Keith glanced behind Arya to see four people looking at them.
"Come," Keith said to Arya while giving her hand a squeeze. "Before we go to your room, let me introduce you to my Alpha and Luna. Soon to be yours."
Arya looked at their connected hands and smiled. It was like Keith's hand could wrap around hers in a promise that he will take care of her.
Arya liked that Keith wanted to introduce her as his mate, and she could feel his nerves. This was important to him. It made her feel welcome.
Arya didn't dare to look at Alpha Cristian, fearing what his expression might be. She kissed a guy in public, in front of Alpha. What if he disapproves?
Insecurities swelled in her heart.
Will Alpha Cristian be angry that she was leaving with her mate? Will he ask her to stay? Will that make her change her mind? Will he be indifferent? Or will he be glad that she was leaving? Each of those was gutwrenching in its own way.
Keith struggled with his own emotional turmoil and didn't notice Arya's.
The last twenty-four hours were turbulent. He found his mate, nearly lost her, and he was on the path to accepting her, but then she stood up for another man, he ended up fighting an Alpha, and then she threw herself at him, saying how she wanted to be with him. It was a mess of ups and downs, and he needed a moment to organize his thoughts and emotions, a moment he didn't have.
Keith hoped his wolf was right and that the cantaloupe-infused girl was the right path to happiness.
Keith bowed to Damon and Talia. He wanted to talk about Arya, but Cristian's glare reminded him there was a more pressing matter.
"Alpha Damon, I caused an issue by starting a fight with an Alpha of another pack. It was not a challenge for his position. I was just…" Keith released a long breath. "There are no excuses. I only hope that you won't implicate my mate in this. It was all my doing."
Damon's eyebrows shot up when he realized Keith was in a bad state. Keith and Cristian were fighting!
At first, Damon thought it was because Keith faced rogues last night and his wounds didn't heal, but then Damon remembered that they saw Keith in the morning, and Keith looked better than this.
Damon knew that Keith was a skilled warrior. As an instructor, Keith was an expert in close combat, but still… fighting an Alpha and living to tell about it was formidable.
How could he avoid being suppressed by Cristian's Alpha aura? It didn't make sense, just as it didn't make sense that Keith broke from Guardian's restrictions… That's it! The necklace! Damon remembered that Talia said it had the purpose of healing and protection, which was the only explanation for why Keith was still standing. The necklace protected him.
His kitten was awesome, but he couldn't announce her unique abilities to the world.
Damon decided to leave that for later and to focus on the matter at hand. Keith was fighting Alpha Cristian and was waiting on a verdict. Based on Keith's behavior, Keith started it. Why did they fight? It didn't matter.
"Did you win?"
Keith's head snapped to look at Damon. Did he hear that right? "What?"
"Did you win?" Damon repeated.
"I don't think there was a winner," Keith said honestly.
"So, it was a tie?" Damon kept on pushing.
Keith nodded, and Damon turned to Cristian.
"Hahahaha!" Damon burst into a hearty laughter. "Oh, Cristian, did you get rusty, or were you always weak? If my Lieutenant can go toe to toe with you, you are in trouble."
Keith wished that Damon stops teasing Cristian. It will just make his punishment worse! Or was Damon doing that on purpose?
Cristian's nostrils flared in anger at Damon's provocation, but he didn't say anything. He had no excuses.
Sure, he was caught by surprise because he didn't expect that Keith will attack, and he definitely didn't expect that Keith will not be impacted by his Alpha aura, but those were just excuses. The facts were that a plain warrior fought him, and Cristian struggled.
"I won't punish you, Keith," Damon said. "You don't get punished by making your pack proud. However, I'm not sure if Alpha Cristian will throw you into a dungeon. We are allies on a friendly visit, and you caused a ruckus. I leave your punishment to him."
"I understand, Alpha," Keith said and turned to Cristian, waiting to hear what was coming.
Before Cristian could say anything, Damon spoke again.
"Cristian, I don't know what happened here, but considering that Keith is alive, I will assume that his offense was not inexcusable. I hope you will keep in mind that Keith is my Luna's head guard. As such, he is indispensable. No matter how you punish Keith, I expect him to be able to perform his duty."
With that, Damon stepped aside and pulled Talia to lean on him.
Talia was grateful that Damon stood up for Keith. Damon always took care of his people. If there were any issues, Damon would deal with Keith in private, while in front of others, they would be united. She admired Damon for that.
Arya's eyes darted from Keith to Cristian, and she couldn't stand the silence.
"Alpha," she called to Cristian pleadingly. "My mate didn't mean harm. Can you forgive him? For me?"
Cristian snorted. "For you? Who are you? My ex-general?"
Everyone stared at Arya. Damon and Talia were shocked by the 'ex' part, and Keith didn't know that his cantaloupe-infused mate was a general.
"Just a minute ago, you asked me to leave not only my army but my pack as well, and now you want favors?" He was irritated that she was talking about leaving like it was not a big deal.
Michelle put her hand on Cristian's shoulder. "Isn't that what children do when they grow up? I know it's hard on you as you watched her grow, but she is not a child anymore, and it's time for Arya to spread her wings and find her own path."
Michelle could sense Cristian's emotions, so she knew what he was going through. He was genuinely worried about Arya. Arya was energetic, with a spunk and bravery of a thousand warriors. Arya would act like she was invincible, which caused Cristian to take over the role of her guardian, and even though there were no romantic feelings behind it, Michelle didn't like it. It was her possessiveness of a werewolf, and it probably wouldn't be so extreme if Arya didn't look at Cristian with sparkles in her eyes.
However, as a Luna, Michelle needed to soften Cristian's edginess and create non-violent solutions when there were none.
"I believe we all agree that this was a misunderstanding," Michelle said, knowing that people were eavesdropping from the pack hospital. Yes, they left, but their werewolf-enhanced hearing allowed them to hear things over great distances.
Michelle told Keith, "Cristian knows that your emotions toward your mate are fresh, and that is why he didn't go all out on you."
Cristian put his hand over Michelle's that was resting on his shoulder. She said he didn't go all out as a good excuse to save his reputation.
