Chapter 60: GOOD-BYE
Goodbye
KEISHA’S POV
"Two minutes." He pleaded. "We leave tomorrow."
I looked at him for a moment.
"Two minutes." I agreed. "Then I’m going back to work."
We moved to the quieter alcove near the east wall where I stood there with my notebook against my chest and waited.
He looked at me for a moment like he was deciding where to start. Then— "I spoke to Mara."
I raised a brow. "About?"
"About how she’s been treating you." He said. "The corridor. The tea thing." He held my gaze. "I didn’t know about the tea invitation until after you told me. I want you to know that."
"Okay." I shrugged.
"She was out of line." He said. "Both times."
"She was protecting what she thinks is hers." I said. "I understand it even if I didn’t appreciate it."
He was quiet for a moment. "Are you scared of her?"
I looked at him. "No." I said. "Should I be?"
"No." He said quickly. "No, I just—" He stopped. "She can be—" He searched for the word. "Calculated and intimidating. When she feels threatened."
"Riven." I said. "Why are you telling me this?"
He looked at the wall briefly. "Because she knows something is off." He said. "About this pack and about you specifically." He looked back at me. "She mentioned you to me last night. Said there was something about the way the Alpha and his Beta moved around you that she couldn’t figure out."
My stomach dropped.
I kept my face completely still. "I work in the communications office." I said. "I’ve been here a few months. I don’t know why that would be—"
"I told her the same thing." He said. "That you were Nadia’s friend and they were protective because of what happened with Orin." He paused. "She seemed to accept it."
"Seemed to." I repeated.
"Mara is—" He stopped again. "She notices things. More than she lets on."
I looked at him. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Because whatever is happening here—" He said carefully. "I don’t want her making it harder for you than it needs to be."
I stared at him.
This was new ground for us. This wasn’t the orchard speech or the I never stopped loving you speech. This was something else and I didn’t know what to do with it.
"Why do you care?" I said. "Genuinely. You’re leaving tomorrow. Mara is your mate. Whatever happens in this pack after you leave is not your business." I looked at him. "So why are you telling me to watch out for her?"
He was quiet for a long moment.
"Because I know what she’s capable of when she decides she doesn’t like someone." He said. "And she’s decided she doesn’t like you." He held my gaze. "That’s all."
I looked at him.
"Be careful." He said simply. "That’s all I wanted to say."
He stepped back and I stood there for a second just looking at him.
This was the first thing he had said to me all week that I didn’t already know and didn’t have a prepared response for.
"Okay." I said finally.
He nodded.
"Goodbye, Riven." I finally said.
"Goodbye, Keisha." He smiled
He walked back toward the main hall and I stood in the alcove alone for a moment and thought about what he had just said.
Mara notices things.
She noticed the way Callum and Dane moved around me.
I turned and walked back to the office.
She was near the far window as I passed through the hall. Our eyes met briefly. Her face was composed and still and gave nothing away. I kept walking and felt her gaze on my back until I turned the corner.
Back at my desk, I pulled up the communication logs and started typing.
By midday I had finished documenting the session. I sat back and exhaled when my phone buzzed.
Nadia.
"Coming with food,don’t argue."
A smile pulled at my lips. "Not arguing."
She arrived twelve minutes later with a bag from Becca’s kitchen and dropped into the chair across from me where she started pulling containers out immediately.
"How were the gardens?" I asked.
"Cold." She said. "Vanessa wore completely inappropriate shoes and complained the whole time." She pushed a container toward me. "Also she has opinions about everything."
"Like what?" I said, opening the container.
"The garden layout." Nadia said. "She said the east path was inefficient. I don’t even know what that means for a garden path." She stabbed something in her own container. "Then she asked about the staff hierarchy. Who reports to who, how decisions get made, what the council meeting schedule looks like." She paused.
I looked up. "She asked about the council schedule."
"And the elders." Nadia said. "Specifically which ones Dad trusts most and which ones he has had disagreements with." She pointed her fork at me.
I said nothing got a while.
"What did you tell her?" I said. "When she asked those things."
"Nothing useful." Nadia said. "I kept redirecting. Oh look at this flower. Oh tell me about your childhood. Oh what’s your favourite food." She looked tired. "I talked about food for forty minutes."
"You did good." I smiled.
"I hate her." She said simply. Then she looked at me. "How was Riven? I saw him corner you after the meeting."
"He said something interesting actually." I said.
She looked up. "Interesting how."
"He said Mara noticed something." I said carefully. "Your dad and Dane are protective of me."
"Obviously. You’re like family."
"Yeah,i guess. Riven told her it’s because of Orin."
"Did she believe it?" Nadia said.
"He said she seemed to." I said. "But he also said she notices things more than she lets on."
Nadia looked at me for a long moment. "Keisha." She said.
"What?"
"I’m also curious. Is there something—" She started.
"Eat." I said. "Please."
She looked at me for another second. Then she looked at her container and picked her fork back.
She was halfway through a story about Vanessa asking whether the pack’s architectural style could be modernised when my stomach turned over.
I put my fork down.
It turned again and I felt the urge to throw up.
Oh fuck.
I pushed my chair back, earning a few gazes from other workers. "One second." I said.
I made it to the bathroom where I lost everything and stood at the sink after with the cold water running and looked at my face in the mirror and breathed.
Okay.
Okay.
I fixed my hair, straightened my shirt and pressed the back of my cold wrist to my cheek for a moment.
Then I walked back out.
Every single person in the office looked up and the room went completely quiet.
They knew I had thrown up. And I probably looked pale as hell.
I stood there.
It felt like they were waiting for an explanation.
And fuck, I didn’t have one.
