10. Keiro
TEN
KEIRO
The drive to his pack territory in the Catskills passed in a blur of pine trees and mounting frustration.
Keiro's hands gripped the Bentley's steering wheel with enough force to crack leather.
The mate bond thrummed relentlessly in his chest—a constant reminder of what he'd just walked away from, what Poppy had forced him to walk away from.
But she felt safe with me.
The memory of her whispered confession this morning burned through him.
She'd curled against him in sleep, trusted him enough to let her guard down completely in her most vulnerable state last night.
Then she'd kissed him with a hunger that matched his after his own vulnerability this morning and claimed him with a passion that left him reeling.
And then she'd rebuilt every wall between them as if none of it mattered.
His wolf snarled, pacing frantically beneath his skin. The beast didn't understand restraint or political complications or emotional wounds. It only understood that their mate had accepted them, body and soul, and then retreated behind barriers of duty and fear.
What is she so terrified of?
The question had plagued him through the tense silence at the bank, where she'd signed the co-ownership papers with businesslike efficiency.
It had followed him through the two-hour drive back to her estate, where she'd spoken only in clipped sentences about development timelines and revenue projections.
She was afraid of something deeper than losing her pride lands. Something that made her retreat the moment she allowed herself to be vulnerable and want something for herself.
The familiar stone gates of the Izell estate came into view, and Keiro felt some of the tension in his shoulders ease.
Home. My real home.
The sprawling mansion his great-grandfather had built nestled into the Catskill mountains like it had grown from the earth itself.
Ancient oaks lined the winding drive, their branches forming a canopy that filtered the afternoon sunlight into dappled gold.
He soon parked in the circular drive and stepped out, breathing in the scent of pine and earth and pack.
His wolf settled slightly, comforted by familiar territory even as it whined for their absent mate.
"Well, well. Look what the cat dragged in."
Keiro turned to find Dax leaning against one of the oak trees, arms crossed over his broad chest. His Beta's steel-grey eyes held their usual blend of amusement and concern, but there was something sharper there today. Something that suggested Dax had been waiting for him.
"What are you doing here?" Keiro asked, though he already suspected the answer.
"I tried calling your office. Tried your cell." Dax pushed off from the tree with fluid grace, his movements deceptively casual. "Funny thing—when the Alpha of the Izell pack goes radio silent after making spectacularly poor decisions, he usually ends up here brooding in the family estate."
Keiro's jaw tightened. "I'm not brooding."
"Right." Dax's mouth quirked in that infuriating half-smile that meant he saw straight through Keiro's bullshit.
"So I'm guessing this has nothing to do with your mate and that ten-million-dollar mess you created at the auction?
Just curious, did you manage to fix things with the lioness, or are we adding 'catastrophic incident' to your list of achievements this year? "
The casual way Dax said 'your mate' made Keiro's wolf surge forward, possessive and proud. But the mention of fixing things sent a wave of bitter frustration through him.
"I wouldn't say I fixed things exactly." Keiro ran a hand through his hair, disturbing the careful styling. "But we're co-owners of the land now. Business partners, actually. She's not the type to accept a handout, even if that handout was from her mate."
"Business partners?" Dax's tone was carefully neutral, but his eyes sharpened. "With a mate bond?"
Keiro's silence stretched long enough to be an answer in itself.
"Ah, I see." Dax nodded slowly. "So you complicated things further somehow. What exactly happened this morning to bring you back here?"
The question hit like a slap. What had happened this morning? He'd given his mate the most intense pleasure of her life, claimed her in every way that mattered to his wolf, proved their connection was real and powerful and transformative. And then she'd pulled away like it meant nothing.
"I had sex with her," he said bluntly, watching Dax's eyebrows climb toward his hairline. "So yeah, I just made everything infinitely more complicated than it already was."
"Christ, Keiro." Dax scrubbed a hand over his face. "You really don't do anything halfway, do you? First you torpedo her at an auction because your wolf got protective, then you throw money at the problem, and now you've slept with her before figuring out if she actually wants you."
"She wanted me," Keiro snapped, his wolf bristling at the implied criticism. "She kissed me first. She told me she needed to be close to me."
"And then?"
The simple question deflated Keiro's anger like a punctured balloon. "Then she pulled away. Put her walls back up. Made it clear this was just... temporary."
Dax studied him for a moment, and Keiro hated how easily his Beta could read him. "You're hurt by that."
It wasn't a question. And Keiro wanted to deny it, wanted to project the same controlled competence that had gotten him through sixteen years of leadership.
But standing here in the shadow of his family home, with the mate bond aching in his chest like an open wound, he couldn't summon the energy for pretense.
"She said she felt safe with me," Keiro said quietly.
"She let me take care of her after we got attacked at her estate last night.
She trusted me enough to come to my place in Manhattan and curl up to me in my bed.
And this morning..." He trailed off, remembering the way she'd looked at him—open and wanting and completely his.
"This morning she was mine. Completely. And then she just... shut down."
"Maybe she's just scared," Dax suggested, his voice gentler than usual. "Mate bonds are intense under the best circumstances. Add in cross-species politics and the financial crisis she's facing, and—"
"I don't care what Helias thinks right now," Keiro cut him off, his voice sharp with sudden anger.
"I didn't mention Helias." Dax's expression turned grim. "But speaking of our esteemed elder, he heard about the auction. Wants to meet with you today to 'discuss the situation.'"
A fresh wave of irritation crashed over Keiro. His mate was pulling away from him, the most important relationship of his life was hanging by a thread, and now he had to deal with Helias's traditionalist disapproval.
"Perfect," Keiro said, his voice flat with sarcasm. "Just what I needed today."
Keiro turned and started walking toward the treeline that would take him to Helias's estate. He needed the fresh air, needed the physical movement to burn off some of the restless energy that had been building since Poppy had pushed him away this morning.
"Keiro," Dax called after him. "For what it's worth, I think you're doing the right thing."
Keiro paused but didn't turn around. "Which part?"
"All of it. The lioness, the land, even the sex." There was amusement in Dax's voice, but also something deeper. Something that sounded like approval. "Your father would have tried to control the whole situation. You're learning to let her choose instead."
The words hit deeper than Keiro expected. He'd spent so many years trying to live up to Marco Izell's legacy, trying to be the Alpha his father had been. But maybe Dax was right. Maybe some things were worth doing differently.
"Thanks," Keiro said simply, then continued into the woods.
The familiar paths of his childhood stretched ahead of him, winding through oak and maple toward whatever confrontation awaited him. His wolf settled slightly, and for the first time since leaving Poppy's estate this morning, Keiro felt like he could breathe again.
Ten minutes later, the pathway to Helias's estate wound through ancient pines that had witnessed generations of pack leadership. But each step forward felt like walking toward an inevitable storm, and Keiro's wolf started pacing again.
The traditional stone cottage soon came into view, its windows glowing warmly from the reflected sunlight.
Keiro crossed the front lawn and made his way up the stone steps, his movements controlled and deliberate.
But before he could even reach for the brass knocker, the heavy oak door swung open to reveal Helias waiting in the doorway like he'd been watching from the window.
"Keiro." The elder's pale blue eyes held their usual mixture of paternal concern and barely concealed disappointment. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd received my message."
"I got it." Keiro's voice came out sharper than intended, his patience already threadbare from the day's emotional carnage. "Though I have to say, your timing could be better."
Helias stepped aside with fluid grace, gesturing toward the sitting area where afternoon tea service sat arranged on the low table—delicate china cups, finger sandwiches cut into perfect triangles, everything precisely ordered in a way that reminded Keiro uncomfortably of his childhood lessons in proper pack protocol.
"Please, sit. You look like you haven't eaten properly in days."
The offer made Keiro's stomach clench with irritation rather than hunger. Food was the last thing on his mind when the mate bond thrummed incessantly in his chest, demanding he return to Poppy despite her professional boundaries.
"I'd prefer to stand." Keiro stepped forward into the sitting area but remained standing near the window, every line of his body radiating controlled tension. "Care to tell me what you wanted to discuss today?"
Helias lowered himself into his usual armchair with the careful movements of someone who'd learned to conserve energy for battles that mattered. His weathered hands folded in his lap, but his eyes never left Keiro's face.
"I heard about the auction." The words dropped into the space between them with deceptive gentleness. "You bought a parcel of land that once belonged to a lioness Alpha. Poppy Mintz, I believe."
"And what about it?" Keiro's wolf surged forward at the mention of his mate's name, his protective instincts flaring despite the casual tone.
"Well, why would you do something so impulsive?
" Helias's voice carried the patient disappointment of someone explaining basic mathematics to a particularly slow student.
"It doesn't make any sense. We don't mingle with lions, so why would a wolf Alpha need a piece of pride land in Hudson Valley? That seems rather... strange."
The careful phrasing, the implied criticism wrapped in concern—it all grated against Keiro's already frayed nerves.
He'd spent sixteen years navigating Helias's indirect challenges, sixteen years translating disapproval disguised as guidance.
But today, with Poppy's scent still clinging to his skin and the memory of her retreat burning in his chest, he had zero patience for diplomatic dancing.
"I bought the land because my fated mate was in trouble and I was trying to help her."
The words hit Helias like a battering ram. The elder's composed expression cracked, shock and fury mixing in equal measure across his weathered features. His pale eyes flashed gold as his wolf pushed closer to the surface.
Here we go, Keiro thought grimly.
"What do you mean your fated mate was in trouble?" Helias's voice dropped to that dangerous quiet that had intimidated pack members for decades.
"Did I not make myself clear enough?" Keiro's own voice turned silky with challenge, his Alpha presence filling the small room. "Poppy Mintz is my fated mate, and I bought the land to help her with some financial issues."
Helias shot to his feet with uncharacteristic speed, his careful composure finally shattering completely. "I don't know what you think you're trying to do here, but you cannot mate with a lioness Alpha and help her with her financial concerns!"
The dismissive tone, the assumption that Keiro would simply bow to tradition and walk away from his mate—it ignited something primal and furious in Keiro's chest. His wolf growled with fury, demanding dominance, demanding protection of what belonged to them.
"Well, I can and I am." Each word came out with deadly precision, his Alpha authority radiating through the room like heat from a forge. "She is my fated mate, and that is non-negotiable. I don't care about pack tradition or the old way of thinking that wolves and lions should remain divided."
Helias's face flushed with anger, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. "Keiro, you cannot be serious. The bloodline implications alone—"
"I'm dead serious, and I've already made her co-owner of that land. We're in a business partnership now. End of discussion."
Without waiting for Helias to respond, Keiro turned on his heel and strode toward the door. He could feel the elder's fury radiating behind him, could practically hear the arguments and threats forming, but he refused to engage further.
The cool air hit his face as he stepped outside, and Keiro had to resist the urge to go to his pack right now and declare that Poppy was his fated mate, although he suspected that knowledge would soon spread like wildfire.
Keiro turned down the familiar pathway that led him back to his family's estate, fury burning in his chest alongside something harder to define—determination, maybe, or defiance.
Some things need to start changing around here.
But he'd just provoked the pack's oldest and most influential elder and potentially created a political nightmare that would ripple through shifter society. What else was he supposed to do though—walk away from his mate because tradition frowned upon it?
The thought of Poppy's fierce independence, her refusal to simply accept his help, her walls rebuilt the moment she'd allowed herself vulnerability—it all crystallized into something approaching clarity.
She was resisting the bond not because she didn't feel it, but because she'd learned to carry everything alone, learned that survival meant self-sacrifice.
Just like he had.
Well, not anymore. We're better together, he told himself as his estate came into view. I just have to keep proving it through action to her until she believes it.