Chapter 53: You Made Her a Maid
"You made her a maid?" Claude called out in horror after Maya exited the drawing room. "Have you lost your mind? You married the High Alpha’s daughter and made her a maid! I suspected you might be a lost cause, but I didn’t think it was that bad."
"What I choose to do is none of your business. You should know better than to poke your nose."
Claude knew better. He knew that Keenan didn’t consider this a marriage—rather a means to an end. His revenge. However, Claude had thought it would be more vengeful than turning her into a housemaid.
What he would do to her—he nearly drooled at the thought. And Keenan had her washing dishes and cleaning his house. Claude touched his temples as he tried to put a damper on his anger at his junior’s horrifying mistake.
She had left the room, but her scent still lingered, filling the space and he could still feel her touch on his palm. This was the sort of woman Keenan had doing his dishes.
Claude stretched out his legs and gestured with his fingers for Hilbert to pour the tea. He needed something to calm his nerves. Hilbert moved swiftly and handed him the teacup.
He took a sip immediately, his brows raising slightly. It was good—almost as good as the tea served in the castle. He placed the teacup on the saucer and turned his attention back to Keenan.
"You turned the sickly, fragile High Alpha’s daughter into a maid?" He did want to drop the subject but Claude found he was still in disbelief.
"Sickly, fragile?" Keenan shook his head. "Surely, you jest? If you have horses that won’t listen, give her a whip and you’ll see."
Alpha Claude didn’t doubt Keenan’s words; he had seen the large scar on his chest. He didn’t know the full details, but it was pretty clear Lady Maya was involved.
"What’s Vilhelm planning?" Keenan asked, changing the subject.
Claude ran his fingers through his strawberry blonde curls. He wanted to push more, but Keenan’s cold eyes told him it was best not to. He let out a sigh. There was still time to get what he wanted; he had no reason to be in a hurry.
"A meeting. In less than a week, there will be a meeting in the royal castle. All the Alphas will be in attendance—excluding you." Claude explained thoroughly, knowing he could no longer withhold the information from Keenan now that he had seen Maya.
Keenan narrowed his eyes. "If it’s a meeting of all the Alphas, shouldn’t I be there?"
"Well, you don’t expect him to extend an invitation to his problem, do you? He obviously plans to keep you uninformed. Your absence can easily be blamed on you."
"Whether I am present or not changes nothing. He can’t do anything now," Keenan replied.
Claude shrugged. "Who knows?"
Keenan narrowed his eyes at Claude’s nonchalant attitude. He could clearly recall his interaction with Maya; there was clearly an agenda there, but he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what Claude was playing at.
He also knew better than to trust Claude. He wasn’t worried about betrayal, but Claude had a terrible habit of being exceedingly selfish and pursuing things he wanted, all rules be damned.
He could tell the Alpha had set his sights on Maya. It wasn’t jealousy—or so Keenan told himself. Maya belonged to him now. No one was going to take her away from him—not her father and certainly not Claude.
"Anything else?" Keenan asked when Claude just sipped the tea without saying anything, but his unsettling eyes were ever watching.
"No, nothing else."
"Well, I appreciate you making the way here just to tell me this, but a letter would have been enough."
"We both know I didn’t make the journey for you," Claude smirked and returned the teacup to the table.
Keenan tried not to react to how easily Claude turned the conversation back to Maya. He wanted to tell him to stay away from her, but that would only make things worse.
Keenan stood to his feet. Engaging with Claude any further would be to his own detriment. "I have work to do. Lunch should be served soon, and if you’re still here by dinner time..." he paused.
"I am not going anywhere, Keenan. It’s rude to throw your guest out."
"You may join us in the dining room," Keenan completed and started toward the door.
"Were you going to leave me out originally?" Claude asked Keenan’s back.
Keenan didn’t respond and kept walking.
"Keenan. I want a tour. Assign someone to show me around."
"No," Keenan said with his hand on the door handle. "You may go wherever you want. I’d prefer it if you didn’t return."
Hilbert sent him a dark look, but Keenan wasn’t bothered. The Alpha’s guard dog wouldn’t do anything without his handler’s approval. He pulled the door open, stepped out, and shut it louder than he needed to.
Claude slowly turned away as the door closed. He lifted his gaze, staring at the ceiling as a smile lingered on his lips.
"Alpha Keenan shouldn’t speak to you in this manner, Alpha."
"You fret too much, Hilbert. Let him bark," Claude grinned. "I did show up in his territory unannounced."
"It’s not enough justification. I don’t understand why you let such people speak to you in this manner. He should be grateful you’d even come out here."
"Oh, he is," Claude replied. "He simply hates my guts." Claude laughed as though he had said the funniest thing ever.
Hilbert stood with a conflicted look on his face. He would never go against Claude, but it irked him gravely that a mere commoner whom his Alpha had taken under his wing and protected more than he needed to would act in such a manner.
"Sit, Hilbert," Claude said at his bodyguard’s dark expression. "Drink the tea. It’s refreshing."
"Yes, Alpha," he replied and poured some for himself. He was sure there was a reason Claude indulged Keenan; he just couldn’t see it.
