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: