Chapter 20

Isla POV

I kept my spine straight, and focused on my food I didn't care if they like me all that mattered was they had chosen me after their beloved had running off, they would have to make do with what they had.

“Do you often find vinegar on your plate here?” I asked one of the older women sitting next to me , her silver hair bound in braids that moves slightly as she looked up at me smiling, she swallowed before she answered.

“Sometimes,” she said lightly,

“ But most of the times it came in bottles instead of bowls–ceremonial wine. But I’ve learned how to send it back when it’s too sour.” she replied and a faint chuckle escaped me, causing several elders nearby to glance at me and one another.

“ You'd think I committed murder with the way they are staring at me” I hissed and Tristan shot me a sidelong look—half irritation, half something else I couldn’t place and Kieran laughed outright, a deep sound that drew attention.

“Sharp tongue,” he remarked, lifting his glass lazily.

“ Oh stop that boy” the woman scolded him and he shrugged

“What, I'm right she’ll need it to survive here.” he drawled and I resisted the urge to snap back, keeping my face pleasant as I tore off a piece of bread. His words were meant to sting, but if I let them, I’d only confirm his point.

Instead, I raised my glass and took a measured sip, letting the silence between us stretch.

“ I think your brother cares so much for me that it's adorable” I mumbled and he grinned.

The evening dragged on, a dance of words and veiled barbs, of ritual politeness hiding sharp edges. I played my role, while Tristan brooded, and Kieran taunted me when he could while eating his meal.

By the time dessert was cleared away, I was exhausted—physically, emotionally, mentally. I wanted nothing more than to retreat to my room, to peel off the mask of Luna and breathe freely again.

The elders rose to leave,seeming satisfied one of them—a tall, thin man with piercing eyes—turned to Tristan

“Your Luna has handled herself well tonight,” he said, his voice carrying across the hall.

“But tell me, Alpha… why do I sense hesitation in you?”

The room stilled and Tristan’s jaw tightened.

“There is no hesitation,” he said flatly and the elder tilted his head.

“Perhaps not. But bonds do not lie. And I see a storm in yours.”

My breath caught.

The elders filed out after that, leaving whispers in their wake. Tristan’s control was visibly fraying, his anger simmering close to the surface while his brother who more than liked pissing him off remained remained seated, watching, his expression infuriatingly smug.

“Are you ready he asked

The corridors beyond the hall were quieter, but not empty. Tristan walked beside me in silence, his stride clipped and sharp. I didn’t try to speak. Not yet.

Behind us, footsteps echoed. I knew without looking who they belonged to.

Kieran.

“Lovely performance,” he drawled, catching up effortlessly.

“You almost had me convinced you belong here.”I stopped, turning to face him.

“Almost?”

His grin widened.

“Almost. But I know better.”

“ Of course you did” I said softly and

Tristan whirled on him, fury blazing in his eyes.

“You will leave now, Kieran. Or I’ll throw you out myself.”

Kieran leaned in, his face inches from Tristan’s, and for the first time I saw the resemblance sharpen—not just in features, but in the raw, volatile energy that crackled between them.

“Try it, brother,” Kieran said softly.

For a moment, I thought Tristan might actually attack him right there, in the middle of the corridor with half the staff peeking nervously at them from the shadows.

His fists were clenched, his wolf snarling just beneath the surface, his control slipping.

I stepped between them before it could happen, my palms raised.

“Enough,” I said firmly.

“Both of you.”

They stared at me, the tension between them thrumming like a live wire.

I met Kieran’s gaze first.

“You’ve made your point. Congratulations, you’ve unsettled me but I’m still here, and I’m not going anywhere. So if that's what you’re hoping for ,you’ll be disappointed.”

Something flickered in his eyes—interest, perhaps admiration—but he masked it quickly with a smirk.

Then I turned to Tristan.

“And you,” I said quietly, but with enough bite to pierce his fury.

“You told me to behave tonight. I did. Now you need to.”

His nostrils flared, his chest heaving, but after a moment, he forced himself to step back.

Kieran laughed, low and soft, and then he bowed mockingly again.

“Well, Luna. Perhaps you’ll be more interesting than I thought.”

And with that, he turned and walked away, leaving the corridor buzzing with the echo of his presence.

Kieran POV

For years, I’d stayed away from home and the Ridge, years spent denying my pack and the blood in my veins, years I’d spent carrying the sting of betrayal like a scar beneath my skin.

And now, here I was, standing in the shadows of the Ridge—my home, once upon a time my prison and now my graveyard—as I watched my brother’s so-called mate.

Luna Isla surprise me, I hadn't met a woman who could do that in a long time, she was different in ways I hadn’t expected.

Isla.

I shouldn’t have cared, I'm fact other than noticing that she was my brother mate I shouldn’t have noticed her at all definitely not long enough to read the fire in her eyes when she sparred with me at the banquet table, or the way her smile cut through every attempt I made to needle her.

But I had. Goddess help me, I had.

She was nothing like Viviana, my brother's lover and that was… dangerous and not for the reasons that were in my head at all.

I leaned against the stone wall of the ancestral hall, watching as Tristan ushered her into the sleek black car that waited in the driveway.

He kept his hand light on her back, his back straight, every movement screaming control, that was my brother, I knew him had lived with him for almost eighteen years of my life. I knew what he looked like when he was fighting for control and failing.

The bond between him and his mate wasn’t complete. I’d seen it flash in his eyes–the overwhelming need to possess her when another male was near her.

And for some reason I hated it that they were together because something in my gut kept telling me it should have been me.

Not Tristan. Me.

I had no idea what my wolf meant by that and I wasn't interested in finding out.

I clenched my fists, nails biting into my palms until the ache steadied me.

Revenge burned in my blood like a second heartbeat. I’d been gone for a long time —stripped of name, stripped of title, stripped of the privilege that came with being born into this cursed line.