Chapter 53 I trust you
~Sage~
Damon's eyes went cold…colder than I had ever seen them.
"Then there will be consequences. For you. And for anyone you care about."
His gaze slid to me again, and this time it lingered. This time there was no mistaking the threat.
Keith saw it. I felt the moment he understood, felt the flash of pure terror that shot through the bond before he could suppress it.
"Leave her out of this," Keith said, and his voice had changed. It was no longer angry. It was soft and pleading. "She has nothing to do with—"
"With what?" Damon cut him off smoothly. "I was simply looking at my wife. Is there a problem with that?"
Keith's mouth opened, then closed. He had walked right into the trap, and we all knew it.
"No," he finally said, the word dragged out of him like it physically hurt. "No problem."
"Good." Damon smiled again, and it was the smile of a man who had won. "I'm glad we understand each other."
He rose from his chair, signaling that the meeting was over. Keith stood too, moving toward the door with rigid steps. I followed, desperate to escape the suffocating atmosphere of that room.
"Oh, and Keith?" He waited until his son turned back to look at him. "Riana is very excited to see you again. She's been talking about nothing else for weeks. About picking up where you two left off."
Keith's face was stone.
"I'm sure she'll want to reminisce about old times," Damon continued, his tone almost wistful. "All those memories you share. All those intimate moments. It will be like no time has passed at all. I'm sure you two wouldn't waste time in giving me grand pups."
He was twisting the knife, and he was enjoying every second of it.
"Perhaps you two can take up where you left off on your wedding night," Damon added, his smile widening. "After all, you were her first. There's something special about that, isn't there? A bond that never quite goes away."
I couldn't take it anymore.
I didn't storm out. I didn't show any reaction at all. But I walked out with my head held high and I didn't look back.
Keith was right behind me.
I walked as fast as I could, needing to put distance between myself and that room. Between myself and the images Damon had planted in my mind. Keith and Riana. Together. Intimate. In love.
"Sage, wait."
I didn't wait. I kept walking, heading somewhere, anywhere, as long as it was away from him.
"Sage." Keith caught my arm, pulling me to a stop. We were in a deserted corridor, far from prying eyes and listening ears. "Please, just let me explain."
"Explain what?" I spun to face him, "Explain that you have history with the woman you're about to marry? Explain that you were her first? That you made her feel special? I already know all that. There's no need to explain."
"It's not like that—"
"Then what is it like, Keith?" The words came out in a snap, filled with a jealousy that I couldn't control. "Because from where I'm standing, it looks like you and Riana have quite the love story. Childhood sweethearts reunited. How romantic."
Keith's expression crumbled. "Is that really what you think?"
"I don't know what to think." My voice cracked, and I hated myself for it.
"Then let me tell you." He stepped closer, so close I could feel the heat of his body, could smell that intoxicating scent that made my wolf purr with contentment. "Yes, Riana and I were close when we were younger. Yes, we were together for a while. But it was never real, Sage. Not like this."
"Not like what?"
"Not like us." His hand came up to cup my face. "What I felt for her was nothing compared to what I feel for you. She was a distraction. A stupid decision made by a stupid teenager who didn't know what he was looking for."
"But you were her first." The words tasted like poison in my mouth.
"And I regret it every day." Keith's voice was raw with honesty. "Because it should have been you. Everything should have been you. From the very beginning. You're my true mate, Sage."
I stared up at him, my heart pounding so hard I was sure he could hear it.
"My father is using her against me," Keith continued. "He knows I don't want to marry her. He knows I never wanted this engagement. So he's bringing up the past, trying to make it seem like there's still something between us. But there isn't. There never will be again."
"How can you be sure?" I whispered. "She's beautiful and everything an Alpha King should want."
"She's not you."
The simple declaration hit me like a physical blow.
"I don't want beautiful and powerful," Keith said, his thumb tracing gentle circles on my cheek. "I don't want political alliances or perfect matches. I want the woman who challenges me. Who frustrates me. Who makes me feel things I never knew I could feel."
I closed my eyes, overwhelmed by the intensity of his words. By the intensity of everything.
"Keith..."
"I never made her any promises," he said. "Whatever she told my father, whatever stories she's been spinning, they're not true. I never told her she was my mate. I never told her I would marry her. And I certainly never felt for her what I feel for you."
Before I could respond, we heard urgent footsteps behind us. We sprang apart, putting proper distance between us just as one of the servants rounded the corner.
"Luna," she said, bowing her head. "The Alpha King asked me to give you these."
She held out a stack of papers. Menus and decoration options and guest lists. Everything I would need to plan the perfect welcome celebration for Riana Blackwood.
I took them with numb fingers.
"Thank you," I managed. "Tell him I'll have preliminary plans ready by tomorrow."
The servant nodded and disappeared back the way she had come.
I looked down at the papers in my hands, then up at Keith. His expression had gone hard again.
"I won't marry her," he said quietly. "I don't care what my father threatens. I don't care about the alliance or the politics or any of it. I'm going to find a way out of this, Sage. I promise you."
"Keith—"
"No." He cut me off. "I know what you're going to say. That it's dangerous. That we can't fight him. That we should just accept our fate." He shook his head. "I'm done accepting. I'm done being my father's pawn. And I'm done watching the woman I—"
He stopped himself, but the unfinished sentence hung in the air between us.
"Just trust me," he said finally. "Can you do that?"
I looked at him; this man who had turned my world upside down, who had awakened something in me I thought was dead, who made me feel both terrified and alive.
"I trust you," I whispered.
He nodded once, gave me a quick kiss that felt more intimate than all the others, then turned and walked away, leaving me alone with a stack of wedding plans and a heart that didn't know whether to break or burst.
I looked down at the first page. Guest list for the Blackwood Welcome Celebration.
And there, at the very top, was a name that made my world shake:
Riana Blackwood, Future Luna Queen.
She was coming… and everything was about to change.