Underwater: The Silent Luna novel Chapter 192

Chapter 192

They could not afford trouble now. Not yet. Ethan had just survived surgery. He needed to recover fully. His wolf had only just begun to stir again after seven years of forced silence. They had waited too long for this chance. They could not throw it away because anger was burning too hot to sit still.

Keeping their heads down was not cowardice. Keith knew that. Strategy often looked like weakness to people who did not understand survival. But knowing it did not make it easier. It did not quiet the old rage in him. It did not make the idea of Sebastie touching Whitewood bearable. And worse, he did not know what Sebastien would do during that time. A man who could attack that way would not simply sit in Ethan’s chair and admire the walls. He would move. He would test loyalties. He would intimidate. He would take stock of everyone who might be useful and everyone who might become a problem.

Keith wanted to call their Gamma and Delta immediately. His fingers had reached for his phone more than once. He wanted them here. He wanted warriors gathered. He wanted men he trusted standing close enough that if anything moved wrong, they could

answer fast. But he stopped himself each time. Ethan had to know first. Ethan had to decide what came next. He was still Alpha.

Weak body or not. Bedridden or not. Whitewood still belonged to him, no matter what Sebastien thought he had stolen.

Keith would hold off until Ethan knew what to do. That was the right thing. It did not feel like enough. He stood up, then sat back

down again. His restlessness was getting under his skin. The living room suddenly felt too small, the walls too close, the quiet too

heavy. He was used to dealing with trouble by moving towards it. Sitting in a cabin, waiting for an injured Alpha to be strong

enough to hear that his pack had been taken, felt like a punishment.

Elaine joined him in the living room a little while later. He sensed her before he heard her. That was how it had always been with

them. Even after marriage, even after peace, even after leaving pack politics and blood behind, his body knew her presence. It eased

and hurt him at the same time because she was the one soft thing in a life that had once been too full of hard edges.

She paused near the doorway, watching him. He did not have to look up to know she could feel something was wrong. Elaine always

knew when trouble had entered him. She might not know the shape of it yet, but she knew the weight.

“Keith,” Elaine said softly.

He looked at her, and the sight of her almost broke through the stern hold he had over himself. She stood there with concern in her

eyes and softness on her face, and for one selfish second, he wished he could pretend everything was fine. He wished he could pull her close, kiss her, tell her Ethan was recovering and that was all that mattered. He wished he could spare her this.

But there was no sparing anyone now. She knew he was troubled because he was supposed to be glad. Ethan was out of harm’s way. Ethan had survived the operation. Ethan was on the road to recovery after seven years of a punishment he had never deserved. Keith should have been relieved. He should have been thanking the goddess and planning how to help his friend heal. Instead he sat there looking like a man already hearing war drums.

“What is the matter, babe?” Elaine asked him.

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Underwater: The Silent Luna