Chapter 48 Jealousy
~Keith~
The training ground was empty except for me and Matt, which was exactly how I wanted it. Early morning sessions meant no audience, no pack members watching my every move and reporting back to my father; just the burn of exertion and the satisfying thud of fists against leather.
I threw another combination at the punching bag, putting all my frustration into each hit. Left jab. Right cross. Left hook. The bag swung wildly on its chain, and I followed it, refusing to let it escape.
"You're dropping your left shoulder again," Matt called from where he was lounging on a bench nearby, looking entirely too comfortable for someone who was supposed to be my training partner. "If that bag could hit back, you'd be on the floor right now."
"Then get over here and hit back," I shot back between breaths. "Unless you're too scared."
"I'm not scared. I'm conserving energy." He stretched lazily, arms behind his head. "One of us has to be the brains of this operation. Can't do that if you knock me unconscious."
I rolled my eyes and went back to the bag, channeling days of pent-up tension into every strike.
It had been almost a week since my father's warning. A week of avoiding Sage, of pretending I didn't feel her presence every time she walked into a room, of acting like my chest didn't ache constantly from the distance between us.
The bond was getting worse. Or better, depending on how you looked at it. I could feel her emotions more clearly now, bleeding through the connection like ink through water. Her frustration. Her loneliness. Her fear.
And lately, something else. Something that was entirely unexpected. I felt jealousy from her.
I didn't know what had triggered it at first. But over the past few days, I had started to notice the way Sage looked at me when she thought I wasn't watching. The way her jaw tightened when any of the female pack members approached me. The way her scent spiked with possessiveness and anger whenever someone mentioned Riana’s name in her presence.
She must have heard the rumors. Of course she had. The whole pack was buzzing with news of my impending engagement. Riana Blackwood's arrival was the most exciting thing to happen in months, and everyone had an opinion about it. The servants gossiped in hallways. The warriors discussed it during training. Even the omegas whispered about it in the kitchens.
And Sage had heard all of it.
I should have felt guilty about the situation. I should have been worried about how the news was affecting her. And I was, on some level. But there was another part of me that couldn't help but enjoy it.
My mate was jealous. My mate didn't want anyone else to have me. My mate was staking her claim even if she couldn't do it openly.
It was wrong to take pleasure in her discomfort. I knew that. But the possessiveness in her scent, the fire in her eyes when she looked at me, the way she seemed to bristle at the mere mention of another woman's name... it did something to me. It made the wolf inside me howl with satisfaction.
She was mine. And she didn't want to share.
"Heads up," Matt said suddenly, his casual tone turning more alert. "Incoming. Two o'clock."
I caught the bag mid-swing, steadying it as I turned to look in the direction he indicated. My heart stuttered in my chest.
Sage was walking along the path that bordered the training grounds. She was wearing a simple green sundress that swayed around her knees as she moved, her dark hair pulled back from her face in a way that exposed the elegant line of her neck. The morning light caught her just right, turning her skin golden and making her look like something out of a dream.
She wasn't alone. One of the female servants walked beside her, carrying a basket and chattering about something I couldn't hear from this distance. But Sage wasn't paying attention to the conversation. Her eyes were fixed straight ahead, carefully not looking in my direction.
Too carefully.
"Well, well, well," Matt murmured, low enough that only I could hear. "Look who decided to take the scenic route this morning. Funny how the scenic route happens to pass right by where you're training shirtless. All sweaty and glistening in the morning light."
"Shut up."
"I'm just saying. That's a very specific path she's chosen. Almost like she wanted to see something. Or someone." He grinned at me, clearly enjoying himself. "Should I give you two some privacy? I could fake an injury or even pretend to twist my ankle and hobble away dramatically."
"You're going to have a real injury if you don't stop talking."
But even as I threatened him, my eyes never left Sage. She was getting closer now, and I could see the tension in her shoulders, the rigid set of her spine. She was trying so hard to appear casual, to look like she was just passing through on her way to somewhere else.
The servant beside her said something, and Sage's gaze flickered toward the training grounds for just a second and our eyes met.
I felt her sharp intake of breath as clearly as if it had been my own and felt the way her heartbeat became faster, the way her wolf stirred restlessly beneath her skin.
And beneath all of that, simmering like coals waiting to catch fire, that jealousy. That possessive, burning jealousy that made every instinct in me want to go to her, grab her, show her that she had nothing to worry about.
Instead, I did something far more dangerous. I smiled at her.
It wasn't a polite smile. Not a respectful, distant smile appropriate for a prince addressing his father's Luna. No, this was a different kind of smile entirely. Slow and knowing and full of all the things I couldn't say out loud.
Sage's eyes widened slightly, her cheeks flushed pink and then she looked away sharply, saying something to the servant that made them change direction toward the training grounds.
"Oh, this is going to be good," Matt muttered. "This is going to be so good. I should have brought snacks."