CALLUM’S POV

Nobody said anything for a full five seconds after the door closed.

I looked at the wine spreading across the tablecloth, then Vanessa with her hands pressed to the front of her dress.

For a while, I didn’t know what to feel. Shock or fury? And definitely not fury at Nadia. Vanessa. What was she thinking?

Elder Osric cleared his throat. "Well." He said.

Vanessa looked up, then looked at me. The fury settled back under something controlled before she took a breath and said, "I apologise for whatever I said that upset your daughter." Her voice was smooth which was surprising for someone who looked like she wanted to rip Nadia’s head off. "I didn’t realise the woman was someone she was close to."

"She introduced her as her best friend." Elder Malik said drily from the other end of the table.

"I didn’t catch that." Vanessa replied. "I feel terrible."

She didn’t look terrible. She looked like someone who knew she was at a disadvantage and wanted to salvage herself.

"The woman you were speaking to." Elder Garic leaned forward slightly. "She works in the communications office. She’s been a member of this pack for several months."

"I see." Vanessa said before she looked at me. "I truly didn’t mean any offence. I assumed she was staff assisting with the meal."

"She was assisting with the meal." I frowned. "That doesn’t make her invisible."

Vanessa blinked.

Osric cleared his throat again. "Perhaps we can move past the incident." He said smoothly. "It was a misunderstanding. Vanessa has apologised and I think we can all agree that—"

"Has she?" Elder Malik looked at Vanessa. "Apologised, I mean. To the person she actually offended."

Vanessa looked at the door Keisha had walked through, then back at the table. "I’ll make a point of finding her." She said pleasantly. "And clearing the air properly."

I picked up my water glass. "Let’s continue." I said.

The lunch continued.

Vanessa talked and the elders asked questions and she answered them well. Too well. She knew exactly what each of them wanted to hear and she gave it to them in the right order.

Osric asked if she had any concerns about relocating permanently to Ashveil. She said none at all, that she had always admired the pack from a distance and considered it an honour.

She was good. I would give her that.

By the time the dishes were cleared she set her glass down and looked at me with that warm expression. "I wanted to raise something." She smiled. "If this is an appropriate moment."

"Go ahead." I stared at her.

"I was thinking about the practicalities of getting to know each other properly." She said. "Formal visits have a certain stiffness to them. It’s difficult to really understand someone across a lunch table with an audience." She glanced briefly at the elders and then back at me. "I was wondering if it might be possible for me to stay on the estate. Just until things are more settled between us. It would feel more natural. More comfortable."

Osric’s eyes were on me immediately. In fact, every elder’s eyes were on me.

"More comfortable for whom exactly?" Elder Malik asked.

"For everyone." Vanessa said easily. "For the Alpha. For me. For the process." She kept her eyes on me. "If that’s acceptable."

I looked at her.

Right.

"Of course." I said. "We’ll arrange something."

Dane’s hand tightened slightly on the back of my chair but I didn’t look at him.

Osric smiled. "Wonderful." He said. "I think that’s a very sensible idea."

Of course he did.

The lunch ended and everyone left. Vanessa was escorted to the sitting room to wait while accommodations were arranged and the hall emptied and then it was just me and Dane.

He came around in front of me immediately. "You told her she could stay." He frowned.

"I did." I nodded.

"Why?"

"Because Osric arranged this." I sighed. "Osric specifically requested Vanessa. Pushed the unauthorized meeting, pushed the timeline, pushed her name when there were other candidates available." I looked at Dane. "He exchanged three looks with her during that lunch that she returned every single time. Did you catch that?"

Dane was quiet for a moment. "I caught it."

"She’s not just a candidate." I said. "She’s his candidate. Which means she came here with an agenda beyond becoming my Luna and I don’t know what it is yet." I leaned back. "Keeping her at a distance gives Osric information I don’t have. Keeping her here means I can watch her. Keep your enemies closer."

"And what is she watching?" Dane said. "Because she’ll be watching too. She’ll be watching everything on this estate, Callum. Everyone on it."

I held his gaze. "I know."

"Including Keisha." He pointed out.

I said nothing because I had thought about it.

"She’s going to have to watch her walk around this estate every day." He continued. "After what just happened in that hall. After everything that’s been between us and her." He didn’t look away. "Have you thought about that?"

"I’ve thought about it." I nodded.

"And?"

"And I’ll talk to Keisha." I stood. "Tonight."

"Wait until dark at least." Dane said immediately. "Riven’s delegation is still on the grounds. People are watching more than usual right now and if someone sees you going to her house—"

"After dark." I stared at him. "But tonight."

He looked at me for a long moment. "You’re not going to be reasoned with on this."

"No." I smirked.

He nodded and walked out.

I stood in the empty hall, looked at the wine stained tablecloth and thought about my daughter pouring wine on a woman sitting in a chair that should be Keishas’

It would never be her chair.

Dane and I both knew that. No matter what the bond said. No matter what had happened between the three of us in the dark. The elders had decided and the pack needed stability and I was the Alpha and I had responsibilities that didn’t stop existing because I had made choices I couldn’t take back.

But I was going to talk to her tonight.

I owed her that much.

I owed her considerably more than that.