The Wrong Brother's Temptation novel Chapter 170

Chapter 170

Sienna

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“A wise move indeed” Elder Johanson nodded as he folded his hands together while I stood awkwardly beside Connor who had his hands grabbing the armrests tightly..

Elder Johanson stepped closer to him, reaching for that stupid metal collar to check if it was indeed locked and he was not being careful about it.

Another spike almost grazed Connor’s skin and I bit back an angry retort since I noticed him watching me and realized the was doing this not to just punish Connor but the both of us.

“Relax, Connor. We are your pack, your family. We would do nothing to hurt you unless you give us the complete truth. The metal band is just there to ensure your wolf doesn’t try to make you run away.”

I blinked.

What kind of torture was he planning that would make Connor’s wolf want to take control and run away.

“We are going to start with simple harmless questions at first so you get acquainted with the process”

The old man smiled and looked around. “Okay, let’s begin”

I forced myself to not scoot closer to Connor.

“What is your name?”

“Connor”

“Your full name”

“Connor Ashford”

“I believe you know full name also includes the name of your parent” Elder Johanson offered mildly and a muscle in Connor’s jaw twitched.

I had rarely seen Connor refer to himself as Asher’s son but now this old, sick man was forcing him to do so and this stupid trial had just begun!

“Connor Ashford, son of Eleanor and Asher” Connor bit out the words.

I noticed how he took his mom’s name first and also how he tactfully avoided calling himself the son of just Asher alone.

Technically, he wasn’t wrong so Elder Johanson couldn’t do much. I saw the way Connor kept looking at Elder Johanson. daring him to make him change his answer.

Elder Johanson’s smile wavered a bit but he continued.

“Who do you consider family?”

Connor let out a steady breath before answering.

“My mother…”

Connor strained a little as he continued to speak. “Alpha…Asher”

The muscles in his neck were straining a little and I saw a few sharp spikes lodge themselves in his neck.

12:15 Sat, Aug 22 T.

The Wrong Brother’s Temptation

“Thats it?”

halt brother “Connor mumbled and I saw him shudder a little as sweat broke out on his back

What was happening to hims

“Connor “Textended my hand in his direction to check on him but Elder Johanson looked at me sharply

“I have allowed you to stand here doesn’t can you can interfere. Let him answer”

“B–but he looks in pam”

Elder Johanson nodded. “The draught and the collar are designed to make the person say the truth. Any evasion, omission or he can cause the body to react violently. A hard lie will even make his wolf surge forward”

What

“He only has to give us the truth like I said earlier and he will be fine”

…and Sienna”

I turned to look at Connor who had leaned forward a little but then straightened himself back.

He thought I was family to him? Like Aaron and his mother?

My gaze flicked to Aaron sitting on the stone seats and noticed him discussing something with Sandra who glared at him and squeezed his arm a little before turning to look ahead.

I blinked. He included only a handful of people as his family and that included me?

“Interesting” the elder tapped his chin and studied Connor who didn’t make any conscious effort to wipe the thin trail of blood flowing down his neck and torso, neither did he flinch when the spikes touched the sore spots again.

“I guess we are done with the warm up questions.” The elder smiled through his teeth and I rubbed my hands together, feeling the cold seeping into my bones, my very soul.

The torches flickered against the ancient walls, casting long shadows between the pillars, and somewhere above us water dripped steadily from a crack in the stone.

Connor looked wrecked already after hours of punishing drills that left his muscles trembling and his eyes a bit red- rimmed

I had begged him to stop and managed to force just a few gulps of the smoothie down his throat when he was called to the

arena

And now that same exhausted body sat locked in a spiked collar while the Bloodroot Draught turned his wolf into a weapon against him.

Meanwhile, Elder Johanson stood in the center of it all like a man who had waited years for this exact moment. His pale eyes glittered with something ugher than duty.

“How long have you been involved with Sienna Miller?”

My stomach dropped through the floor. The question was a blade aimed straight at whatever fragile thing Connor and I were building.

My gaze flicked to Sandra, who no doubt, must have led the old bastard with her own wild theories.

She gave me a smug look and I made a mental note to give her a piece of my mind later.

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22

F

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12:16 Sat, Aug 22 T

The Wrong Brother’s Temptation

“Its a rather simple question, isn’t it?” Johanson mused, delighted to see Connor’s fingers twitch against the armrests

mor couldn’t say we had been in love forever when almost everybody knew we didn’t get along in childhood. I also didn‘ C hay a wolf for him to call me his mate.

We were fake dating so he wasn’t really ‘involved with me though the question did leave quite a bit to self–interpretation

I stared nervously at Connor, wondering what answer he would come up with as black claws punched through the skin of his fingertips with a wet, tearing sound that made me flinch.

They were gone almost as fast as they appeared as he must have forced them back under human nails with visible, grinding effort. Blood blossomed and slid down his knuckles.

“Weeks.”

He gave just one clipped word as an answer.

The collar’s spikes bit deeper when he swallowed and I felt utterly miserable to be just standing there and seeing him suffer.

Sandra leaned forward, lips parted in delighted shock and Aaron’s jaw tightened so hard I thought it might crack. Alpha Asher remained motionless in his high seat, but his eyes that were so like Connor’s had gone hard as flint.

I took a step forward before I could stop myself. “That question has nothing to do with the succession…”

“Step back!” Johanson didn’t even look at me. “Or I will have you removed and the trial will continue without you.”

The threat landed like a slap though the sting was sharper than the actual slap he gave me.

I froze, fists clenched so tight my nails cut half–moons into my palms. Connor’s gaze flicked to me for half a second with something fierce and then locked back on the elder.

Elder Johanson gave him a thin and cold smile.

“Do you consider her a permanent part of your future as Alpha?”

Fuck!

This was going to do us in. There was no way we could recover from this question. We just had a fake dating arrangement for a year, not forever.