A pleasant smell wafted to her nostrils, invading her dream. Maya’s mouth watered in her sleep as hunger overrode her exhaustion. She fought to wake up, but her body fought back.

"I know what you’re doing," a voice reached her ears.

Maya’s eyes flew open in an instant to Keenan’s verdant eyes staring down at her. His voice had been the extra push she needed to wake up.

He was close, close enough that the emerald necklace dangling from his neck nearly grazed her. His scent overflowed her nostrils, and for a moment she mistook it for the pleasant smell that had woken her up.

He smelled nicer than Father ever did. It was hard not to make the comparison. While Father’s scent attacked her nostrils, Keenan’s scent was so easy to breathe in—it was comforting.

"Alpha Keenan," she whispered before she could think about it.

Keenan’s expression darkened as she called his name, and he pulled away, leaning back in the seat. His elbow rested on the armrest as he rested the side of his head on his palm. He didn’t look away from her, but the intensity of his stare was enough to make her look away.

Maya blinked rapidly as she looked around, trying to get her bearings. She didn’t recognize where she was nor remember how she got there. The last thing she remembered was signing the wedding documents.

"Fainting?" he mocked. "You should have done it before the wedding."

Maya blinked, glancing at him but immediately looked away. She had fainted. She couldn’t recall that. All she could remember was the dizziness and bleeding.

She instinctively lifted her hand to see that it was wrapped. Maya fixated her gaze on her wrist as her mind spun. Did he bring her here and wrap her wrist?

She couldn’t imagine that happening, but he was sitting in front of her with an angry expression. There was no doubt she had caused trouble for him.

She grabbed her wrist, lightly touching it as she forced herself into an upright position. "I am sorry for the trouble," Maya replied, looking down at her legs.

"Sorry?" Keenan asked, his eyes dark. "You’re sorry? About what part?!"

Maya jerked, grabbing her wrist tight. She felt a sharp pain shoot up her wrist as she pressed against the unhealed wound, but even that wasn’t close to the terror she felt at his words.

She didn’t know what to say, but at the same time, she knew nothing she could say would appease him. It would only make things worse.

"Answer me!"

Maya stiffened at his loud order. Her wrist was hurting even more, but she could not seem to take her hand away.

This was the first time she would be alone in his presence since he came for her. It was almost bearable—the way his unfiltered hatred slammed against her with the force of a tsunami.

She didn’t blame him. Couldn’t blame him. She was here to try to make things better, and already she was failing.

"I-I didn’t mean to faint," she replied and shut her eyes.

"You didn’t?" he scolded. "You just happened to miss dinner and breakfast, didn’t you?"

Maya frowned, wondering what he was talking about. She turned to look at him but was distracted by the tray of food next to him. That was the pleasant smell that had woken her up. As if to remind her she was hungry, her stomach growled.

Maya blushed at the sound, but her embarrassment quickly vanished as the dark look in Keenan’s eyes grew even worse.

"Eat!" he yelled and pushed the table toward her, almost spilling the contents.

Maya looked down at the food, her mouth watering, but she was still confused about what was going on. Keenan seemed to be angry that she hadn’t eaten, but that wasn’t all. He seemed convinced she had refused to eat.

It explained why he was so angry that she had fainted. It was an involuntary action that she had no control over. Yet, he was acting as though it were her grand plan.

You should have done it before the wedding.

"I didn’t—" Maya started to speak but caught herself. Nothing she could say would make things better; she knew that firsthand. He had so much distrust for her that nothing she could dare say could convince him.

"What?! Are you going to decline this too? I dare you! You’re going to eat. You’d best do it yourself, else I will assume you want me to shove it down your throat."

Maya felt her heart squeeze. Every word from his lips felt like a stab to her chest. She slowly nodded, knowing he meant every word.

Maya lifted the bowl of soup and picked up a spoon. It was best if she started with something easy. Having not eaten in a full day, her stomach was likely to protest if she ate something heavy too quickly.

The soup was warm as it went down her throat. It wasn’t nearly enough to appease the hunger she felt, but it was a nice feeling. She took another spoonful, knowing better than to rush it even though her body wanted to.

Is it weird?

Maya thought to herself as she carefully swallowed each spoonful of the soup.

Is it weird that I am pleased he is sitting here watching me eat?

There was nothing righteous about it. His presence was simply a threat to make sure she would eat. However, it pleased her greatly. She still couldn’t look at his face, and his stares made her shiver, but just knowing he was right in front of her made her smile despite how terrified she was.

There was enough food on the tray to feed both of them heartily, and for a moment, she was tempted to ask him to join her, but they weren’t like that. This was not that sort of relationship.

So she ate slowly and in silence. The only sounds that could be heard were her cutlery hitting the plate.