Chapter 33 Kane
Kane
Alpha won’t stop talking.
Something about a property dispute, or a contract, or an asshole he had to ‘remind’ about loyalty.
The details blur together after a while, his voice droning on across the desk like background noise.
I caught the first few minutes out of habit– years of training myself to pay attention whenever Gage opens his mouth– but at some point, my focus slipped, mind drifting back to the text Violet sent earlier this afternoon asking if I wanted anything from the takeout place she planned to order dinner from.
It was simple, casual, but she’s never asked before.
Violet doesn’t text me about food or errands or anything remotely domestic– our communication is typically limited to sarcasm, arguments, or the occasional threat.
So when her message popped up on my phone earlier, I stared at it for a solid thirty seconds before replying, trying to wrap my mind around the hard swerve in our usual pattern.
I’ve been looking forward to this dinner ever since. Even tried to slip out a little early, but then of course I got pulled into Gage’s office for a ‘quick’ meeting that’s been dragging on for over half an hour now.
I check my watch for the fourth time in as many minutes, barely stifling a sigh.
“You got somewhere to be, Commander?” Alpha asks sharply, pausing mid-sentence.
My gaze flicks up. He’s watching me now instead of whatever notes he’d been pretending to reference, irritation tightening the lines around his mouth.
“Just dinner plans,” I mutter, shifting my weight in the chair. “Wasn’t expecting to run this late.”
His entire demeanor changes on a dime. The irritation melts away, replaced with something far more amused, lips curling at the corners. “With your mate?” he asks, leaning forward with sudden interest.
I jerk a nod.
His grin widens, unmistakably smug. “I trust things between you are going well, then?”
“It’s working out,” I shrug.
Gage rests his elbows on the desk, steepling his fingers beneath his chin as he studies me like I’m some fascinating experiment. “Working out?” he echoes, clearly expecting me to give him more.
“Yeah,” I grumble, dragging a hand through my hair. “We’re making it work.”
“Uh huh,” he murmurs, eyeing me up and down. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed the difference in you lately.” He sits back with a soft chuckle. “When I’m right, I’m right.”
I fight the urge to roll my eyes. Of course he’d take credit for the entire thing– he’s got the whole pack believing he personally orchestrated some grand love story for the ages, when really, he just shoved us together and left us to deal with the fallout.
I bite back the urge to say as much, keeping my expression neutral. “Guess so.”
“Well, I won’t keep you too much longer, then,” he says, like he’s doing me some enormous fucking favor.
He leans back in his chair, stretching comfortably.
“Applications are already up for the next Pairing, but I expect we’ll get an even larger influx after people see you two together at the next full moon run.
” His eyes glint with satisfaction. “Be sure to play it up for the pack, let them see how happy you’ve made each other. ”
My jaw tightens, but another nod is the safest response.
As much as I loathe the way he’s turned our Pairing into a public spectacle, I can’t deny it’s a convenient distraction. While he’s focusing his energy on optics, it leaves him far less attentive to the quiet forces working against him. For now, that works in my favor.
As if he’s reading my mind, he asks, “Any news on the rebel front?”
“No,” I reply, keeping my tone level. “Nothing since the warehouse raid. They’re laying low.”
He taps his fingers on the desk, the sound echoing through the cavernous office. “That doesn’t bother you? All this… silence?”
“It bothers me,” I say. “But after a hit like that, it’s what I’d expect. They don’t know how much information we squeezed out of the rebels who were apprehended.”
“Not enough,” he growls.
“No, but they don’t know that,” I reiterate. “The raid forced them back underground, at least for a while. They’ll regroup eventually, but for now they’re licking their wounds. Best thing we can do is keep an ear to the ground and wait them out.”
Gage frowns, chewing on that for a moment. “I don’t like waiting,” he huffs. “I prefer a more… proactive approach.”
“If we push too hard, it could spook the pack,” I warn. “People are already twitchy. A witch hunt could backfire.”
He exhales through his nose, spreading his hands wide. “You’re the expert. I’ll defer to your judgment on this.” He glances down at his own watch– a chunky, gold-plated thing that probably cost a fortune. “Well, I’ve kept you from your mate long enough. You can go.”
“Thank you, Alpha,” I reply automatically, already pushing up from the chair.
He waves a hand dismissively, turning his attention back to the papers scattered across his desk while I start for the door, all too eager to get the fuck out of this office.
“Oh, one last thing,” Gage calls after me.
I freeze with my hand on the knob, turning to glance back at him over my shoulder.
“Frazier mentioned you were looking into the potential for illegal business activity on the southside,” he mutters. “A tip about a fight club or something?”
My pulse skips, but my expression remains neutral. “It was a dead end,” I reply smoothly. “Owner’s thinking of adding a fight night, but I advised him to go through the proper channels if he decides to move forward.”
Alpha nods, seemingly satisfied. “Good. I assume you’ll handle the details if it moves forward?”
“Of course.”
“Excellent. Have a good night.”
I leave the office, not letting myself exhale until the door clicks shut behind me. Then I head straight for the elevator, jabbing the call button with more force than necessary. My foot taps impatiently against the floor while I wait, mind already racing.
Frazier had no business mentioning the fight club tip to Alpha.
The kid’s supposed to be working for me, but too many people are willing to trade information for a shot at advancing their own career.
I’ll have to keep an eye on that. Whether he meant anything by it or not, I can’t afford loose threads.
The ride down feels like it takes twice as long as usual, the numbers ticking slowly past while my thoughts circle. By the time the elevator finally opens on the twenty-ninth floor, I shove the issue aside as a problem for tomorrow.
Right now I’ve got something else waiting for me.
By the time I reach the apartment door and slide my key into the lock, my focus has shifted entirely on the uncertainty of what I’ll find inside.
She could be pissed. Or disappointed. Or maybe she doesn’t care at all– she could’ve already eaten and locked herself in her room for the night.
The apartment’s quiet when I enter, early twilight spilling in through the back windows and painting the hardwood floors in long bands of fading light.
I toe off my boots by the door and roll my shoulders, the lingering tension from my work day finally starting to bleed away.
Then I follow the smell of food down the hall toward the kitchen.
Violet is perched on the counter when I walk in, wearing a little jersey-knit sundress that hugs her curves just enough to drive me crazy. She’s eating straight from a cardboard takeout container with chopsticks, one bare leg swinging lazily over the cabinet doors.
She glances up when I enter, brows lifting slightly, mouth full of noodles.
“Sorry I’m late,” I grumble.
She shrugs, chewing. “Would’ve waited, but it gets gross when it’s cold. These are only good when they’re fresh.”
I glance at the other carton sitting a few feet away from her on the counter. “Is that mine?”
“Mhmm,” she hums, still chewing, leg swinging idly.
She doesn’t seem irritated, or prickly, or ready to throw a jab my way like she usually would.
If anything, she looks… content.
The realization catches me off guard.
I cross the kitchen and swipe up the other container, flipping open the lid. Instead of heading to the table like a normal person, though, I back toward the adjacent counter, hoisting myself up to sit on it.
Violet’s brows shoot up, eyes widening as she watches me settle the container in my lap. “What are you doing?”
“Joining you for dinner,” I say, grabbing the spare pair of chopsticks and tearing open the paper wrapper with my teeth.
She snorts, watching me with open fascination as I snap the chopsticks apart and dig into the carton balanced on my lap.
“Never thought I’d see the day the great Commander Kane ate takeout straight out of the box on the kitchen counter,” she remarks.
I shrug, bringing a bite to my mouth. “Guess I’ve still got some surprises in me.”
She smiles at that.
We eat for a few minutes in companionable silence, the quiet only broken by the soft clack of chopsticks against cardboard and the distant hum of the city outside the windows.
“How was your day?” I ask eventually.
“Fine,” she replies, lifting another tangle of noodles. “How was work?”
“Fine,” I answer automatically. “Got pulled into a meeting with Alpha on my way out.”
Her eyes flick up. “About what?”
“Nothing really,” I mumble around a bite of noodles. “He mostly just wanted to hear himself talk.”
She snorts. “Sounds about right.”
Silence settles again. It’s not tense, exactly. Just… strange.
I clear my throat, trying again.
“Any weekend plans?”
“Char mentioned a car show at McCormick place,” she says with a shrug. “You?”
“Thought about heading to the lake,” I reply, flicking her a glance as I spear another bite of noodles. “You can come, if you want.”
A small smile curls her lips. “Yeah, maybe.”
She drops her gaze back to her food, and the quiet stretches again.
For some reason, it feels wrong. Not bad, just unfamiliar.
Like now that we’ve found some sort of peace, neither of us knows what to do with it.
We’re both circling this strange new version of things, trying to figure out how to exist in the same space without fighting or pushing or testing each other; trying to figure out what normal looks like.
Finally, Violet huffs out a quiet breath.
“This is weird, right?”
I pause with my chopsticks halfway to my mouth, cocking a brow. “Eating takeout on the counter?”
“No, this.” She waves a hand between us, noodles dangling from her chopsticks. One flicks loose and lands on the counter with a soft plop. “Domestic bullshit. Like we’re a normal couple.”
I watch her for a moment, trying to gauge her tone. With Violet, that’s never a simple calculation.
“Does it bother you?” I ask.
She glances away, then back again, shoulders lifting in a small shrug. “I dunno, it’s just weird. Dontcha think?”
I exhale slowly, considering.
Yeah.
It’s weird.
Just last week, we were at each other’s throats more often than not– arguing, pushing, testing boundaries. Now we’re sitting side by side on the kitchen counter sharing takeout like this is something we’ve always done.
Like this is normal.
“Yeah,” I admit wryly, shoving another bite of noodles in my mouth.
She studies me for half a second longer, then stabs her chopsticks into the carton and sets it down beside her. “Wanna just fuck instead?”
I nearly choke on the bite I’m chewing.
Not the direction I expected this conversation to go, but I’ll never turn down an invitation like that. Not when it comes to her, and especially not when being inside her has rapidly become my favorite pastime.
I drop my carton onto the counter and slide off in one smooth motion, closing the distance between us in two strides.
My arm hooks around her waist, pulling her to the edge of the counter, her legs immediately wrapping around my hips like she’s been waiting for it. My other hand slides into her hair at the nape of her neck, gripping just enough to tilt her head back before I drag her into a kiss.
She crashes into me eagerly, arms looping around my neck as she grinds against me, kissing me back just as hard.
Then she pulls away, breathless, blue eyes locked on mine. “Take me to bed, Commander,” she pants.
I don’t waste another second.
I scoop her up easily, her arms and legs tightening around me as I carry her out of the kitchen, leaving the abandoned takeout boxes sitting open on the counter.
“You’re gonna get it, mate,” I growl, palming her ass as I stride down the hall.
She laughs– a bright, reckless sound that echoes off the walls.
And just like that, every lingering worry from the day disappears.
There’s nothing left in my head but her.