KEISHA’S POV

I didn’t go home when the day ended.

I just walked past the residential path, past the training ground, through the outer gate and kept going until the pack was behind me.

I leaned on the railing, looked at the road below and just took a deep breath.

Oh fuck, I missed my sister.

I missed her so much.

With that in mind, I turned around and went back home.

****************

Nadia was outside my front door in her dinner clothes with her arms wrapped around herself.

A look of irritation was evident on her face.

"Where have you been?" She said the moment she saw me coming down the path.

"Walking." I raised a brow.

"Walking." She repeated. "Keisha, it’s dark. You just disappeared after work and nobody knew where—"

"I needed air." I said. "Why didn’t you go inside? You know the passcode."

"Because I was standing here worrying about you." She looked concerned. "That’s why."

I looked at her and at the container in her hand that I had only just noticed. "What’s that?"

She looked down at it. "Dinner." She said. "Because I knew you weren’t going to want to eat in the dining hall with—" She gestured vaguely back toward the mansion. "All of that."

Oh.

"Come in." I said.

She came in and we sat at the kitchen table where she opened the container and the smell of Becca’s cooking filled the kitchen immediately.

Oh fuck, I was hungry.

I pulled the plate toward me and started eating. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"So." Nadia settled her chin in her hand across the table. "The dinner was interesting."

Second day of dinner and I had also missed it.

"Hm." I said.

"One of Riven’s council members told a story about a border negotiation from twelve years ago that nobody asked for." She grunted. "Completely unprompted. Just started talking and kept going for twenty minutes."

I almost smiled. "Was it at least interesting?"

"Not even slightly." She said. "Becca’s dessert saved the evening honestly." She reached forward and stole a piece of fish off my plate without asking, which was very her. "Mara was lovely though."

That made me pause and almost laugh in hysterical huffs. Mara was very lovely? Wow, of course she was. It still stung hearing my best friend casually talk about it.

I looked up.

"Very warm." Nadia continued. "Complimented Becca’s cooking three times. Talked to Elder Garic for ages about pack history. Everyone was quite taken with her." She looked at me. "You’d probably like her if you gave her a chance. I know it’s weird with the whole Riven thing but—"

"Maybe." I cut her off.

She looked at me sideways. "That’s a very unconvincing maybe."

"It’s the only one I have." I forced a stiff smile.

Nadia didn’t need to know about what Mara had said. Mara had this thing about her— she could fool everyone but she showed me behind her mask. Let me see how bitter and insecure she was.

The thought still managed to make me sick till now. The idea that there was a target on my back and would remain there for as long as Mara was in the pack.

She studied me for a second then let it go. "How are you actually? After today."

I ate a piece of fish. "I’m fine."

"Keisha? Don’t bullshit me."

"I’m fine, Nadia. Really." I looked at her.

"And Mara?" She asked with a raise of a brow. "She pulled you aside after the meeting yesterday. I was going to ask but you seemed in a hurry to go to bed. What happened?"

"We talked." I said simply.

Nadia waited.

"She introduced herself." I shrugged. "It was fine."

She sighed, reached forward and stole another piece of fish and I let her because I was in a good enough mood now that I could be generous about it.

We talked about other things. Nadia’s ongoing disagreement with the events coordinator. Just little stuff that seemed almost meaningless.

I pulled the plate closer and ate the last of the fish.

"ㅡapparently he’s been trying to get that passage reopened for years." Nadia was saying. "Which actually makes sense when you think about the trade routes because if you look at the geography—"

My stomach turned over and I put my fork down.

"ㅡthe whole eastern corridor would open up which is actually significant for both packs not just—"

It turned again.

Oh no.

Oh no no no—

I was on my feet before I finished the thought, chair scraping back hard against the floor, and I heard Nadia say "Keisha?" behind me but I was already moving, already through the hallway, already pushing the bathroom door open and dropping to my knees in front of the toilet and everything came up. All of it.

I knelt there afterward with my forehead against the cool edge, my whole body shaking slightly and my eyes watering.

"Okay." Nadia’s voice came from the doorway. "Okay, that was—"

"The fish." I struggled to say but my voice came out rough. "Must have been off."

"Right." She muttered.

"Becca’s fish." I said. "Something wasn’t right with it."

"Mhm." She said.

I sat back against the wall and closed my eyes and pressed the back of my hand to my mouth and waited for the nausea to decide if it was finished with me.

Nadia was quiet, just staring at me.

I opened my eyes.

Her brows were furrowed with a gnawing question in her eyes.

"What." I whispered.

She looked at me for a long moment.

"Keisha." She said slowly. "When was the last time you had a heat?"

The bathroom went very quiet and I stared at her.

What?

She stared back at me and waited and the look on her face said she had already done the maths and was just waiting for me to catch up.

My mouth opened.

"It was the fish." I brushed her off.

"Was it?" She asked.

I looked at the wall, panic filling me.

It had to be. Please let it be.