The Wrong Brother's Temptation novel Chapter 194

Sienna

Connor looked genuinely taken aback for the first time all morning.

His hand stayed on my knee as he leaned forward, staring keenly at Elder Johanson who had just dropped a bomb on all of

1. us.

“I don’t understand,” he said.

Elder Johansson looked around the table, taking in everyone’s reactions with visible satisfaction, like he’d been waiting for exactly this moment to arrive.

Alpha Asher pushed back from the table and stood, wiping his hands on a tissue as if he had better things to do.

“I have to get to work,” he said to nobody in particular. “Please, continue enjoying the food.”

He turned around without another word, and without asking a single question about the evaluation or what it might involve.

“Wait,” Aaron was already half–rising from his seat like he intended to follow his father out or maybe make him reconsider. But Alpha Asher merely looked at him and Aaron seemed to fumble. “Dad. don’t you want to weigh in on this?”

“I trust the elders‘ judgment,” Alpha Asher shrugged. He was already walking towards the door to his office.

“That’s rather the point of having them.”

Aaron had nothing to say to it so he closed his mouth just as his father closed the door behind him.

My gaze flicked to Sandra, who looked satisfied, maybe even a bit smug that Connor and I both looked a bit flustered.

Aaron looked from the closed door to his mother.

“Mom…”

Luna Lydia rose and looked at elder Johanson once. “I am sorry, son. I can’t meddle in this but I know whatever they do would be for the betterment of this pack.”

She followed her husband out shortly after, and several of the elders scattered from the table as well.

I simply sat there trying to absorb and process this news until the table fell quiet. When I looked up it was just Connor, me, Elder Maren and Aaron looking around cluelessly while Sandra looked like she had just won a lottery, gloating beside Elder Johanson who was now enjoying a bowl of ice cream like he had toiled in the sun for hours and deserved this treat.

Apparently, everybody including Connor had momentarily forgotten about his dietary restrictions. Not that I cared, I ilowkey wanted him to die of diabetes or something.

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“But the trial is supposed to test the alpha heirs,” Connor tried again.

His grip on my knee tightened just a notch, and I felt the muscle in his forearm go rigid.

“It does,” Johansson said, dabbing at his mouth with a tissue after almost licking his ice cream bowl clean. “But as has already been discussed, and you both very graciously reminded us with your matching outfits, an Alpha and a Luna function as one unit. If we test the heir, it’s only natural his partner should be tested as well.”

Sandra snorted at that line and I knew this was her doing though I had no proof.

And the way Johanson was looking at me told me he was going to put me through hell while giving Sandra a pass or just a

14:30 Wed, Sep 9 d

The Wrong Brother’s Temptation

trivial task just like he favored Aaron over Connor.

ooked around helplessly and saw Elder Maren toying with her fork.

5 voucher

“Elder Maren, could you please share your thoughts on this? I’m sure you have an opinion about how the succession trials should be conducted.”

Elder Johanson acted like he just now noticed Maren was seated beside him.

“Oh, do you have something to say, Maren?” He asked like he was daring her to challenge him.

“With respect, Elder Johansson.” Elder Maren’s voice was quiet and careful.

“The candidates have already endured a great deal this week. Perhaps we can have a brief pause before introducing an entirely new evaluation and it would serve the process better. Nothing is lost by waiting a few days…dont you think?”

Well that was not what I hoped she would say but if he did agree to pause on it, we would get a break and also some time to figure out how to prepare myself.

I looked hopefully at Johansson who set his spoon down with a deliberate clink against the bowl, and the small sound echoed s the largely now empty room.

we take a break?” he repeated, as though the word itself offended him.

everyone recover,” Maren supplied but her shoulders slumped like she was already dreading his reply.

a lot of blood last night so……”

get his much needed break…” Johansson grew mildly infuriated, “…by not participating in this trial at all. That’s y the point, Maren. The trial belongs to Sienna and Sandra but since Sienna is paired to the eldest heir, it’s only that she completes it first. Connor may sit back, watch, and rest as much as he likes.”

picked the spoon back up and waited for Maren to argue or disagree with him. When she did neither, he continued,

The succession cannot simply wait because everyone would prefer a holiday. We are not on the elders‘ council to be comfortable, Maren. We are here to ensure this pack survives its next generation of leadership, and that work does not pause for anyone’s convenience.”

Calling Connor’s injuries inconvenience was downright disrespectful but one look at Connor told me he wanted me to stay

put.

Maren’s mouth pressed into a thin line, but she said nothing further and instead folded her hands in her lap.

But I knew he wasn’t as unaffected as he showed. Up close, I could see the way Connor’s jaw worked, the muscle there flexing more than once, and I watched his knuckles go pale where his other hand had curled around the edge of the table.

“I’ve already been through your trial,” Connor said in a voice I knew was costing him considerable effort. “I’m ready for whatever you throw at me next. I don’t need a rest, and I certainly don’t need my partner dragged through something separate to prove a point you’ve already made.”

“Noted,” Johansson replied in a clipped tone, entirely unmoved.

“I mean it,” Connor repeated. “Whatever you want tested, test it on me.”

“That’s not how this works,” Johansson shook his head, looking genuinely amused that Connor wasn’t smiling now, savoring both the ice cre

Connor’s rare, visible frustration in equal measure.

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he intervened or tried to by leaning forward slightly, “if I could offer a suggestion.

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