The Wrong Brother's Temptation novel Chapter 168

Chapter 168

Sienna

Wouldn’t you love that, he retorted without missing a beat.

Heat flooded my face imitrediately. “I meant…as per the tradition!”

“I see, he remarked, and there was the smallest ghost of his usual smirk, gone almost as fast as it appeared. “I’m half naked already. Besides I dont think its a good idea to distract the elders.”

I blinked at him, trying to say something even funnier in return but I saw the way his words lacked the usual humor even if he said it like a joke.

ก

“You can still leave,” he reminded me quietly. “This doesn’t have anything to do with you. You don’t need to see whatever about to happen in there.”

In a way, I found myself responsible for his trial. Had he not kept on protecting and fighting for me, he would be sitting in his cozy office like Aaron yesterday.

“I’m not leaving,” I shook my head vehemently.

“Grab a good seat then”

I tried not to roll my eyes and let him get a few steps ahead before following him inside.

It took me a while adjusting to the darkness around me and almost bumped into Connor.

“Careful” he mumbled but I gasped as I looked around me.

The entrance opened into a chamber so enormous that I stopped without meaning to, my eyes slowly travelling upward as I tried to take in the sheer scale of it.

The Hollow Arena was nothing like the crumbling ruin I had imagined from outside.

My neck hurt from craning all the way up to the giant stone ceiling that had cracked and had a few holes in it from where sun rays peeked in.

But they were inadequate to illuminate the giant space filled with enormous arches crossing overhead like inverted V’s.

Thick pillars rose from the floor on either side of me and despite the dim light and the distance I could tell that they were carved with faded patterns and symbols I wasn’t sure I had seen before.

The entire arena curved around us in a perfect circle, with tier upon tier of long stone benches rising along the walls.

There must have been hundreds of seats, perhaps enough to hold representatives from every major pack, although tonight only the lowermost seats were fractionally occupied.

I noticed Aaron and Sandra seated in a corner too, Sandra whispering something to him.

Aaron’s gaze fell upon me as I narrowed my gaze at Sandra and he gave me a nervous smile.

Somehow I had a feeling she was responsible for this though I had no proof of it.

Alpha Asher and Luna Lydia were seated with the elders and seemed to be discussing something important.

I was not even the one who was supposed to be put on a trial here yet an involuntary shudder ran down my spine.

Sat, Aug 22

The Wrong Brothers Temptation

My gaze fell on the wide circular platform in the center that had an enormous symbol carved into its surface Concentric rings spread outward from the middle, enclosing strange markings that glowed faintly beneath the warm light of the torches

ounted along the walls.

I couldn’t tell whether the glow came from some ancient magic or simply from the flames reflecting against the polished stone, but either way, it made the strange looking symbols almost look almost alive.

I instinctively moved a little closer to Connor who only gave a brief nad of acknowledgement to alpha Asher as he lifted his gaze to look at us.

His gaze slid past me entirely like I was not worth his attention but Luna Lydia gave me a small smile that I/returned.

“Cheerful place,” I whispered, my hand brushing his lightly and delighted at the warmth radiating from him despite the chill surrounding me.

I gestured toward the arena. “You know, when Maria mentioned a trial, I was imagining something slightly less… medieval”

His mouth twitched, but his eyes travelled to the elders waiting above.

“Ahh, you are here”

Elder Johanson’s voice echoed through the massive space as it bounced off the stone walls. All of the elders were wearing black robes and Elder Johanson was the only one with a wide smile plastered to his face.

“Come over, my boy” He motioned for Connor to walk faster and then beckoned him towards a large stone chair with a high back in the center of the circular platform.

My boy? That was the nicest thing Elder Johanson had called him ever since his arrival.

The joy on the old man’s face was a stark contrast to the grim expression of others and I had a feeling he had planned something very bad for Connor.

The sound of his footsteps echoed across the stone floor as he descended toward the centre of the Hollow Arena and when I moved to follow him, Elder Johanson added sharply.

“You should take a seat with the others, girl”

My right foot was hovering in the air which I pulled back after casting a nervous glance at Connor who gave me a tight smile.

I mouthed ‘best of luck‘ to him and went to sit on the empty space beside Aaron and Sandra who inched closer to him.

I sat on the very edge of the stone seat because Sandra kept giving me a side eye every now and then.

“Hey, are you okay?” Aaron looked at me.

I nodded, rubbing my hands together. “Yeah, I am fine”

Elder Johanson looked around smugly and cleared his throat loudly.

“Greetings, Ashford pack members. Today we have gathered here to complete a very unique and interesting task in order to help the Ashford alpha choose the right heir to his throne.”

Everybody sat up back attentively and my gaze flicked to Connor who looked completely unbothered.

“You all must be wondering why the trial is being conducted here instead of the mansion…” He drew the sentence out. keeping his gaze on me., knowing very well that I was dying to hear him speak further.

“You see” he began walking around the circular platform and reached the stone cold chair to place a hand on one of its

18:15 Sat, Aug 22

The Wrong Brother’s femptation

armrests

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