Keira's POV
The conference room was suffocating.
Keira sat rigid in her chair, every muscle in her body locked down tight. Three doors away, Cade Silverclaw was discussing trade routes with his warriors. Three doors. That was all that separated her from the one person her wolf wanted to claim more than breathing.
This was insane.
She'd made it through the entire peace summit without touching him. Without saying his name. Without letting anyone see just how completely he'd destroyed her with a single glance. But the effort was burning her alive from the inside.
Marcus stood beside her, and she could feel his eyes on her face. Studying her. Analyzing every twitch. Every time her jaw clenched. Every moment her eyes drifted toward the doorway where Cade had disappeared.
He knew something was wrong.
Keira forced herself to focus on the territorial disputes her pack was discussing with Mooncrest's secondary representatives. The negotiations had been civil so far, almost boring, which meant they were actually working. But boring felt like torture when every nerve ending in her body was screaming for something else.
One of Cade's warriors made a comment about Shadowpine females being weak in combat.
It was a small insult. Barely worth acknowledging. But her wolf, already raw and sensitive from the mate bond, lunged at the surface of her skin like a caged animal.
Keira's claws started pushing out of her fingertips.
She locked them against the wooden table, trying to contain what was happening inside her body. Control. She needed control. She was an Alpha. She was supposed to be unshakeable. Unbreakable. A leader who couldn't be rattled by insults or biology or the impossible pull of a mate bond that shouldn't exist.
"That's enough," Cade said from the doorway.
His voice was ice. Absolutely controlled. But Keira could hear the rage underneath it, the primal fury of a wolf whose mate had just been disrespected.
The room went quiet.
Keira didn't look at him. She couldn't. If she looked at him, if their eyes met again, she didn't know if she'd be able to stay human. If she'd be able to remember why they couldn't just shift and claim each other right here in front of everyone.
"Everyone take a break," the Mooncrest representative said quickly, sensing the danger. "We'll reconvene in an hour."
Wolves started moving toward the doors. Some wanted food. Some wanted to get away from the tension that had suddenly flooded the room. Keira stayed in her chair, not moving, not breathing.
"Alpha Blackthorn," Cade said quietly. "Walk with me."
It wasn't a request.
Keira stood because refusing would cause a scene. Marcus touched her arm as she passed, his grip tight. A question. A warning. A signal that he'd noticed something.
She pulled away and followed Cade out of the conference room.
He led her down a narrow hallway. Away from the main pack house. Away from the sounds of wolves and activity. Into a part of the building that was quiet and private and absolutely dangerous.
Keira's heart was hammering against her ribs so hard she thought it might break through her skin.
"We need to talk about this," Cade said, turning to face her in the empty hallway. His ice-blue eyes were burning at the edges, already showing the gold of his wolf.
"There's nothing to talk about." Keira's voice came out hoarse.
"You're lying." He stepped closer. Just one step, but it closed the space between them dangerously. "Your scent is burning through this entire building. Every wolf in the summit can smell the bond."
"Then they're imagining things." But her claws were out now, pushing through her fingertips. She couldn't stop them. Her wolf didn't want to stop them. Her wolf wanted to mark him. To claim him. To make sure every single werewolf in existence knew he was hers.
"Look at me," Cade demanded.
Keira made the mistake of looking.
His eyes were so blue they were almost silver. His hair was disheveled like he'd been running his hands through it in frustration. His jaw was clenched so tight she could see the muscle working. He was fighting the same battle she was. Losing the same war against instinct and biology and the mate bond that had decided they belonged to each other.
"This cannot happen," she whispered. "Pack law. Territory. Everything we're both supposed to be."
"I know." His hand lifted, and for a moment she thought he was going to touch her face. Her entire body went rigid with need. "But it's already happening, Keira. We both feel it."
The way he said her name broke something inside her.
She stepped closer instead of stepping back. She should have run. Should have put distance between them. Should have remembered that his pack killed her uncle and her pack killed his mother. Should have cared about the laws that forbade what they were becoming to each other.
Instead, she reached out. Her hand found his chest, feeling his heart thundering under her palm. The mate bond roared with approval. His scent wrapped around her like smoke.
"Three days," she breathed. "Until the regional gathering. We just have to survive three days."
Cade's hand came up, his fingers brushing her jaw. So gentle. So careful. Like she was something precious instead of forbidden. "After the gathering, everything will be different."
"I know."
The hallway felt like it was closing in on them. Like the walls were shrinking. Like the only real thing in the world was the space between their bodies and the bond that connected them.
Cade leaned down. His forehead almost touched hers. His breath smelled like the forest and something wild and dangerous. His lips were barely inches away.
Keira's wolf screamed for her to claim him. To bite. To mark. To complete the bond right here, right now.
The door behind them exploded open.
Marcus stood in the doorway, his expression shifting from shock to stone-cold calculation in a single heartbeat. His eyes swept over Cade's hand on her face. Over the way she was pressed close to him. Over the way the mate bond was screaming between them loud enough that even a human could have sensed it.
For a long moment, nobody moved.
Then Marcus smiled. Slow and cruel and absolutely dangerous.
"Well," he said softly, his voice dripping with venom. "Isn't this interesting."
Keira felt her entire world stop.