The Merchant They All Betrayed , Now They're Begging

My brother was the kind of wolf who thought himself above the frost and snow. The Crown Alpha, the she-wolf every bloodline heir in the realm would kill to be mated to? He found the whole thing beneath him.

He rogue-bonded with a traveling performer from a wandering pack instead.

Me, though? I was the vulgar one.

After I mated into the Ashenveil Pack in my brother's place, I spent every waking hour tallying moon-coins and building trade routes.

In just one year, the Crown Alpha's territory overflowed with gold and resources, her trading packs spanning the entire Cindervane Realm.

Even the old gate-warden ate fresh meat three times a moon cycle.

The Crown Alpha declared before everyone:

"Meeting Ashton Duskborne was the greatest fortune of my life."

Trade was booming. Then my brother came back, alone, with nothing but a worn cloth bundle on his back. His scent hit me before I saw him — jasmine oil and old vellum and something cloying underneath, like overripe plums left too long in the sun. Sweeter than I remembered. Sicker.

He jabbed a finger at my face:

"A wolf who reeks of commerce like you, and you think you deserve to be the Crown Alpha's consort?

"You've turned this entire territory into a den of greed! Have you given a single thought to the Crown Alpha's reputation?"

With that, he dropped to his knees before the Crown Alpha:

"My brother is crude and unworthy. He has tarnished Your Highness's good name! I am willing to take over the household and restore dignity to this territory!"

The Crown Alpha looked at my brother's refined, austere face. His wolf was striking in the way moon-singers always were — lean and silver-pale, built for beauty rather than battle.

Her cheeks flushed.

"Granted."

A bond rejection decree landed on the table.

I became the laughingstock of Moonhaven.

I didn't argue. Didn't make a scene. I packed my things and left like I was told.

So why did they all come begging me to come back?

……

When Crown Alpha Rowena Ashenveil said "Granted,"

I was caught off guard.

I had rolled up my sleeves and poured myself into running her territory for an entire year.

She had praised me more than once in front of others.

She said I was the greatest fortune of her life.

And now, after one look at my brother's face,

she was ready to hand him everything?

Edric slid me a sidelong glance, dripping with contempt.

It was always like this.

He had been a prodigy with ceremonial howls and moon-verse since we were pups.

All I ever knew was arithmetic, the lowly craft of trade-route wolves.

Every time he dazzled a gathering with some effortless verse, he would turn and give me that same look. That quiet, cutting dismissal.

I always assumed he would stay up on that pedestal forever.

But now, staring at his threadbare bundle, catching the faint sourness beneath the jasmine — the smell of a wolf who hadn't eaten well in a long time —

I wasn't so sure.

The steward's seal passed into his hands.

He straightened his spine and swept an arm toward the carved beams and painted pillars I had commissioned for the den:

"Rosewood and gilded wolves! This kind of gaudy excess is exactly why the territory has gone to ruin! Tear it all down within three days!

"Replace every piece with jade panels, carved with cranes, to reflect the dignity befitting a Crown Alpha's household!"

I swallowed hard.

Swapping everything for jade would cost ten times what the rosewood and gold had.

The house steward winced:

"Sir, we don't have enough moon-coins for that."

"How can the Crown Alpha's territory not have enough!"

Edric Duskborne's brows drew together like a blade.

"Sir, the vault has always been managed by the consort. Everything was under his control."

"Ha."

Edric's expression shifted to one of grim understanding:

"The entire territory's wealth was in the hands of someone as base as Ashton? Ashton, you've treated the Crown Alpha like she doesn't exist!"

"Guards."

Rowena's voice was ice:

"Hand over the consort's vault keys to Edric Duskborne."

I stared at her.

I had thought this was a passing whim. I hadn't imagined she truly intended to give my brother everything I had built.

The gold and moon-coins I had earned for this territory over the past year filled the vault floor to ceiling.

The moment the doors swung open, the blinding glare of gold forced Edric back two steps.

Something flickered in his eyes. My wolf stirred, low and wary, pressing against the inside of my ribs. It had caught what I caught — that flash of hunger beneath the performance.

He smothered it quickly, replacing it with disgust:

"So this is the source of the rot! This is what turned the Crown Alpha's territory into a den of vulgar excess!"

He spun around and threw himself to his knees before Rowena:

"Ashton hoarded all of this for his own indulgence, with no regard for the Crown Alpha's reputation or dignity! What kind of wolf does that?"