CHAPTER 5

Keith

“I would like to see her,” Olga insisted, “I have been looking for a new slave myself to help with keeping up the spirits in my parties.”

I maintained the smile on my face, trying not to upset her, “then we shall send a call for slaves in the pack,” I said easily, guiding my wife away from Maisie’s door, “someone fitting for my Luna.”

Olga laughed. It was a soft delicate laugh.

“You are very nice, Keith,” she spoke warmly, her voice so soft that one could mistake her for a saint.

“I would do anything for you, dear,” I said, “you know that, right?”

She stopped walking suddenly and spun to face me directly, “I’ve always wondered if you could ever get over your first love.”

Her voice sounded so sad that someone could mistake her tone for pitiful. But I was not fooled. I knew more than anyone that Olga, while she carried herself with the grace of a Luna, did not in fact have much in the way of empathy. But it did not matter, our marriage was one done out of convenience and not personal feelings. The security her marriage afforded me had expanded my pack almost twice its previous size.

So I smiled and looked into her eyes like only she mattered in the world, “None of that matters anymore, does it?”

She let out a soft breath and heaved her shoulders, “but I do worry.”

I raised an eyebrow, “Whatever for, dear?”

“I have nightmares when she returns to the palace determined to seek revenge against me.”

“Nonsense, my love! Nonsense!”

“Are you saying that you will kill her if she somehow sets foot in here again?”

My blood ran cold.

She wanted me to kill Maisie? Surely she knew that was an absurd request.

“Why would I kill her?” I asked coolly.

Olga frowned to show her displeasure with my answer.

“I am worried for my safety, Keith,” she said, with a look of concern on her face.

“You must not worry about such things,” I said, kissing her on her forehead, “even if Maisie does return she is no match for you. She never was.”

Every bit of that sentence was true. It was true because Maisie had always been superior to everyone else. She was stronger and far more beautiful. She was resilient and unfortunately would always remain the woman who had my heart forever.

“Then promise me,” Olga swept my hand in hers, “that you will never let her return here.”

“It is the only way that I will not worry.”

“You are my wife and in a few weeks you shall be my Luna,” I was very careful in choosing my words, “even if Maisie suddenly appeared it would not change that.”

“Do you still love her then?” she asked me.

I looked at her and wondered why such a beautiful woman would be so insecure.

“It is very late, my dear,” I said to her, “we must go to bed now.”

I placed her arm in mine and walked away with her on my arm.

“You are avoiding the question, Keith,” she was not happy, “why would you…”

“Then I must ask you the same,” I replied to her, “do you love me?”

She stepped in front of me, effectively preventing me from moving forward, “I do.”

“Our marriage is…”

“...for convenience. I know that. But it does not mean that we cannot love each other.”

“Olga…”

“Come to me tonight,” she said to me softly, “and I will make you forget about her.”

But how could Olga prove successful in doing that when Maisie was within my reach?

“I want to make love to you, Keith.”

She pulled me in her arms, leaning forward to kiss me, but my instincts held me back. Somehow my body knew that she was not the woman in whose arms I wanted to retire tonight.

“What’s wrong?” she asked softly as her lips hovered over mine, seeking an entrance.

“It is very late,” I said, “and I am very tired.”

She sighed.

“We must consummate our marriage at some point,” she said, “it is our duty after all to provide the pack with suitable heirs.”

“I know that,” came my tired response, “I am just tired tonight.”

“And I still have some pack business that I must tend to,” I added.

But the truth was that I had always dreaded this part of our arranged marriage. I did not know how to make love to a woman that I did not love. My body had belonged to Maisie for the longest time, and in the five years that she had left me my body had resigned to not having anyone to lie with.

Olga stroked my brow, “You are always so busy. Why don’t you take the day off, huh? You are the Alpha after all, you should be able to do that much.”

She was right about that.

I was the Alpha and giving myself a vacation should not be so difficult, but I would do anything to put off our consummation.

“No,” I refused, and seeing that my rejection had hurt her, I quickly added, “our first time must be special.”

“I do not need such things,” she said.

“I do not want us to make love just because duty demands it,” I said, “I must plan this well for you, my love.”

Under the dim light of the moon, I could see her blush.

I had masterfully avoided a major conflict with Olga.

“But we must do it soon,” she said to me, “or the court will begin to whisper about your impotence or my barrenness. We cannot have either.”

“We can simply behead wagging tongues,” I replied to her in jest.

She chuckled.

“You are right of course!”

As we approached the main house, Olga suddenly stopped.

“My scarf!” she raised her voice with slight panic.

“What? What scarf?” I asked.

She sighed, “It must have fallen off in front of the outhouse. I must go to recover it.”

And very quickly, she began walking towards Maisie.