Chapter 33: THE MEETING
KEISHA’S POV
I woke up to their voices.
They were low and quiet near the window, not meant to wake me but doing it anyway. I lay still with my eyes closed and just listened for a moment, not ready to let the morning in yet.
What mattered most was that they had stayed.
"ㅡby seven." Callum was saying.
"I know." Dane sighed.
"She’s still asleep." Dane again, his voice quieter this time.
I kept my eyes shut.
They were going to leave soon.
Slowly, I opened my eyes.
Callum was at the window pulling his coat on, already somewhere else in his head. Dane sat on the edge of the bed pulling his boots on and he looked over when I moved and we just looked at each other for a second.
"Morning." He smiled.
"Morning." I said back.
Callum looked up from his phone. His eyes found mine and just remained there. "I would have stayed longer." He sighed.
"I know." I watched him carefully.
He held my gaze a moment more then looked away and finished with his coat before he moved toward the door. Dane stood, both boots on now and I pushed myself upright against the headboard and watched them both prepare to leave again.
Just like always.
Goddess, I hated this part.
Dane stopped as though on second thoughts and came back.
He crouched in front of me, looked at my face for a second like he was checking something before he then pressed his lips to my forehead.
"Go back to sleep." He said against my skin.
"I have work." I chuckled m.
He pulled back and looked at me. "You have an hour. Get some rest."
He stood and walked out and the door clicked shut.
I sat there in the quiet with my hand pressed against my shirt as I just stared at the shut door.
I didn’t go back to sleep, but I also didn’t move to get ready for work.
****************
I got to the office twenty minutes late and nobody said anything because the whole building was in chaos and buzzing with energy.
Every desk was full. The filing queue on the shared system completely buried. Two people I had never seen before in the correspondence room appeared with laptops and stacks of physical files.
What was happening? Cold ridge didn’t come until a few more days so what was the fuss about? A different delegation or was there something I was missing?
I sat down and pulled up my queue.
Pren appeared at my desk almost immediately, folder under his arm. "Meeting this morning. Nine o’clock. Main conference room, third floor."
I looked up with a frown. "About what?"
"The visitors." He set a briefing sheet on my desk. "Read this first. Administrative support for the inter-pack session. Notes and correspondence." He was already walking away. "Nine sharp."
I picked up the sheet.
Agenda item one. Agenda item two. Attendees listed as Ashveil Pack leadership and visiting delegation. Nothing else or useful.
Visiting delegation.
I set it down and picked up my coffee.
Everyone had been running around since yesterday morning preparing for them and nobody was saying who they actually were.
My curiosity had been building since yesterday and today it was worse. I had even asked Sera about it yesterday and she didn’t know either, just that they were important and that Callum had cleared his schedule for the week.
Important enough to clear the Alpha’s schedule for a week?
I looked at the sheet again and went back to work and told myself I’d find out at nine.
*************
The conference room was already half full when I got there.
I found a seat along the side wall with the administrative staff and settled my notebook on my knee before I looked at the long table and felt a small flicker of genuine curiosity.
Finally. After two days of a buzzing office and no answers, I was finally about to see who all the fuss was about.
Council members settled around the table and senior staff filled the side walls. Callum came in and took the head of the table and Dane came in behind him and I looked at my papers instead of them.
This was work. Not leisure time.
The door opened and I looked up.
People I didn’t recognise filed in. Four people first, then two more, then a woman in a deep red coat who sat, arranging papers in front of her without looking up.
Not anyone familiar.
Okay.
The door creaked open again and I looked up to see Riven walk in.
My pen stopped and so did my heart.
Riven?
I looked again— maybe it was just my eyes playing tricks on me. But no, there he was, with dark mop of hair and dark brown eyes that hadn’t found me in the corner yet.
He stepped inside very casually, said something low to the man beside him and pulled out the chair directly across the table before he sat and looked at the room generally.
Then, his eyes found mine and he went completely still.
And Iㅡ I just stared at him.
Oh fuck.
The shock hit before anything else did. The pure stupid shock of it. Of sitting here genuinely excited to finally meet the mysterious visitors and having it be him.
Riven. Here. In Ashveil. In this room. Twelve feet away from me.
The room suddenly seemed to spin and the voices of every other person drowned out.
Oh shit. Oh shit.
My heart was racing and I suddenly felt the urge to throw up or something.
Diane had gone very still inside me but I could feel her apprehension too.
Weren’t they supposed to be here in a few days? I was already dreading the day but it gave me time to prepare.
This? It didn’t give me a chance to even breath before dumping this on me.
I couldn’t look away from his face.
Guilt. It was right there in his face, I had known him long enough to catch the little expressions and god, I hated that I still kept that tiny piece of information in my head.
I stared at him and feltㅡSomething.
But I wasn’t sure yet what.
