Two Alphas, One Luna

Chapter 6 – The Elder’s Eye

The conference room on the second floor has never felt this small.

It’s just a long scarred table, a whiteboard no one uses, and too many wolves crammed into not enough air. Jarek at the far end, arms folded. Talla by the window, chewing her thumbnail. Maelith in her usual chair, knitting something that looks suspiciously like a noose.

And Corren at the head of the table, spine straight, jaw set.

The only empty seat is beside him. Of course.

“Sit, Seryn,” Maelith says without looking up. “You’re making the walls nervous.”

I lower myself into the chair, trying not to glance at the closed door. The whole room smells like tension and coffee and… something colder, sharper, metallic under the rest.

He’s not here yet, but his scent arrived before he did.

Vorian.

The last time I saw him, I was fifteen and hiding behind my mother in a council hall I had no business in. He’d been courteous and terrifying in equal measure, the kind of man who could order your death with a smile and then remind you to bring a coat because it might rain.

The door opens.

He looks exactly the same.

Sharp suit, silver hair slicked back, eyes the color of old coins. No visible hint of wolf, but my hackles rise anyway. The air tightens as he steps in, closing the door with quiet precision.

“Alpha Corren,” he says, inclining his head. “Maelith. Jarek. Pack.” His gaze touches each of them, then lands on me. “Seryn.”

Hearing my name in his voice is like having cold fingers trail down my spine.

“Vorian,” Corren says. “You wanted to see us.”

“Not us,” Maelith mutters. “Her.”

Vorian’s mouth flickers. “Not exclusively.”

He takes the seat opposite me, unbuttoning his jacket with unhurried grace. He moves like a man who has never once had to rush for anything.

“Let’s not waste time,” he says. “There was an incident at the border.”

“Forest ambush,” Jarek confirms. “We have logs, scent records, witness reports. Nothing we can’t handle pack‑to‑pack.”

“Under normal circumstances,” Vorian agrees. “But these are not normal circumstances.”

His gaze fixes on me again. My wolf bristles, then curls in tight, instinctively wary.

“You crossed into forest land,” he says. “You survived an altercation with their alpha. You returned. And now every patrol story in this city smells like you.”

I swallow. “I pulled a wolf out of someone else’s teeth. That’s hardly—”

“You pulled more than that,” he cuts in, mild as tea. “I can feel it from here.”

The room goes still. Even Talla stops fidgeting.

Corren’s voice is ice. “You can address any concerns to me. As her alpha.”

Vorian arches a brow. “Are you?”

The question hangs there, weighted. My chest tightens.

He inhales, slow and deliberate, tasting the air. The subtle ripple that runs through him is almost imperceptible, but I see it.

“Ah,” he murmurs. “So the reports were not exaggerated.”

Maelith’s knitting stills. “And what exactly have your little birds been chirping, Vorian?”

“That our stray wolfling on the border,” he says, never taking his eyes off me, “has begun to shine a little too brightly for one sky.”

Heat creeps up my neck. “I don’t know what that means.”

“Don’t insult me, child.” There’s no anger in his tone, which somehow makes it worse. “I was there the last time the moon tried to split herself in two.”

Memory flashes behind his eyes—something jagged and old.

Corren’s hand curls on the table. “Whatever you think you feel, there has been no bond claim. Not from me. Not from Vaelor.”

“Yet,” Vorian says.

Silence drops like a stone.

“And if there were?” Talla blurts, then winces when Jarek kicks her under the table. “Hypothetically.”

Vorian finally looks away from me, turning that thin, polite smile on her. “Then we would have a situation that has already once nearly torn our people apart.”

He reaches into his inner pocket and sets a slim folder on the table. No one moves to take it.

“In the interest of transparency,” he says, “the circle of elders has designated the phenomenon of a ‘double pull’ an extreme threat to stability. If confirmed, standard protocol is containment or elimination.”

My heart stutters. “Containment,” I repeat. “Like a disease.”

“Like a wildfire,” he corrects gently. “Beautiful. Powerful. Capable of cleansing or annihilating. Difficult to predict. Impossible to fully control.”

Corren’s aura spikes, cold and lethal. “You will not touch her.”

Vorian’s gaze slides back to him, amusement ghosting over his features. “You make that sound like a promise, not a hope.”

“It is a promise,” Corren says.

The wolf in his voice makes the hairs on my arms rise. Vorian’s eyes narrow, tracking that edge.

“I see.” He steeples his fingers. “Then let me be perfectly clear, Alpha. If your attachment to this girl interferes with your duty to keep the peace, the circle will act. And if the forest alpha shares this… attachment…” His gaze flicks to me once more, sharp enough to cut. “Then our problem doubles.”

I find my voice, somehow. “You’re talking about me like I’m a weapon someone left lying around.”

His expression softens a fraction. “No, Seryn. I’m talking about you like a match held over a room full of dry tinder. The match is not evil. The fire that follows is not always either.”

He leans forward, voice lowering.

“But make no mistake. If you choose to burn, we will not let you take the world with you.”