Chapter 17

“ No, that will come after,for now we seat and take the drink offered to us by the matriarchs” I looked up at him a bit confused, why the hell was I having drinks before I had even eaten anything.

As we sat a few server walked into the room and handed drinks to all the elders in the room and then took a few cups to us and offered it.

I watched Tristan for cues on what to do, then raised the glass to my lips at the same time as everyone else. I took a sip of the drink and winced at the bitter taste

“ Oh my goddess what is this, I thought it was alcohol” I hissed and he smirked

“ It's tea, vinegar tea the alcohol will come later” he muttered and she scowled

“ You could have mentioned that earlier “ I hissed and he grinned. I looked at him stunned, I had been here for days and I hadn't seen him smile like that ever it was a foreign look on him and it sparked an emotion in me that I wasn't sure I could explain or wanted to.

“ How are you taking it,” he asked when I took the second cup and I answered in a polite, measured manner

Isla POV

“ I'm taking it swimmingly” I gritted lifting the glass cup to my face, I didn’t miss the way Tristan’s eyes flicked toward me watching my every move

Halfway through the third glass, I leaned slightly toward him, keeping my voice low.

“How am I doing? Passing your inspection?”

His lips curved faintly—though I wasn’t sure it was amusement.

“Better than expected.”

“High praise,” I murmured, chugging the glass

Four more courses of vinegar tea passed their table and either their taste buds were dead or these elders were demons with no sense of taste at all.

“ One last cup and we move to the ancestral land” he mumbled and I glared at him

“ One more cup of that sludge and I'll actually deck you “ I muttered and he laughed

“ I’d like to see you try”

Tristan POV

The banquet hall shimmered with the golden light d from the chalendier in the hall. While I was used to the place Isla was not but she didn't make much of a fuss about it.

The place had been prepared for the rituals just as it had been for his father's ceremony years ago with every torch along the walls flickering as if the flames itself wanted to bear witness.

Elder wolves from every corner of the western territories filled the long tables in the hall, this was a pledge of allegiance as much as it was a blessing ritual.

Isla dunked the cup of tea into her mouth as she glared up at me and I had to resist the urge to smile. She was definitely annoyed because ever word out of her mouth tonight had been a challenge.

Every glance, huff of irritation or the little bites of sarcasm she layered were carefully designed to push me. And damn me, it worked, just not in the way I expected. I should have been furious.

I should have put her in her place in front of them all but instead, something hot and inconvenient curled low in my gut, a pulse of awareness that made my wolf stir.

Arousal.

Which was bad for me, very bad because she wasn’t supposed to get under my skin like this.

I swallowed hard, shifting my gaze away from her and I lowered my voice, so that when I spoke,it was low enough that only she could hear.

“Mind your manners,” I said, keeping my tone sharp.

“They’ll begin the ritual soon.”

Her lips curved in a small, mocking smile. “I thought that’s what I’ve been doing all night. Behaving.”

It was a few words said in the driest of times but they sounded like innuendos to me.

I clenched my jaw, turning my attention to the high priest who had just risen at the far end of the room. The time for games was over.

“ The ceremony will begin, with the host clear they will present to the goddess “ he called out and they rose from their seats and there she was—Isla—standing at my side in that dress.

The ceremonial silk dress she wore clung to her body like it was painted on her revealing just enough to test my composure.

She had no right to look like that, not here, not now. But worse was the way she looked at me—eyes sharp, chin tilted just slightly upward, daring me to break the mask I wore.

We were led away from the hall, a procession of robed priest that served under the high priest following carrying torches and chanting softly.

Isla walked beside me, her gown sweeping the stone floor, her expression unreadable.

They walked through a hidden passage and it's narrow corridor leading to a twisting passage way that opened into the sacred path that led to the ancestral land.

My chest tightened with the weight of this tradition I now had to go through. This was no ordinary ritual, this was the moment the goddess herself bore witness to my Luna.

And all I could think was—it should have been Viviana.

The night air chilled as we stepped onto the sacred ground, the clearing was ringed with standing stones etched with runes that had been there for longer than my memory and with the moon hanging high above us,it fell on the ringed stones.

We approached the altar at the center and the priests began their incantations, their voices rising in rhythmic tunes .

I took Isla’s hand, the bond sparking alive at the contact, sending heat lancing up my arm, this was a bond of connection but it wouldn't be permanent not unless he gave her the mating bite.

But the heat from this ritual was more than painful but she didn’t flinch, she just simply stood there, staring at me steadily like she was daring even the goddess to question her place here.

When the final chant ended, the high priest lifted his hands.

“Before the goddess, we present Isla, Luna of the West.”

The words struck the air like a bell a trickle of power rippling through the clearing, brushing against my skin like an invisible tide.

The bond between us pulsed harder, tightening in my chest and my wolf growled low in my mind, restless, demanding I acknowledge her with my mating mark.

I forced it back.

“ The wolves are servants of the goddess”

The high priest hissed and we bowed our heads together, offering the vow

“ And we are the vessels “ they echoed together and then, as quickly as it had begun, the ritual was over.

We were led back to the banquet hall, the chants fading behind us.

Inside, the atmosphere had shifted, the elders were roaming the halls, their robes marked with the sigils of their clans.

Each of them was powerful, ancient, and proud.