The forest was a world of white and grey.
Snow muffled the sound of hooves.
The hunting party spread out among the ancient pines.
Their breath made clouds in the frozen air.
Ace rode near the front.
He was a good hunter.
Fast, quiet, with sharp eyes.
But today, his mind wasn’t on the deer.
He looked at the blue thread on his bow.
It fluttered with each movement.
*May the Goddess protect you both.*
Why had he done that?
Jade’s words played in his head.
*Older brothers are supposed to protect the younger ones.*
It was a trick.
It had to be.
A way to make them lower their guard.
To look kind and caring in front of everyone.
But it hadn’t felt like a performance.
The way he’d tied the charm…
it was careful.
Almost gentle.
Ace shook his head, scattering the thoughts like snow.
He couldn’t afford to be soft.
Not now.
He saw a movement between the trees.
A flash of brown.
A deer.
He nocked an arrow silently.
He raised his bow.
He took aim.
Just as he was about to loose the arrow, another shot rang out.
*Twang!*
An arrow flew past his line of sight.
It struck the deer cleanly in the heart.
The animal stumbled and fell.
Ace lowered his bow, annoyed.
He looked to see who had stolen his kill.
Alex rode out from the trees on his tall, black horse.
He met Ace’s glare with a calm look.
“You were hesitating,” he said simply.
“I wasn’t hesitating!
I was aiming!”
“You were thinking,” Alex corrected.
He guided his horse over to the fallen deer.
“Today is not a day for thinking.
Today is for hunting.
Focus.”
Ace gritted his teeth.
He hated when Alex was right.
They tied the deer to Alex’s saddle.
They rode deeper into the forest.
The other hunters were spread out.
Ace could hear distant shouts, the barking of dogs.
The competition was on.
The greatest harvest would win the Winter Goddess’s favor.
His mother had won every year since she became Duchess.
They hunted for hours.
The cold seeped into their bones.
They brought down two more deer and a large snow hare.
At midday, they stopped by a frozen stream to rest.
They built a small fire and shared dried meat and water.
Alex cleaned his knife in the snow.
He looked at the blue thread on his sword.
“He is clever,” Alex said quietly.
Ace looked up from the fire.
“Who?”
“Jade.” Alex sheathed his knife.
“His apology was better than ours.
He didn’t just accept it.
He reframed it.
He made himself the older brother.
He placed himself in our family.
In front of everyone.”
Ace hadn’t thought of it that way.
His anger came back, hot and sharp.
“So it *was* a trick!”
“Maybe,” Alex said.
He wasn’t looking at Ace.
He was staring into the forest.
“Or maybe it was the truth.
Maybe he sees it that way.
He has no one else here.
No family.
No friends.
Only enemies.
Perhaps in his mind, we *are* the only brothers he has.”
“That’s stupid,” Ace muttered.
He poked the fire with a stick.
“He’s here to take everything from you.”
“He can try,” Alex said.
His voice was calm, but there was steel underneath.
“But he is alone.
And we are not.”
He stood up, brushing snow from his cloak.
“We should head back.
The others will be returning soon.”
They packed up and mounted their horses.
They began the ride back to the castle, their kills tied behind them.
As they neared the edge of the forest, they heard a sound.
It was a low, pained whimper.
They exchanged a glance and turned their horses toward the sound.
In a small clearing, they found a wolf.
It was a big, grey northern wolf.
But it was hurt.
Its back leg was caught in a rusty, old metal trap.
The trap was not one of theirs.
It was old, from poachers maybe.
The wolf had been struggling.
The snow around it was stained red.
The wolf saw them.
It bared its teeth.
A weak, silent snarl.
“It’s going to die out here,” Ace said.
The trap was cruel.
The leg was broken.
Alex dismounted.
“We can’t leave it.”
“It’s a wolf.
It’ll try to bite you.”
“It’s in pain,” Alex said.
He walked toward the wolf slowly, his hands open and low.
“We have a responsibility.”
Ace sighed and got off his horse.
“You and your stupid responsibility.”
They approached the wolf together.
It watched them with fearful, intelligent eyes.
It was scared.
It was hurting.
Alex spoke to it in a low, soothing voice.
“Easy.
We’re going to help.”
Ace moved around to the side.
He had to open the trap.
It was rusted shut.
He had to use his knife as a lever.
The wolf flinched and snapped at the air near Ace’s hand.
“Hold still, you stupid mutt,” Ace grumbled.
He put more pressure on the knife.
The metal jaws creaked.
With a final, hard push, the trap sprang open.
The wolf yanked its leg free.
It scrambled back, limping badly.
It stood a few feet away, panting, watching them.
It didn’t run.
It just stood there, head low.
Alex took a piece of dried meat from his pouch.
He tossed it gently toward the wolf.
The wolf sniffed the air.
After a long moment, it limped forward.
It took the meat quickly, then turned and vanished into the trees.
Ace looked at the bloody trap in the snow.
“That was a waste of time.
We could have been hunting.”
“Sometimes the hunt isn’t about what you kill,” Alex said, getting back on his horse.
“Sometimes it’s about what you choose to save.”
They rode out of the forest and back toward the castle.
The festival lights glowed in the gathering dusk.
When they reached the courtyard, the other hunters were already back.
Their kills were laid out on display.
Deer, boar, birds.
Duke Aster and Lady Roseline stood on the steps, judging the harvest.
Ace and Alex added their deer to the pile.
It was a good haul.
But Lord Kalgen had a massive boar.
He looked very pleased with himself.
The Omegas gathered, waiting to see who would win the Goddess’s favor.
Who would receive the greatest offering.
Jade stood with them, his hands tucked in his sleeves.
His eyes found the blue threads on Alex’s sword and Ace’s bow.
A faint, unreadable look passed over his face.
Duke Aster surveyed the kills.
His eyes were sharp.
He walked along the rows.
He stopped in front of Kalgen’s boar.
He nodded.
“A strong kill, Minister.”
Kalgen beamed.
“Thank you, Your Grace!”
Then Aster moved.
He stopped in front of Alex and Ace’s pile.
Three deer, the hare.
Good, clean kills.
But then Aster did something unexpected.
He pointed not at the deer, but at the old, rusty, bloody wolf trap that was tied to Alex’s saddle.
Alex had brought it back.
“And this?” Aster asked.
Alex stepped forward.
“We found it in the forest, Father.
An old poacher’s trap.
A wolf was caught in it.
We freed it.”
Aster was silent.
He looked from the trap to his sons.
His gaze lingered on the simple blue threads on their weapons.
Then he turned to the crowd.
His voice boomed in the cold air.
“The greatest harvest is not always the heaviest,” he declared.
“The North values strength.
But we also value mercy.
We value protecting the wild things in our care, even when they bite.
My sons brought back meat for our table.
But they also brought back a reminder of our duty.
To be hunters, but not cruel ones.
To be strong, but not without heart.”
He looked at Lady Roseline.
“My Duchess.
The choice is yours.”
Lady Roseline stepped forward.
She looked at all the kills.
She looked at Kalgen’s proud face.
She looked at her sons.
She walked to Alex.
She did not touch the deer.
Instead, she reached out and placed her hand on the bloody, rusty trap.
“This,” she said, her voice clear and sweet, “is the greatest offering.
It represents a choice.
To kill is easy.
To save is hard.
The Winter Goddess favors courage and compassion.”
She turned to Jade.
She held out her hand.
“The favor is yours to give, today.
As our guest.”
Every eye turned to Jade.
He looked surprised.
He looked from Roseline’s kind face to the trap, to the brothers.
Slowly, he stepped forward.
He didn’t look at the boar or the deer.
He walked to Alex.
He looked up at the tall heir.
Then he looked at Ace.
He bowed his head, just a little.
“Thank you,” he said softly, “for saving the wolf.”
Then he turned and walked back to the Omegas.
He did not claim a trophy.
He did not take a prize.
But the meaning was clear.
The Valebane brothers had won.
Not with the biggest kill, but with an act that even their enemy had to acknowledge.
Ace looked at the blue thread on his bow.
It didn’t feel like a trick anymore.
It felt like a challenge he didn’t understand.
And as the torches were lit against the darkening sky, he realized the game had just changed again.