Chapter 140: The Locket

Keenan’s brows furrowed as she appeared right in front of him. He didn’t even realize she was approaching him. He had been distracted by his thoughts.

"What are you doing?"

She blinked at his question and her eyes widened slightly as if just realizing what she was doing. She took a step back immediately and bowed her head.

"I am so sorry, Alpha. The locket looked familiar. I couldn’t help but get a closer look. I didn’t mean to intrude. I am sorry."

He didn’t like her apologies. He found them bothersome. "This looks familiar?" He asked with a scoff.

It was a metal locket that wasn’t worth anything. It couldn’t even be used for scrap—it was that worthless, at least to anyone other than him. Yet, here she was claiming it looked familiar.

"Yes," she muttered, her eyes darting toward the locket.

"Care to explain, Lady Maya, how a locket like this looks familiar to you?" He emphasized her title as he moved the locket closer to her so she could get a better look.

"It just does," she replied. "One I haven’t seen in a long time."

"Are you sure it’s the same locket? Unlike the emerald necklace around my neck, this isn’t worth anything."

He winced as a memory surfaced in his head. The High Alpha had accused him of stealing it and tried to take it. He wouldn’t be the first—even while he was in the mines, more than a few people had tried to steal it. They were never successful.

He crushed the memories and tried to force himself to concentrate. He didn’t like how triggering her presence was. She always made him think about unnecessary things.

"I am probably mistaken, but I used to have a locket a long time ago. It was a gift. It just reminded me of it."

"Tch!" Her response ticked him off even more. "I am sure it’s not this. This used to belong to my father. It was the only thing he could leave me."

She could never have gotten a gift like this. The only suffering she had ever known before she came to Verlassen was when she had to whip him.

"I am sorry for your loss," she whispered. "I also lost my mother."

Keenan’s frown deepened, and his eyes grew dark. "What are you doing? I don’t care about any tragedy that you may have experienced." He knew about the dead High Alpha’s wife—the news had spread even in the dark mines.

"I-I didn’t mean to make it sound like that. I just wanted to tell you."

She took a step back, and her grip on her robe tightened. He was seeing her more clearly recently, noticing every flicker of emotion on her face. He didn’t like that.

"Why?" He laughed. "Did you think it would make me see you less like a monster?"

Her eyes widened and he could visibly see her shake. Her bright blue eyes dimmed and she looked away from him. "No," she whispered. "I wasn’t hoping for that."

Keenan ground his jaw, and his hand was reaching out before he could stop himself. He pulled her closer, turning his body so he faced her directly and he trapped her between his legs. His muscles held her tightly—she couldn’t escape even if she tried.

Her gasp echoed in the room and her grip on her robe loosened, exposing her flimsy nightdress that barely hid anything. Coupled with the fact that he was just hit with an intense wave of her scent as he pulled her close, Keenan was powerless to stop the rush of blood to his cock.

"What were you hoping for?" He asked. He didn’t like how raspy he sounded.

He was very aware of the fact that there was hardly any clothes between them. If he adjusted his robe, he could take her right now. Keenan internally swore at his line of thought—he wasn’t helping his situation.

"N-nothing in particular," she mumbled with wide eyes as she stood between his legs.

With a slight adjustment, he could have her exactly where he wanted her. He only had to reach out and her breasts would be in his palms. Keenan swore internally and forced himself to concentrate on her confused blue eyes that were staring down at him.

He was supposed to be angry and he had pulled her closer to show just how irritated he was, but all he could think about was how quickly he could make her wet.

He winced and let her go. "Go to bed."

She didn’t step away immediately, still looking confused. Her eyes glimmered behind a glass of tears. She had no reason to look like that, and it further annoyed him that he was pleased by this. Would she weep if he were to take her all night?

"Go!" he yelled.

He wasn’t a sex-obsessed lunatic. Before they became intimate, he hardly thought about it and disliked other people touching him. But whenever she came close, it was all he thought about.

"I am sorry, Alpha Keenan. I really didn’t mean to offend you."

"Offend? That’s what you call it?"

He was trying to wear her out. He still couldn’t get to the root of it—he couldn’t figure it out. He was hoping she would slip, get angry but all she did was apologize even more.

This morning, he had been convinced she was lying about cooking but she hadn’t. He didn’t know when she did it, how she did it, but somehow she had gotten friendly enough with Agnes to be assigned to cook.

The cook had a vendetta against the High Alpha—her thirteen-year-old son was taken three years ago to go work in the mines—and yet she trusted Maya enough to let her handle the food for the house.

Then there was Winnie. He wasn’t blind—he could see how she fought for Maya, even going against her sister. A lot of things didn’t add up. They didn’t add up to the person who gave him this scar and he was reminded every moment just how deadly she could be.