Chapter 50 I'll keep my distance
~Keith~
I ran a hand through my hair, pretending that I didn't understand what Matt was on about.
Look, I wasn’t doing anything. Technically. I’d merely exchanged a few looks. Maybe a smile. Okay, fine...an appreciative smile and a few words.
How's that making her suffer ?
"She's not suffering. She's just... concerned about pack dynamics."
"Pack dynamics." Matt snorted. "Sure. That's what we're calling it now. Pack dynamics." He walked over and clapped me on the shoulder. "You're playing a dangerous game, my friend. Teasing your father's wife in broad daylight where anyone could see."
The reminder sobered me slightly. He was right. I had pushed too far, let my satisfaction override my common sense. If anyone had been watching closely enough, if anyone had seen the way I looked at her...
"“I know,” I admitted. “I couldn’t help it.”
The words tasted weak the moment they left my mouth, almost like an excuse. Like something a man said when he already knew he’d crossed a line and didn’t regret it nearly enough.
“You’re going to have to learn to help it. At least until we figure out a plan.” Matt pressed a cold water bottle into my hand. The humor had drained from his face, replaced by that rare look he only wore when things were about to go spectacularly wrong. “I mean it, Keith. I know the bond makes it hard. I know every instinct you have is screaming at you to claim her, to let the whole damn pack know she’s yours. But you have to be smart about this.”
I twisted the cap open and drank deeply, letting the coldness trail its way down my throat.
Matt was right. Of course he was right. He always was when it mattered most. Every glance I stole, every second I lingered too long near her, was a gamble. And today? Today I’d pushed my luck hard enough that I could practically hear fate cracking its knuckles.
The rumors about my chosen mate had already turned the pack restless and Sage, my father’s wife, damn it, had felt it the moment they started whispering. I’d seen it in her eyes when she passed me. That flash of possessiveness she tried to bury under duty.
I lowered the bottle slowly, my hands still damp from the training,my pulse refusing to slow down. Seeing that emotion in her, knowing she wasn’t immune, knowing she wasn’t some distant, untouchable figure playing a role she’d been assigned did something to me.
It made this dangerous thing between us feel undeniable because Sage didn’t look at me like a woman trapped by obligation. She didn’t react like someone clinging to status or protection or the safety of a title. What I saw in her eyes wasn’t fear of losing position.
It was fear of losing me.
She wanted me.
Not because the Moon demanded it. Not because politics or pack law twisted her arm. She wanted me because whatever had grown between us quietly, recklessly, against every rule, was real.
I glanced at Matt, forcing a steady breath into my lungs. “I’ll be careful,” I said, even as my instincts snarled at the lie. “I’ll try to keep my distance.”
"Will you? Because I've heard that before."
"I mean it this time."
He studied me for a moment, then sighed. "Fine. But we need to move faster on finding a way out of this engagement. Every day that passes is another day for something to go wrong." He paused, glancing in the direction Sage had disappeared. "And judging by the way she looked at you just now, I don't think she's going to be able to keep her composure much longer either."
That was a problem I hadn't fully considered. Sage was usually so careful. But the jealousy was cracking her facade, and making her reckless. If she confronted me about Riana, if she demanded answers I couldn't give, if she did something that drew my father's attention...
"I need to talk to her," I said. "Properly. In private."
"Oh, sure. Just arrange a secret meeting with the Alpha King's wife. No big deal. Nothing could possibly go wrong with that plan."
"Matt."
"I'm serious. How exactly do you propose to pull that off? Your father has eyes everywhere. He's already suspicious. One wrong move and you're both—"
He stopped mid-sentence, his head turning sharply toward the entrance of the training grounds. I followed his gaze and felt my blood run cold.
My father's personal guard was walking toward us. Two of them, dressed in the black and silver that marked them as Damon's most trusted men. Their expressions were closed, but their presence here, now, could only mean one thing.
Matt moved to stand beside me, close enough that I could feel the tension radiating off him. Neither of us spoke as the guards approached.
"Prince Keith," the taller one said, inclining his head in a gesture of respect that didn't quite reach his eyes. "The Alpha King requests your presence immediately."
"Did he say what this is about?"
"No, Your Highness. Only that it's urgent."
I exchanged a glance with Matt. He looked a bit tense, but there was nothing either of us could do. When Damon summoned, you answered. That was the law of the pack, and even I wasn't exempted.
"Tell him I'll be there shortly," I said. "I need to—"
"Immediately," the guard repeated, and there was something in his tone that brooked no argument. "The Alpha King was very specific."
The second guard was watching me with an intensity that made my skin prickle as if he was looking for a reaction or any sign of guilt or fear.
I gave him nothing.
"Very well." I grabbed my shirt from the bench and pulled it on, taking my time despite the implied urgency. I wouldn't let them see me scramble. I wouldn't give my father that satisfaction. "Lead the way."
As we walked toward the main house, Matt fell into step behind me. The guards hadn't invited him, but they didn't stop him either.
My mind was racing. Had someone seen my interaction with Sage? Had they reported it to my father? Or was this about something else entirely? The engagement, maybe. Or pack business that had nothing to do with my complicated personal life.
But deep in my gut, I knew that this was about Sage. Somehow, some way, my father knew.
And I was walking straight into his trap.