KEISHA’S POV

I was heading home when the maid appeared.

"Keisha." She said. "Someone’s asking for you. At the relaxation centre in the mansion."

I stopped. "Who?"

"A lady." She said. "One of the guests. She said she’d be waiting."

I stood there for a moment.

Mara.

It had to be Mara. The only woman in the delegation who would have any reason to summon me anywhere through a maid rather than just approaching me directly was the one who had already shown me exactly who she was in that corridor.

The smart thing was to go home.

To be honest, I thought about it for a full three seconds. Then I thought about strategy. About knowing what she was after rather than wondering about it.

As much as I despised her, I wanted to keep myself updated with what she said.

"I’ll come." I said.

The relaxation centre was a quiet room on the east side of the mansion with comfortable furniture and tall windows that looked out over the pack grounds in the early evening.

Mara was already there when I arrived, seated on one of the couches with tea set out on the low table in front of her like she had been there long enough to order refreshments and get comfortable.

She looked up and smiled when I walked in. "Keisha." She said warmly. "I’m so glad you came. Please, sit."

I sat quietly.

She poured tea without asking if I wanted any and handed it across the table. I took it and held it without drinking.

"I wanted to apologise." She said, settling back into her seat with a small smile on her face. "For how I spoke to you the other day. In the corridor." She shook her head slightly. "I was unkind and it wasn’t fair and I’ve been feeling genuinely awful about it."

"Okay." I frowned.

"I want you to know that I’m not usually like that." She continued. "I’ve been dealing with some personal things. Family matters. And I took it out on you and that was wrong of me."

"I appreciate you saying that." I nodded.

She smiled. "Of course." She picked up her own cup. "How are you finding Ashveil really? I don’t mean this how I did the other day. I imagine it’s quite different from Coldridge."

"It is." I said. "I prefer it."

"I can see why." She said. "It’s a beautiful pack and very well run, I always say that." She paused. "The Alpha is impressive and steady. You can feel the way people trust him when he walks into a room." She tilted her head slightly. "Have you gotten to know him well? In your time here?"

I looked at her.

"I work in the communications office." I said. "He’s the Alpha. I see him at pack functions."

"Of course." She said easily. "And his Beta? Dane?" She said the name carefully. "He seems very— dedicated. I’ve noticed him at functions. He’s also very focused."

"He runs border security." I frowned. "It tends to make people focused."

Where was she going with this?

She smiled. "I suppose it does." She leaned forward slightly. "They both seem very protective of the people in this pack. Especially—" She paused like she was searching for words. "Well. Everyone really."

"That’s what good leadership looks like." I nodded. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Mhm." She took a sip of tea. "I heard there was an incident recently. With a guard. Something happened to one of the pack members?" She looked at me with wide sympathetic eyes. "Are you alright? I heard it was quite frightening."

I stared at her with a scowl.

She knew.

She knew it was me. She was sitting here pretending she had heard a vague rumour when she absolutely knew every detail.

"What exactly did Riven ask you to find out?" I asked.

Her expression didn’t change immediately. Just held the sympathy for one beat too long before something shifted underneath it.

"I don’t know what you mean." She said pleasantly.

"Yes you do." I retorted. "This isn’t an apology. This is an interrogation with tea." I set my cup down on the table. "You want to know how close I am to Callum and Dane. You want to know if there’s something between us that Riven should know about. You want leverage." I looked at her directly. "Did he ask you or did you come up with this on your own?"

She said nothing.

"Either way." I forced a smile. "You’re not getting anything from me." I stood. "And for what it’s worth— you’re both transparent and it’s embarrassing. You flew all the way here, sat in our meetings, ate our food, and this is what you’re doing with your time." I picked up my bag. "Sort it out."

I walked out.

The evening air hit my face but I kept walking and didn’t slow down until the mansion was properly behind me and my house was in sight and the anger was starting to cool into something that felt like tiredness.

I pushed my front door open and froze.

Nadia was on my sofa.

She was curled into herself with her knees pulled up and her phone face down on the cushion beside her.

She looked up when I came in with an expression I hadn’t seen on her face very often.

Something between sad and shell-shocked.

Oh?

I dropped my bag. "What happened?"

She looked at me for a moment. "My father is going to remarry." She said quietly.

I stared at her, my heart skipping a beat.

"Excuse me?"

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