Page 35 of Framed and Forgotten (Ashen Wolves #3)

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K O E N

Everything was going according to plan - until it wasn’t.

After cornering Nerine, I was ready to start my interrogation.

She had nowhere to run to. No one to save her.

No lie to hide behind as I exposed every single one of them.

I would get the truth out of her, even if I had to torture her.

But, just as I opened my mouth, the only scenario I hadn’t prepared for disrupted my meticulous plan.

Suddenly, the quiet of the hollow lands was pierced by a sharp cry, making my heart jump.

I knew it was her. Alert, I spun around to see Kea slamming into the dirt, twisting and writhing in agony.

The sight destroyed my control, my heart hammering as my focus zeroed in on her.

I was ready to rush to her when a figure came in a blur, blocking my path toward her.

My twin.

“What’s the rush, brother?” he said with a smirk, arms crossed in front of his chest. “In a few minutes, you’ll be dead. Might as well enjoy the last few moments of your life.”

I couldn’t begin to understand what he meant - nor did I care to.

My only priority was getting to Avril, even if I had to run him over.

Then, Kea stopped thrashing, her body going limp.

Col clawed to take over, and I nearly let him.

I almost gave in to the bone-deep panic, but something in me held firm.

I looked again, forcing myself to focus.

She was alive. Unconscious, but not hurt.

“We need to go!” my wolf urged.

It took everything in me to contradict him.

“No. We don’t know exactly what we’re up against. If we run straight to her and it’s a trap, we’re done.

She’s done,” I said, a cold rush running through me as fear settled in.

“We’re the only ones who can protect her right now - and we protect her best by keeping our heads. ”

Before he could argue, Nerine desperately chimed in, “No! That wasn’t our deal!” she complained fearfully. “Koen lives - he’s supposed to be mine! You promised!” she insisted, making me question just how fucked up she was.

“You can kill her ,” she added viciously, pointing at Kea, and that nearly made me lose it. My teeth cracked as Col surged beneath the surface, desperate to tear out the bitch’s throat. Again, I held him back - as much as I despised Nerine, I didn’t wish to leave Elias without a mother.

“Change of plans, blondie,” he huffed, gesturing with his head toward my mate. “Don’t you see it? She’s one of them.”

From the corner of my eye, I watched Nerine frown before her eyes gradually widened.

She hadn’t noticed it before, but from Kea’s size to her coat color, everything about her appearance betrayed the truth of who she was.

And as I let that crucial realization sink in, I froze.

In that moment, my stomach sank as I sensed the weight of Avril’s burden upon my shoulders.

Now that Nerine and my twin knew what Avril was, they had become liabilities.

And it was on me to eliminate them.

As I tried to rearrange my plan in a blink, Kael went on, “This one gets to live - at least until boss renders her useless.” He shrugged casually, as if he hadn’t just shown no regard for my mate’s life.

“And my brother… Well, I lied.” Nerine gasped beside him, stunned and betrayed, but he didn’t even glance at her.

Completely ignoring her reaction, his grin curled.

“There was no way I’d ever let him just walk away. ”

“I don’t know what the hell you two want, and I don’t care,” I started, shaking with anger. It took all of my strength to keep my wolf at bay when all he wanted was to destroy everyone in our path. “You better stay the fuck away from my mate.”

Kael scoffed. “Still playing hero for that little omega?” His smile twisted. “Except she’s not just any omega, is she? She’s a fucking Ashen Wolf,” he announced, and my jaw clenched. “That’s rich. You really know how to pick your poison, brother.”

A loud growl rumbled in my chest. I was done listening, and Col had run out of patience.

He crawled to the surface and stole control, lunging at our brother without hesitation.

Kael’s eyes lit up with a sinister thrill as he shifted mid-strike, rolling to the side to evade Col.

My beast honed his claws, muscles tightening with brutal purpose.

I could read his intent as if it were my own.

“Don’t!” I warned through gritted teeth, clinging to a thin thread of rationality. “We can’t go all out. It’s bad enough they know about Avril. We can’t risk them learning what we’ve become.”

“What’s it matter if we’re killing them both anyway?” Col snarled, but his posture soon shifted as his ears twitched, catching a sound beneath the clash of our confrontation.

Nerine was speaking into a phone, frantic and desperate.

I couldn’t catch everything, but one thing definitely stood out: Ashen Wolf .

Even if we silenced her now, the damage was done.

The secret had already spread past these two.

We couldn’t afford to offer the world any more information on our kind.

Col growled, frustrated but resigned. Using our abilities would allow us to get this over with faster, which meant rescuing Avril and leading her away from danger. Still, he wasn’t exactly opposed to the idea of punishing the one who’d harmed our mate using only a fraction of our true power.

“Easy there, brother,” a voice echoed inside my head, startling me.

It was like my own conscience, but not quite. I only grasped it when I stared back at the white wolf in front of me, a mirror of Col. Of course, it was Kael, reaching into my mind through mindlink. Even if I’d never known about his existence, we shared the same blood - and thus, a family bond.

“Sit back and relax a little, won’t you?” Kael went on, the simple sound of his voice making me itch. “I’ve waited my whole life for this moment. I even have a speech planned! Now, be a good brother and-”

Col didn’t let him finish. With a feral roar, he leapt forward, claws outstretched and ready to strike. As he slammed into Kael like a ram, the impact sent both wolves tumbling through the dirt in a tangle of limbs and fury, snarling and snapping.

We tried to land a bite to his throat, but Kael twisted away, just out of reach. Using our momentum, he shoved us off with a growl, and we skidded back, dust rising between us as both wolves squared off again. The distance between only sharpened the thickening tension.

“Always the killjoy,” Kael spat, pacing to the side. There was a flicker of irritation beneath his mockery. “You’re no fun, are you?”

“Are you here to talk or to fight?” I finally replied, coolly.

“Both,” he replied, far too casual for the blood in his eyes. “We’ve got a lot of catching up to do, don’t we? I thought you’d have questions. Don’t you want answers?”

Col’s ears flicked, but his gaze stayed sharp, never leaving Kael. “Alright,” I agreed at last, my voice low, methodical. “Shoot.”

A spark of triumph lit Kael’s eyes. I hated it - hated that he got what he wanted from me. As he stepped into a slow circle, Col matched him step for step, the two wolves locked in a dance of predators.

“Thank you,” Kael barked mockingly. “See? You can be polite. So, as a token of my appreciation, here’s one truth: you’re right. Elias isn’t your son.”

Col faltered, but he covered it quickly. I’d suspected for some time. That didn’t mean hearing it didn’t hurt. As brief and complicated as my fatherhood had been, I had nurtured feelings for Nerine’s pup.

“He’s mine,” Kael went on, oblivious to the emotions I’d managed to mask.

“And no, you and Nerine never actually did anything. Not even with the drugs in your system. You couldn’t stomach her, even at your weakest. Pathetic, huh?

” He laughed. “I get it, though. Between us, psychotic obsessed Barbies? Not exactly my thing either.”

“Still, you laid with her until you got her pregnant,” I snapped.

“I wouldn’t have had to if you’d done your part. But no, you had to leave the real work to me.” His voice was dripping with venom now. “Elias was necessary. He was the bait. The hook to reel you back to her.”

“If that’s the case,” I asked tightly, “why hide his existence from me for so long?”

“To make it believable,” he said simply, like it was obvious. “Would you have bought the story if she’d shown up with a baby bump? No, we needed the whole crazy-ex-wife-turned-saint arc to sell the lie.”

I exhaled harshly, shaking my head. “That’s a hell of a long con.”

“Unlike you, I’m patient,” he boasted. “We were going to wait even longer, but then we heard about you marking that omega. That changed everything. The longer you bonded with her, the less effective the love potions would’ve been. We had to move quickly. Thankfully, I’m good at adapting.”

“So all of this…” I scoffed. “Was to help Nerine achieve her twisted fantasy of ending up with me?”

Kael broke into a fit of laughter. “You think this was for her ? Oh no, brother. Nerine was just one of my many pawns. A means to an end.”

“My plans go far deeper than that,” he said, his voice darkening. “My revenge started years ago, when I came of age and learned who I really was. The first thing I did was hunt down our father.” He paused, just for a moment before delivering another revelation, “And I killed him.”

My breath caught. I couldn’t say I mourned my old man - he was a cruel bastard who deserved everything he got. Still, after years spent wondering which of his enemies had finally taken him down, I never imagined it could’ve been his own son.

Kael’s wolf tilted his head, eyes gleaming. “What, no tears? No outrage?”

I found my voice. “He was a tyrant. He got what he deserved.”

Kael snarled. “So much for loyalty. I might’ve been the better son, but he still chose you.”

“ Maybe he saw what you’d become,” I said. “A psychopath in the making.”

“I was stronger!” Kael barked. “I should’ve been the one to lead!” A grim smile tugged at my lips. Good. I hit a nerve. He recovered fast, though. “At least I wouldn’t have let Whispering Hills fall.”

Those words landed with a different weight. They were sharp, surgical. Too accurate. And then he confirmed what I already feared.

“Ever wonder how you survived the attack, brother? The lone alpha, the last one standing?” he mocked. “Bet you thought it was because you were the strongest, didn’t you?”

My heart slowed. Col tensed beneath my skin.

“You survived because I wanted you to,” Kael revealed with a grin. “I pulled the strings. Orchestrated the attack. Made sure you lived. It was all part of the plan.”

I said nothing. I couldn’t. Shock churned in my gut like poison.

“Finally - a reaction!” Kael crowed, delighted.

“So, there you have it. The grand plan. First, strip you of everything. Then, get you back with Nerine. That would restore your claim over Whispering Hills, Midnight Sun, and Crystal Pond. Once you were at the top again, I’d kill you and take your place.

Your name, your power, your pack. Everything you built, I’d claim as mine. ”

I stared at him, breath shallow. The sheer madness of it all - how long he’d been planning, how far he was willing to go. My twin brother was completely deranged.

“You’re sick,” I muttered. “You could’ve killed me years ago. Why go through all of this?”

He shrugged with maddening calm. “Because it wouldn’t have been nearly as fun. Making you lose everything - your father, your pack, your mate … That was the icing on the cake!”

Before I could process the insanity of it all, Kael’s grin returned, colder this time. “But since you’ve become a liability, I might as well kill you now.”

Without warning, he lunged. Col, ever watchful, reacted in an instant, crashing into him midair. The earth beneath shuddered as the two beasts collided, the weight of an ancient prophecy unleashed.

From the moment twin alphas were born, they were fated to fight - and neither of us would stop until one lay dead.