Oops! My Twin Alphas Claimed Me

Chapter 17: The Old Flame

Chapter 17: The Old Flame

Selene arrived with an allied delegation from the eastern packs, and I knew something was wrong the moment Ash's entire posture changed at the sight of her.

It wasn't guilt, exactly. It was something more careful than that.... the particular stillness of a man bracing for a conversation he'd hoped to avoid. Ryker noticed it too, judging by the way his eyes narrowed slightly, tracking the shift in his brother's mood with the sharp attention of someone who already suspected the answer before the question had even been asked.

"Ash," Selene said warmly, sweeping into the receiving hall with the easy confidence of someone who'd walked these halls before and felt no need to relearn its rules. She was beautiful in a sharp, polished way, dark hair braided elegantly, sharp eyes that found Ash first and lingered a beat too long before moving on to the rest of us. "It's been too long."

"Selene." Ash's greeting was courteous, careful, the tone he used for council business rather than old friends. "Welcome. I trust the journey was manageable."

"Manageable enough." Her gaze slid to me then, assessing in a way that felt entirely different from Victoria's careful cataloguing this was something closer to territorial curiosity, a woman measuring competition rather than a mother measuring a pawn. "So this is the famous Luna. The wolf-less omega who threw a Shadowfang Alpha across a battlefield." A small, considering smile. "The stories don't do you justice, I think. Or perhaps they do, and I simply expected someone less..." she paused, deliberately, "...delicate."

"I get that a lot," I said evenly, refusing to let the barb land the way she'd clearly intended.

Ryker's arm settled around my waist, deliberate and pointed. "Elara's delicate the way a blade looks delicate right before it opens someone up," he said, pleasant as anything, though the warning underneath the words was unmistakable. "Careful how you swing that word around."

Selene's smile didn't waver, though something flickered behind her eyes recalculation, maybe, or simple annoyance at being so plainly outmaneuvered. "Of course. I meant no offense." Her attention shifted back to Ash, warmer now, more familiar. "We have a great deal to discuss, don't we? It's been years since we've had proper time to catch up."

"We have delegation business to discuss," Ash corrected, gently but firmly. "I'm sure the council will make time for whatever matters your pack has brought before us."

If Selene noticed the deliberate redirection, she didn't show it, simply inclining her head and allowing herself to be led toward the formal meeting rooms with the rest of her delegation. But I caught the look she threw over her shoulder before the doors closed behind her... brief, assessing, aimed directly at me.

"Old flame?" I asked once we were alone, keeping my voice light even though something uncomfortable had settled low in my stomach.

Ash sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Something like that. Years ago. Before either of us understood what a mate bond actually meant. Her pack and ours discussed a potential alliance through marriage, back when it seemed like the practical thing to do." He met my eyes, steady and honest. "It never went further than discussion. And it's meant nothing to me since the moment I first felt the bond snap into place at the festival."

"She clearly doesn't see it that way," I said.

"She's ambitious," Ash said simply. "And her pack would benefit greatly from closer ties to Silvermoon. I imagine she sees an opportunity in reminding everyone what almost was, regardless of what actually is now."

Ryker's jaw was tight throughout the entire exchange, and I could feel the low simmer of something dangerous building underneath his composure. "I don't like the way she looked at you," he said to Ash, low and clipped.

"Neither do I," Ash admitted. "But causing a scene over an old, unrealized arrangement won't help anything. Least of all Elara."

The formal council session that afternoon proceeded with careful diplomacy on the surface, though I felt the undercurrent the entire time Selene's pointed comments about "old friendships worth preserving," the way she angled every conversation to include some small reminder of history shared with Ash that I hadn't been part of. It shouldn't have bothered me as much as it did. I trusted Ash. I believed him entirely when he said the bond had erased whatever had existed before.

But trust and insecurity, I was learning, could occupy the same chest without canceling each other out.

"You've gone quiet," Ash said later, finding me alone on the balcony outside our rooms as the sun set over the training yards below.

"I'm being ridiculous," I admitted. "I know there's nothing between you and Selene. I believe you completely. But watching her look at you like she's remembering something I'll never have access to—" I stopped, embarrassed by how small the admission made me feel.

Ash crossed the balcony and turned me gently to face him, his hands warm against my arms. "There is nothing to remember that matters," he said, quiet and certain. "Whatever discussions our families once had, they were arrangements, not affection. What I feel for you isn't something I've ever felt before not with her, not with anyone. The bond didn't create that feeling in me, Elara. It simply confirmed what I think some part of me was always waiting for."

I searched his face for any trace of performance in the words and found none. "She's not going to make this easy," I said. "Whatever she's really here for."

"No," Ash agreed. "She isn't. But I'd rather face difficult things honestly with you than let comfortable lies protect either of us from them." He pressed a slow, grounding kiss to my forehead. "Whatever game she's playing, it ends the same way every time. I choose you. I'll keep choosing you, as many times as it takes for her to understand it's not up for negotiation."

I let myself believe him, mostly because I did... but some small, wary part of me couldn't help wondering exactly how far Selene was willing to go to test that certainty before she finally accepted it as truth.