Chapter 28 Just what if?
~Sage~
Keith stood there, his face the perfect mask of a concerned prince
The guards straightened immediately. Even James shifted a bit. Keith might be the prince, but people respected him for his own strength and brains.
"Prince Keith," James said with a small bow. "I'm just conducting a necessary investigation."
"Investigation?" Keith walked into the room, his presence immediately changing everything. Where James brought suspicion and threats, Keith brought this cool authority that somehow made the burning under my skin calm down a little. "Someone's accusing Luna Sage of something?"
"The Alpha King's sudden illness needs an explanation," James said carefully.
"And you immediately blame a girl who can't even shift?" Keith's voice was mild, but there was steel under it. "A girl who drank the bonding elixir in public and was perfectly fine? Think about what you're implying, Beta."
The tension got thicker. I noticed Natalie watching Keith with that familiar longing in her eyes, though she tried to hide it by messing with stuff on my vanity.
"I'm not implying anything," James said finally. "But the pack wants answers."
"Then the pack can wait for the doctors to figure it out," Keith replied smoothly. "Meanwhile, Luna Sage gets treated with the respect she deserves as the Alpha King's chosen mate. Put Marcus outside her room for her protection, obviously. The palace is in chaos right now, and we don't want any... misunderstandings."
It was basically telling him to get out, wrapped up in political niceness. James got it, his jaw tightening.
"Of course, Prince Keith," he said. He turned back to me, his gray eyes hard. "We'll talk again soon, Luna Sage. I suggest you think hard about any detail that might explain what happened. The Alpha King's gonna want answers when he wakes up."
They left, leaving just Keith, Natalie, and me. Once the door closed, Keith's shoulders relaxed a bit, though his face stayed carefully neutral.
"Are you hurt?" he asked me, though his eyes didn't quite meet mine. We were too used to hiding what was between us.
"She's fine," Natalie answered quickly, moving closer to Keith than she needed to. "Just shaken up. It all happened so fast."
Keith nodded, finally looking at me directly. The second our eyes met, that burning under my skin shifted, becoming something warmer and less defensive. It was like my body recognized him, even if we couldn't acknowledge it out loud.
"The healers are stumped," he said, keeping his tone formal though I could hear the worry underneath. "My father keeps mumbling about wrong scents and burning. They can't find any poison, no wolfsbane, nothing that would explain why he collapsed."
When he said burning, my hand automatically went to my neck. Keith's eyes followed the movement, his nostrils flaring slightly like he could smell something different about me. His jaw tightened.
"You should rest," he said suddenly, taking a step back like he needed the distance. "Tomorrow will be difficult. Father will want answers that none of us have."
"I don't even know what happened," I said softly.
"Neither does anyone else," Keith replied. "That's what worries me. Tomorrow's gonna bring more questions and investigations. Natalie, make sure Luna Sage has everything she needs."
"Of course, Prince Keith," Natalie replied, way too eagerly.
He headed for the door, then stopped. "Luna Sage, if you remember anything…anything at all that might explain what happened, let me know immediately. My father's condition is... we've never seen anything like it."
I nodded vigorously , needing him to step out as soon as possible. His presence was affecting me in ways I couldn't explain.
But I understood him quite well. Alpha Kings didn't just collapse. They didn't show weakness. Whatever happened during that ceremony had broken something fundamental about how the pack worked.
After he left, Natalie went back to unlacing my dress, though she was moving slower now, visibly distracted.
"He's worried about you," she said quietly, and for once there was no pretense in her voice, no jealousy. She was just stating a fact.
I didn't answer. How could I explain that the burning under my skin had calmed down the second he walked in? That something inside me, something that had been quiet my whole life, had stirred for the first time?
"The whole pack's freaking out," Natalie continued, finally getting me out of the ceremonial dress. "An Alpha showing weakness like that... it's unheard of. There's gonna be questions about whether he can still rule, whether other packs might see this as their chance."
She was right. Damon's collapse hadn't just interrupted a ceremony. It had potentially screwed up everything. And somehow I was at the center of it, with this weird burning in my neck and something stirring inside me that shouldn't exist.
As Natalie helped me into a nightgown, I caught my reflection in the mirror. The marks on my neck where Damon's teeth had scraped were faint but visible; two small red crescents that seemed to shine with their own heat.
"Does it hurt?" Natalie asked, noticing where I was looking.
"It burns," I admitted. "But not exactly painful. Just... strange."
She frowned, leaning closer to look. "They should have healed by now. Wolf marks usually fade within hours if the bond doesn't take."
But these weren't fading. If anything, they looked brighter than before, like something was keeping them fresh and angry.
Something had protected me. Something had rejected the Alpha King so violently it knocked him on his ass in front of everyone. The memory of his face going gray, his body hitting the floor, it didn't make sense.
But I didn't have a wolf. I was broken, defective, wolfless. That's why my father had practically given me away to Damon. That's why the price was so low even though I came from an alpha bloodline. Everyone knew Sage Donovan was the girl born wrong.
Or wasn't I?
The burning sensation pulsed again, stronger this time, spreading from my neck down through my chest. And for just a second, I could've sworn I felt something else under it.
My knees went weak. Natalie caught my arm, guiding me to the bed.
"You're exhausted," she said. "After what happened, no wonder you feel strange."
But this wasn't exhaustion. This was something waking up. Something that had been sleeping so long, I'd never even known it existed. The presence flickered again, stronger, and I pressed my hand to my chest.
What if everyone had been wrong about me?
Natalie finished helping me change and headed for the door. "Want me to stay? In case you need anything?"
Part of me wanted to say yes, to not be alone with these weird new feelings and the thought of what had happened. But I shook my head.
"I'll be fine. Thanks, Natalie."
She paused at the door. "Sage... be careful. Whatever happened tonight, it changed everything. The Alpha King's not gonna let this go.”