Keenan moved before he thought about it. If he had thought about it, he would have let her fall and hit the hard floor, but that didn’t happen. Keenan cursed internally. It didn’t help that he was standing next to her, close enough that it was easy to move his hand to break her fall.

He had been distracted by making sure she signed the documents properly, and then she pulled this stunt. Keenan glared at her as she lay in his arms. His jaw twitched and for a moment he entertained the idea of letting her drop.

The High Priestess rushed forward immediately. "By the Moon Goddess, is she alright?"

Keenan stood upright, carrying her in his arms. He didn’t answer Her Holiness immediately; rather, he looked at the scroll. There was her name, written by her own hand. She couldn’t escape him now.

He looked down at her in his arms. Her eyes were closed, her face pale, and her wrist was still bleeding. There were blood stains on her white dress, and her lightly parted lips were dry and slightly cracked. She was light—a little too light. Even without a wolf, she shouldn’t weigh this little.

Keenan nearly punched himself as he realized what he was doing. Her state was none of his business. This was exactly how she had dragged him in and left him at her mercy.

"Yes," he replied coldly. Before the priestess could protest his response, Keenan turned to Asher. "Take care of the rest of the ceremony."

There was no urgency in his tone, no worry, no care.

"Yes, Alpha," Asher replied with a curt nod.

Whispers were already floating through the hall, and it was starting to get a little rowdy, but before Asher could start to put things in order, Alaina rushed up the podium, appearing next to Keenan.

"My Alpha, may I take it from here?" she asked, stretching out her hand. "I will attend to her."

"No need," Keenan replied dismissively without looking at Alaina. "I will deal with it."

He watched the High Priestess’s disciple cross-check the scroll and roll it up. It would be sent to the Alpha King, where his seal would be imprinted over their names and the documents would be sent back to prevent any falsification.

Keenan needed to be thorough. He knew the kind of family he was dealing with. He wasn’t going to give them a chance to do something about it.

"That’s exactly what she wants," Alaina said.

"Hmm," Keenan finally lifted his head from the scroll. "It doesn’t matter. She is mine now."

"May I check what is wrong?" the High Priestess offered.

Alaina spoke immediately. "Your Holiness shouldn’t bother herself about such petty issues. I will call for the town’s physician."

"She fell on my watch, child. Let me see what is wrong."

High Priestess Celeste knew enough to understand what was going on. As one of the High Priestesses of the kingdom, there wasn’t much that went unnoticed by her.

The Alpha King had asked her to officiate the marriage, and she had asked him why he would agree to it when he knew the exact circumstances. His answer had left her without a response.

"If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, Your Holiness," Keenan replied and headed down the altar, toward the side exit.

He was respectful and addressed her appropriately but she glanced down at the young woman he held. He didn’t afford her such kindness.

"Not at all," Celeste said and nodded to her disciple to take care of the rest before following after Alpha Keenan.

The Alpha was blessed; she could tell. It was the only way he could have won a war against the Mad Witch and found favor with the Alpha King. Something about the magic that surrounded him was familiar, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

Another pair of footsteps pulled her away from her thoughts. Celeste frowned and turned to look. Behind her was the maiden who had offered to care for Maya instead. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Realizing she had caught the attention of the High Priestess, the maiden smiled and bent her head. Celeste barely acknowledged her greeting before turning away. It was hard not to notice the coldness in her smile.

The side entrance led directly into the main building and after some time, Keenan stopped in front of a pair of doors. Without slowing down or needing any assistance, he unlocked the doors and walked in.

He tossed Maya onto the bed, causing Celeste to wince as her head bounced against the pillow. Celeste couldn’t stop him; she knew how deep his hate for Maya’s family ran.

Celeste rushed toward the bed, her face creased with worry. She couldn’t heal Maya—she could only bless her with the fruit of the womb—but she was quite knowledgeable about wounds and illness, having dealt with many children, the only ones who healed slowly.

"A bowl of warm water, a clean towel, and some bandages," she ordered the blonde-haired woman.

Alaina looked offended when she realized the High Priestess was sending her on an errand. She almost declined, as she needed to be in the room. She had to see everything herself.

However, Alpha Keenan glanced in her direction, and she had no option but to bow and do as she was ordered.

Celeste placed her hand on Maya’s forehead. It wasn’t warm. She opened Maya’s eyes, but there was nothing to worry about. She was breathing through her nose, it was a little raspy but she was breathing and that was all that mattered.

Her lips on the other hand were worrisome, they were cracked and dry. It was clear she had not drunk anything in a while. Celeste frowned and looked at her bleeding hand. It hadn’t stopped bleeding.

She turned to Keenan, anger in her eyes. "When was the last time she ate or drank anything?"

Keenan stared at the High Priestess, unfazed. "How would I know?" he asked so coldly that Celeste couldn’t react immediately.

"She lacks sustenance," she said with a sigh. "You are quite aware she has no wolf."

"Very aware," he snickered. It was one of her many pity stories.

"She can’t handle things we can. You have to be—"

"Don’t be fooled, Your Holiness. Her lacking a wolf means nothing. Perhaps the Moon Goddess saw the evil she would wreak and cursed her so."

Celeste’s eyes widened in horror at his cruel words, and just as she opened her mouth to speak, the doors opened and Alaina appeared with two maids by her side holding the items Celeste had requested.

"Alaina," Keenan called without taking his eyes off the High Priestess. "Did you leave her to starve?"

Alaina audibly gasped. Her expression changed to disbelief. "Why would I do that, Alpha Keenan? I asked my maids to bring her both something to eat and drink twice, but she declined. I can’t force her."