Chapter 19

Something unsaid but heavy hung between them, and I could feel it like a storm pressing against my skin.

“ Let's seat” Tristan muttered and I took the hand he offered me turning away from him, my skirts brushing the polished stone as I made my way back toward my seat.

My knees threatened to weaken, but I refused to falter or make a single misstep.

Not here.

Not in front of Tristan and definitely not in front of this man, Kieran.

Tristan’s hand brushed briefly against my arm as I sat, his touch sharp, almost possessive. He didn’t look at me, didn’t need to. His attention was locked entirely on Kieran but Kieran was barely paying him any attention.

“Isla the more I look at you the more it's confirmed  I see my brother’s taste hasn’t changed.”

The way he said it made something hot flare in my stomach—anger, maybe, or it was embarrassment.

“You must be mistaken,” I replied coolly.

“Am I?” His eyes glittered.

Tristan slammed his goblet onto the table, the sharp crack silencing the whispers.

“Enough. You’ve had your fun. Leave.”

Kieran didn’t leave, he  just leaned lazily against one of the chairs, arms crossed, like he had every intention of staying.

“I’ll leave,” he said,

“once I’ve done what I came to do.”

Kieran, the picture of effortless mischief, strolled leisurely toward the head table as if this was all an elaborate joke he was in on and everyone else had missed the punchline.

When he reached the elders’ line, he paused, gave them a courteous nod that somehow also looked like mockery, then continued forward.

And when his gaze flicked toward me again, I felt a jolt deep in my chest. The same inexplicable pull that I had felt earlier.

He turned his attention squarely back to me.

“Luna,” he said again, deliberately ignoring Tristan.

“I imagine this must all feel… overwhelming.”

It was bait. I knew it, the elders around me knew it.

Hell, Tristan knew it too but the weight of all those eyes on me made it impossible not to respond. I lifted my chin, steadying my voice.

“It is an adjustment,” I admitted, my words chosen carefully. Neutral, but not meek.

“But I can manage.” Kieran’s grin widened, approval glinting in his gaze.

“Strong words. I'd like to see you back it up then.”

The elders’ whispers grew louder. Tristan’s growl vibrated so low in his chest I could feel it through the table.

“Kieran.” His voice was cold, deadly quiet.

“Enough.”

But Kieran only leaned against the table edge, casual as a cat, his grin infuriatingly fixed.

“You’re right, brother. Enough pleasantries. Let’s get to the heart of it.” His eyes flicked between Tristan and me, lingering on me long enough to make my skin prickle.

“Does she know?”

I frowned looking up at him

“Know what?” I asked before Tristan could snap at him.

Tristan’s eyes cut toward me, sharp and warning, but Kieran was faster.

“That you’re a substitute,” he said lightly, looking me dead in the eye as though commenting on the weather.

“That a certain someone was meant to be standing where you are right now.”

I looked at Tristan who's entire body vibrating like he was a storm contained by skin, and for the first time, I understood why the staff whispered,my mate was dangerous even when he was still.

But as I looked back at Kieran I couldn’t shake the feeling that Kieran was dangerous in an entirely different way.

Isla POV

Kieran’s words were still hanging in between us in the air with the aftertaste of poison, but I refused to let him see me flinch.

He was trying his damn best to rattle me and shake me up in front of the elders and Tristan, even if he knew that i knew about it, then he would have pressed more to run it into the wound.

His plan was to reduce me as the fragile placeholder that I was exposed but I wasn’t going to give him that satisfaction.

I smiled—slowly and as deliberately— looking to him so he knew that his attempt to humiliate me had amused me instead, it was a long shot but I was willing to take it.

My gaze lifted to meet his, steady and calm, even as my insides trembled with the effort of holding myself together.

“I’m fine,” I said sweetly, voice pitched just loud enough for the elders nearby to hear.

“But thank you so much for your concern, Kieran. I’m sure I’ll do just fine.” I replied and he looked at me the brief flicker in his golden eyes told me he hadn’t expected me to recover so easily.

A ripple of murmurs coursed through the room, and I seized the moment, leaning into Tristan like a woman at ease in my place in this world, my hand brushed the sleeve of his jacket, light and fleeting, but enough to draw attention.

“I’m hungry,” I murmured to him, tilting my lips in something between a smile and a smirk as I leaned into his face and whispered at his ears

“And if I have to keep tasting vinegar, I swear I’ll kill someone.”

A faint growl rumbled in Tristan’s chest—low enough that only I caught it—but he didn’t move away and he didn’t shove me aside.

For once, he let me play the part.

The servers arrived to the hall immediately with serving dishes as they moved,between the tables dropping off a tray on each other the tables, they opened the trays exposing the meals for us and they all looked delicious, my stomach growled when the silver lids lifted to reveal roasted meats, glazed vegetables, steaming breads, and bowls of spiced rice.

The scents hit me all at once, rich and intoxicating, and for a heartbeat, my hunger cut through the tension gripping the room.

I leaned in over the table and dug in gratefully, the first bite grounding me back into my body. Food had always done that—anchored me when everything else seemed like it was going to shit.

“Enjoying yourself?” Kieran drawled from across the table.

I didn’t even look at him as I chewed slowly, swallowed, and then smiled sweetly at him.

“Immensely.”

Tristan’s fingers tightened around his fork, the metal bending ever so slightly under his grip while he remained tense beside me, his posture sharp, his gaze flicking constantly between Kieran and the elders as though expecting an ambush. Kieran, on the other hand, lounged at the far end of the table, perfectly comfortable, grabbing a random snack from his plates while he kept his eyes on me, it was almost too disconcerting.

He was watching me again, his wolf-gold eyes glinting with unreadable intent.

I ignored him.

Or at least, I pretended to.

Everyone was eating their meal with gusto and she focused on hers while ignoring their scrutiny which hadn’t lessened, either because with every bite I took, every word I spoke, I could feel their eyes on me—measuring, assessing, waiting for me.