Chapter 228: AN APOLOGY

Keisha’s POV

The council slowly emptied after Callum finished delivering the verdicts.

The elders who had helped me investigate Osric remained behind for a little while, and once the others were gone, they approached me with expressions that were completely different from the ones they had worn when I first brought them the journal.

When I had first brought this case to them, they had looked at me like I was insane or something. But now, when I looked at them, all I saw was relief and gratitude.

"You have done more for this pack than you realize," one of the loyal elders told me. "If you hadn’t found that journal and brought the names to us, we might never have discovered what was happening within the council. We could have been fighting Duskfen while fighting ourselves at the same time."

Another elder nodded. "You saved this pack from internal bloodshed, Keisha. And we wanted you to know that. We are truly grateful for all your support and help."

I didn’t really know what to say to that. Honestly, I hadn’t expected to have gotten this far in my investigation and I was only happy that this was finally out of the way.

Or at least to an extent.

"I’m just glad we found them before things got worse," I said finally.

They thanked me again before finally leaving the hall, and I turned toward Callum. He was still standing near the council table, looking through the documents the elders had left behind.

There were several other papers spread in front of him, and judging by the way he kept checking them, he clearly had more work waiting for him.

I walked closer. "You have a lot to deal with."

Callum looked up at me. "Apparently."

I smiled slightly. "Then I won’t keep you."

He put the papers down and looked at me properly. "You know, you have a very big talent of doing crazy things." He picked up a few papers, waving them at me. "Seriously? This is beyond what I imagined."

I raised an eyebrow. "That’s your way of thanking me?"

A small smile appeared on his face, but it disappeared quickly. "No. I’m serious. What happened to no secrets between us? This was such a huge discovery and I would have liked for you to have told me. But it’s okay, I’m glad you did all this in the first place."

"I guess this place is my home and I don’t want anything bad happening to anyone." I shrugged with a smile.

"You were always just like this..." He smiled. "Thinking about everyone. That’s why I can’t get mad at you."

I didn’t answer immediately, but a smile tugged at my lips.

Callum stepped away from the table and came closer. "But this time, Keisha, thank you. You protected me. You protected this pack. I know what could have happened if those people had been allowed to continue what they were doing, especially with Duskfen already preparing to attack us."

I nodded slowly. "You’re welcome."

He gave me another look before returning to the documents, and I decided to leave him to his work. I walked outside the hall, intending to head back toward the mansion, but I stopped when I noticed someone approaching from the opposite direction.

Riven.

My first instinct was to turn around and take another route.

I didn’t have the energy for whatever conversation he might want to have with me, especially after everything that had happened between us. But before I could walk away, he noticed me. "Keisha."

I stopped, shutting my eyes.

He came closer, studying my face. "How are you doing?"

"I’m fine." I nodded stiffly.

He didn’t look convinced, but I didn’t give him much opportunity to continue. I started walking again, only for him to stop me. "Wait."

I turned around reluctantly.

Riven looked uncomfortable, which was unusual enough to make me pause. "I owe you an apology," he said.

I stared at him. "For? You practically apologised the whole time you were here a few months ago."

"Yes, but I still continue to think of it. I mean everything that happened between us," he continued. "The way I treated you, the things I said to you. The way I pushed you away. I shouldn’t have done all that."

I didn’t interrupt him.

He took a breath before continuing. "I wanted power and I wanted control, and I got convinced that I was doing the right thing at the time. I know I’ve said I’m sorry, but seeing you again? I just had to come meet you again. To make sure we’re on good terms."

I watched him quietly. "Right. I kinda heard about..."

His expression changed into one of annoyance. "Ah yes, her. Well, I banished her from my pack and I regret ever knowing her. But I guess it was to be expected. We never had anything going on between us anyway, she wanted power and I needed a luna. So—"

That made me crack a small smirk. "I’m glad you know that now," I said.

Riven nodded. "And you’re busy now, right?"

I nodded. "Yes."

He sighed. "Right. See you later."

I didn’t have anything else to say, so I turned and walked away.

The rest of the day went with me continuing my investigation on Nadia’s poisoning.

I went through everything again, spoke with the people involved, checked the reports and went over the information the investigators had gathered. Nothing changed.

By the time I called Klein, frustration had completely taken over.

"I don’t understand how we can work this hard and still have nothing," I told him, sitting alone with the reports spread around me. "Because we know basically everything that led to it, but we still can’t find the person who put it there."

Klein was quiet for a moment.

"I haven’t even been able to visit Nadia," I continued. "I thought taking over the investigation would actually help, but I’ve spent the entire day going through everything and I’m right back where I started."

"You’ve done what you can with the information you have," Klein said. "You can’t do anything else right now."

"Tell me about it." I leaned back and rubbed my forehead. "There has to be something we’re missing."

"There probably is," he said. "But right now, we can’t know."

I didn’t respond.

Klein sighed before speaking again. "At this point, Keisha, we only have one option."

I stared at the reports in front of me because I already knew what he was going to say.

"We wait for Nadia to wake up," I finished quietly.

But the question was... When would she wake up?