Chapter 18

Tristan POV

They would judge her not only as my Luna but as a woman standing in a place Viviana should have claimed and that meant we had to play our parts well.

One by one, each elder approached their table and Isla lowered her head, offering the formal greeting.

“ I present my Luna, Isla “ I said introducing her with the title that still felt like ash in my mouth.

“Elder Thalos, at the feet of the Luna of the West.”

“Elder Maren, at the feet of the Luna of the West.”

The ritual repeated,itself over and over. I kept my expression composed,ignoring the image of Viviana in my memory—her dark hair, her smile, the fire in her eyes that had once matched my own.

She should have been here. She should have been the one bowing beside me and receiving this honor like I did.

Instead, I stood with Isla, the substitute an impostor.

Only she wasn't an imposter not when she was my mate too the bond screaming at me that she was mine, even as I denied it with every breath.

We reached the last elder. Isla lowered her head once more, keeping her posture perfect, I had told her to behave and she was behaving to a T.

We turned to take our seats— as the doors of the hall slammed open and every head turned. The torches flickering above their head had him turning slightly his sight catching on the shadow that walked into the room.

The air itself seemed to shift around him as he strode inside, his steps unhurried but commanding and as his presence filled the hall, raw power rolling off him in waves. His eyes burned with intensity, locked not on the elders, but straight ahead on me—on Isla.

My stomach dropped.

“Kieran,” I breathed, the name a curse on my tongue.

Isla POV

I really wanted to sit down, I was tired of walking and kneeling for absurd number of times in a day, it was annoying.

I was ready to go to my seat when the heavy doors creaked open, and every head in the banquet hall snapped toward the sound. A rush of cool night air followed the intruder, cutting through the thick warmth of torchlight and perfume.

The first thing that came to my mind was I didn't like being cold, I turned too, my fingers tightening against the folds of my dress.

A man strode into the hall as though he belonged here, though I could see from Tristan’s taut jaw that he very much did not. He whispered something underneath his breath but I didn't catch it I was too busy staring at who was walking into the hall.

It was a man,his presence filled the space instantly, with the kind of raw, magnetic energy that demanded attention without asking for it.

He had broad shoulders, long limbs that ate across the room, it was surprising because she didn't know who the hell he was.

The closer her got the more familiar he looked, his dark hair falling just past his ears—it was enough to make my heart lurch before my brain caught up.I knew that face . Or at least, I thought I did.

A strange familiarity prickled at me, though I couldn’t place where I knew him from, my memory skittered uselessly, tugging me back to fragments I couldn’t pin down.

Beside me, Tristan went rigid, his mouth flattened into something that might have been mistaken for composure if not for the flicker of fury in his eyes.

“Kieran,” he said, his voice clipped, like the word tasted of acid.

“Why are you here?”

The man—Kieran—grinned. And just like that, the room seemed smaller, heavier.

“To congratulate my dear brother,of course” he said easily, though his tone dripped with a mockery that set my teeth on edge. Looking at me he smiled

“On his mating.”

Brother.

Did he have a brother, since when I whipped my gaze between them, my mind scrambling as I stared at them freezing in place they looked so alike ,too alike.

Twins. They were twins.

The resemblance was obvious now that I looked for it—the same cutting bone structure, the same wolf-gold in their eyes.

But where Tristan’s features were honed to stone, carved with severity like he was always mad at someone, Kieran’s carried an edge of mischief,and a little bit of danger.

It was like two sides of the same coin, one polished, the other jagged.

The more I stared at him, the more my chest tightened, a rush of heat stirring in my gut for no reason as my wolf hummed literally.

Then Kieran shifted just slightly, his weight turning, and the light fell differently across his face a sense of unease colliding in me had me standing up straighter

Recognition slammed into me and my breath caught as I realized where exactly I had seen him.

He was the man from the corridor.

The one who’d shoved past me without a word, or without even a glance back. I stared at him, willing him to remember, to acknowledge what he’d done.

Instead, he bowed with exaggerated elegance, the corners of his mouth quirking like he knew something I didn’t.

“Luna,” he said smoothly, straightening to meet my eyes.

“Congratulations on your union. May the goddess bless this… sacred bond.”

His tone was all politeness, but the insincerity curled sharply beneath it, like glass hidden under velvet. I inclined my head, forcing my features into something composed, controlled.

I would not give him the satisfaction of seeing me rattled.

“Thank you,” I said, my voice even, though my pulse skittered against my skin.

“ I didn't know that Tristan had a brother, it's nice to see you up close”

He caught the dig, I know he did but he didn't plan on saying anything, for a moment, his gaze lingered, and I felt the weight of it press down, as if he were dissecting me, cataloging me piece by piece.

“What do you want?” Tristan demanded, his voice quiet but deadly.

Kieran only shrugged, strolling toward the table with infuriating ease.

“To see my brother, of course. To celebrate.”

“You’re not welcome here.” Tristan hissed and Kieran laughed

“I wasn’t aware you had the right to uninvite family.”

“I do when that family abandoned his pack,” Tristan snapped.

The words sliced through the room, a few of the elders looked away from them exchanging looks, whispers spreading like fire and I felt the tension coil tighter around us.

The murmurs in the hall swelled,as their eyes flicking between Tristan, me, and Kieran like they’d just been given a far juicier feast than the one laid on the table.

So Kieran wasn’t just a surprise guest he was a rogue wolf.

There was nothing worse than being a rogue, well that was true, after being a red omega there there was nothing worse than being rogue so for him to even be allowed here it was unimaginable.