do.”

The words landed like a slap. I pulled the door open and stepped into the hallway, my heart pounding so hard I felt dizzy. The guards didn’t meet my eyes as I walked past, but I could feel their curiosity burning into my back.

Back in the temporary room they’d given me, still decorated with Liora’s favorite colors, of course—I sank onto the edge of the bed and pressed my hands to my flushed cheeks.

What the hell had I gotten myself into?

Grayson Ansel was colder than I’d ever imagined. Grumpier. Meaner. But that brief flicker in his eyes when I sassed him back… the way his scent had wrapped around me like it belonged there…

I groaned and flopped backward onto the pillows, staring at the ceiling. My wolf was practically purring at the memory of his closeness, the idiot. 

She didn’t care that we were the unwanted substitute. She only cared that we were finally near the Alpha we’d secretly wanted for years.

Tomorrow would be worse. I’d have to stand beside him in front of the pack. Pretend I belonged. Pretend my heart wasn’t already tangled up in a man who saw me as nothing but a painful reminder of his humiliation.

But I wasn’t going to run like Liora. I was going to make him see me.

Even if it destroyed me in the process.

My eyes drifted shut, but sleep wouldn’t come. Not when I could still feel the ghost of his gaze on my skin and the heavy weight of his final words hanging over me like a storm cloud.

Don’t make me regret this any more than I already do.

What would happen when the ritual began in three nights? Would the ancient magic expose me as a fraud… or reveal something far more dangerous?

I had a terrible feeling I was about to find out.