Betrayed by My Ex, Marked by His Alpha Emperor Brother novel Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Chapter 13

Elara’s POV

“It’s you!” Isolde’s voice cracked through the banquet hall like a whip. “Ela!”

Red wine dripped from my chin onto the ruined ice-blue silk. The cold liquid clung to my skin, but the chill spreading through my chest had nothing to do with the wine.

Every noble within earshot turned. Whispers erupted like wildfire. I could feel the weight of their stares pressing against me from every direction.

Isolde’s shock lasted only a heartbeat before her expression twisted into something sharp and predatory. Her perfectly manicured nails closed around my wrist. Tight. Bruising.

“How did you get in here?” she hissed. “You—a nobody from the border provinces—how did you slither your way into a state banquet?”

The grip. That grip.

I knew it. I had known it since I was a child. Those fingers digging into my arm, dragging me through corridors, shoving me into walls. The memory hit me like a wave—cold, suffocating, paralyzing.

For a moment, I was a teenager again. Small. Voiceless. Trapped.

Then the moment passed.

I was not that young girl anymore. I had survived alone. I had raised a child. I had clawed my way into the imperial palace on my own merit, and I would not cower before this woman. Not again.

I yanked my wrist free with a force that made Isolde stumble.

“The guest list was curated by me,” I said. My voice came out steadier than I expected. I lifted my chin. “Your name wasn’t on it.”

Gasps rippled through the crowd. Isolde’s mouth fell open.

“You—” Her face flushed crimson. The veins in her neck strained against her skin. “You insolent little commoner! You think wearing a stolen gown and standing in a hall above your station makes you anything more than what you are? A low-born nobody playing dress-up—” 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Her voice pitched higher, drawing more eyes. She was performing now, feeding on the audience. I could see it in the way she angled her body toward the crowd, the way her hand gestured dramatically at my wine-soaked dress.

“Look at her!” Isolde screeched. “This is what passes for company at the imperial court now? A commoner in a borrowed gown pretending she belongs—”

The air changed.

It shifted so suddenly that every wolf in the room felt it. A wave of pressure—dense, ancient, unmistakable—rolled through the banquet hall like a silent thunderclap. Conversations died mid-sentence. Glasses paused halfway to lips.

Alpha presence. Raw and absolute.

The scent hit me a second later. Sandalwood and something primal. Something that made Moonlight stir in my chest with a low, reverent hum.

A warm hand settled on my waist. Firm. Possessive. Unyielding.

I didn’t need to look. The heat of his body radiated through the soaked silk of my gown, and his fingers spread wide across my hip, pulling me back against the solid wall of his chest. Something heavy and warm settled over my shoulders—his court jacket. The midnight-blue fabric swallowed me in his scent, and for one reckless moment, every muscle in my body unclenched.

“Why,” Kaelen said, and his voice was terrifyingly quiet, “is my companion covered in wine?”

The question was not directed at me. It hung in the air like the edge of a drawn blade, pointed squarely at Isolde.

All remaining color drained from her face. Her mouth opened, then closed. Then opened again.

“Your—your Majesty—” She dropped into a curtsy so deep her knees nearly hit the floor. Her voice turned syrupy, dripping with forced deference. “I had no idea she was with you. This is simply a misunderstanding. She and I—we’re practically family. I was merely surprised to see her here—”

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