Chapter 72: Chewing Glass
You don’t want her, yet you won’t give her to me.
Keenan squeezed his hands tightly around the quill as Claude’s words echoed in his head. It annoyed him. He truly didn’t want her; all he wanted was his revenge.
What Claude was insinuating had nothing to do with his revenge, right?
Yet, the idea of giving her to Claude—even for a day—caused a vicious pain in his chest. He could still clearly see them kissing in his head, and he was extremely revolted and angry.
However, he shouldn’t have had such an extreme reaction, and he decided it was best to ignore them; that was the right approach. But every moment he sat at that table felt like chewing glass.
Keenan’s gaze darkened as he looked toward the door, just as three heavy knocks rattled the door. He knew who was behind it. He returned his gaze to the paperwork on his desk. If he ignored Claude, hopefully the Alpha would get the message and leave him alone.
He didn’t.
"Leaving your guest unattended," Claude said as he burst into Keenan’s study room. He wasn’t alone as he walked in; his trusted sidekick hung close.
"Get out," Keenan said without looking up.
"Have some respect," Hilbert spat out. "Alpha Claude has done more for you than any Royal would stick their neck out for someone as lowborn as you. You should mind your tongue."
Keenan slowly lifted his head to look at Claude. He wasn’t in any mental state to be polite. Neither did he care what the Alpha’s dog had to say. He was only tolerable because of his master.
"Get o—"
"This is important, Keenan." Claude moved his hand, and Hilbert pulled out a chair for him.
Keenan slowly turned his head to look at Claude. "What’s important is that you leave Verlassen. You have overstayed your welcome."
"Is this about Lady Maya? Are you mad about the kiss, or about me asking you to give her to me? I thought you didn’t want her," Claude asked with a grin and sat directly in front of Keenan with his legs spread apart while Hilbert stood behind him.
Keenan’s eyes darkened, but he controlled his anger. He knew better than to take the bait.
"If you have nothing else to say, you should leave," he said coldly and turned his attention to his desk.
"Do they know about your involuntary shifts?"
Keenan snapped the quill he held.
"Ouff!" Claude said. "Always so quick to anger. Do you plan to leave her in Verlassen?"
"What?" The change of question caught him off guard.
"Did you not hear me? Surely, you don’t plan to leave her here while you go off to the capital?"
"And how is that your concern?"
Claude shook his head. "No concern of mine. But don’t act surprised when you don’t find her here when you return."
"What are you planning?"
"Why are you always instantly suspicious of me?" Claude asked with a displeased tone, but the smirk on his face gave him away.
Keenan narrowed his eyes. Claude didn’t care who he interrupted as long as he could get entertained. Going along with him was not the right approach. If he didn’t want to share information, Keenan asking wouldn’t change that.
However, he would be lying if he said he didn’t consider. Leaving her here might be dangerous.
"Is that all? I’d rather be left alone," Keenan mumbled.
"Hilbert saw something," Claude replied.
"He did?" Keenan asked and lifted his gaze upward to the huge man.
"You didn’t hear? I expected your Beta to have told you as soon as he had the information."
Keenan’s eyes narrowed. He didn’t like Claude’s insinuation, and he also didn’t believe it. He trusted Asher with his life. He was certain the reason he hadn’t heard a thing was because Asher also hadn’t. Hilbert most likely only told his master, as the faithful dog he was.
"Hear what?" He asked, ignoring Claude’s snide comment about his Beta’s unreliability.
"Hilbert believes he may have seen one of Vilhelm’s men."
Keenan’s back straightened, and the uneasy feeling he had had since the wedding settled over him. "Are you certain?"
"It was brief, and he was quite some distance away," Claude explained.
Keenan narrowed his eyes. There was no way to verify Claude’s statement, but at the same time, he couldn’t risk it.
"You don’t have to believe me," Claude said with a shrug. "But don’t say I didn’t warn you."
Claude stood up and walked toward the exit. Keenan watched the Alpha leave, feeling the broken quill in his hands. Before he could recover from the unwanted visit, there was a knock on the door.
After the second knock, Alaina walked into the room. Keenan narrowed his eyes at her intrusion, but he didn’t chase her out.
"Alpha," she said, smiling as she gestured closer.
"What do you want, Alaina? I have work to do."
"Maya is not to be trusted. You know that. Having her sleep in your room is dangerous. Have you forgotten all she has done? The scar on your chest? What her father had done. You should throw her in the mines! That’s what she deserves."
"Is that all you came here to say?" Keenan asked with clear irritation.
He indulged her because he owed her. Penn had died years ago and Alaina had kept the locket all that time. From the moment she returned it, it had remained locked in his drawer. He had considered burying it with Penn more than once, but he had never been able to let it go.
"I think this is another plan to get you to let your guard down, Alpha Keenan. She has no reason to do this. We can only imagine what they are planning, especially with this meeting coming up."
"Okay, Alaina."
Alaina grounded her teeth, Alpha Keenan was clearly not listening to her and she could see that he was waiting for her to leave. She could not shake away the feeling that something was changing. Something, she might not be able to stop.
"I was also wondering if you would go to the beach with us today. You haven’t been there in a long—"
The rest of her words paused as the sky suddenly darkened and the clouds unleashed.
