Chapter 115: IT’S MINE
DANE POV
I stood there for another second after letting go of Keisha’s hand, wishing I had handled it differently. Coming here hadn’t been a mistake. Grabbing her hand had been.
Neither of us spoke and neither did she.
For a few long seconds, the only sound came from the television still playing faintly somewhere inside the house.
Keisha recovered first. "Lyra..."
She took a cautious step forward, but Lyra lifted a hand, stopping her before she got any closer.
"No." Her eyes never left me. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to see Keisha."
"At this hour?"
"Yes."
"Why?" The question was almost calm, I should have found it easy to understand. If anything, that made it harder to answer.
I could have lied. I could have said I’d been passing by. I could have blamed work, the patrol, the rumours spreading through the estate.
But none of those answers would explain why Keisha had looked terrified the moment she heard Lyra’s voice.
"I heard she collapsed," I said honestly. "I wanted to make sure she was alright."
Lyra gave a slow nod. "So concerned."
Keisha shook her head quickly. "It isn’t like that."
"Then tell me what it’s like."
"I..." She stopped and I knew why.
Every answer she could give would only create more questions.
Lyra looked between us again, and I could almost see her putting the pieces together one by one.
Oh fuck.
The way I’d shown up at her house at night without sending word ahead.
None of those things meant anything on their own.
Together? They painted a picture neither of them could erase.
"I knew something was strange," Lyra murmured, more to herself than to us. "Ever since breakfast."
"Lyra..."
"You kept asking me about Dane."
Keisha’s face paled.
"You wanted to know if I’d moved on."
"I only..."
"You weren’t asking for my sake." She looked at me again. "You were asking because of yours."
I stayed silent as Ares stirred uneasily inside me.
"She’s figuring it out." Ares’ voice filtered into my head, confirming my worst fears.
I know and there was no stopping it now.
Keisha reached for her sister’s arm. "Please don’t jump to conclusions."
Lyra looked down at the hand holding her sleeve before lifting her eyes again. "I’m trying not to." Her voice cracked for the first time. "I really am."
Lyra looked back at me. "You hurt me once."
I waited for the hate to seep into her voice, but all I heard was disappointment.
"I accepted that." She swallowed. "I told myself people move on."
She looked at Keisha. "But not with my sister."
The words hung in the air between us.
Keisha immediately shook her head. "It’s not what you’re thinking."
"Then tell me."
"I..." Again, no answer came.
Because there wasn’t one that would make this easier.
Lyra let out a slow breath. "I’ve been sitting here all evening trying not to ask questions." She laughed softly, but there wasn’t any amusement in it. "I told myself you’d speak when you were ready."
She looked directly at Keisha. "I was proud of myself for giving you space." She gave another pause. "And now I find him standing at your door."
I saw Keisha’s eyes begin to water. She hated this. She hated hurting Lyra.
If I kept letting her carry this conversation, she would only make herself feel worse.
Enough. I had to help.
"This isn’t on her." I blurted out.
Both sisters looked at me.
"I came here."
"I know why you came here." Lyra scowled at me.
"No." I shook my head. "I mean this isn’t her fault."
Lyra folded her arms. "So whose fault is it?"
"Mine."
No one said anything for a hot second. I could have walked away. I could have left Keisha to explain everything herself. Instead, I looked Lyra straight in the eyes. "The baby is mine."
The words carried through the hallway like a death knell.
Keisha turned so quickly I felt her stare before I even looked at her. "Dane..."
I didn’t look away from Lyra as she stared at me without blinking.
For a second, she looked like she hadn’t heard me correctly. Then her face emptied completely.
"No." It came out as barely a whisper. "No..."
Keisha stepped forward. "Lyra, please."
"You..." She pointed weakly between us. "You two..."
Nobody answered and Lyra’s breathing became uneven. "When?"
Keisha opened her mouth but nothing came out.
Lyra laughed again, only this time it sounded painfully forced. "I thought..." She looked at me. "I actually thought I knew you."
"You did."
"No." She shook her head. "I didn’t."
I wanted to explain. I wanted to tell her things weren’t as simple as they looked. That there were truths I couldn’t reveal. That Keisha wasn’t the cause of any of this.
Callum and I would work towards the whole thing. I had already given the order for no one else to be allowed on the property without permission.
But instead, I stayed quiet as Lyra looked at her sister again. "You asked me if I’d moved on."
Keisha lowered her head.
"I understand now." Lyra let out a deprecating laugh. "It wasn’t to help me."
"It was."
"No." She shook her head again. "It was because you already knew."
Keisha reached toward her again. "I’m sorry."
Lyra stepped back before she could touch her. That hurt Keisha more than anything else that had been said tonight.
"I don’t want apologies." Her voice had gone strangely calm. "I just..."
She looked from Keisha to me one last time. "I need my sister." She walked to the front door and pulled it wider open.
"Keisha?"
Keisha looked at her.
"Come inside."
She didn’t move immediately. She looked at me instead and there was guilt in her eyes.
I gave her the smallest nod I could manage.
Go.
There was nothing else she could do.
She looked away and slowly walked past me.
Just before disappearing into the house, she whispered my name so quietly I almost missed it. "I’m sorry."
I watched her disappear inside. Lyra remained standing in the doorway and didn’t look at me. "I don’t want to see you tonight."
I nodded once. "I understand."
"No." She finally met my eyes. "I don’t think you do."
Before I could answer, the door closed.
I stood there for several seconds, staring at the wood in front of me.
Ares was silent. There wasn’t anything either of us could say. I’d protected one truth. In doing so, I’d destroyed another.
I rubbed a hand over my face before turning away from the house.
The estate was unusually quiet as I made my way toward the Alpha’s residence. News travelled quickly here. By morning, almost everyone would know Keisha was pregnant. They would speculate. They would invent stories. But that didn’t matter.
What mattered was Callum.
If he’d heard the rumours already, there was no chance he’d stay away from her.
That couldn’t happen now. Not after what had just happened.
By the time I reached the mansion, the guards opened the doors without question.
I walked through the familiar corridors until I reached the study.
The door was partly open. Callum stood beside his desk with several reports spread across it, though judging by the way he wasn’t reading any of them, his mind was somewhere else entirely.
He looked up as I entered. "Dane."
His eyes narrowed immediately. "You look terrible."
"I’ve had a long night."
Before I could say anything else, he spoke again. "I’ve been hearing rumours. I was waiting for you."
There it was.
He pushed one of the reports aside. "They’re saying someone in the estate collapsed."
I stayed quiet.
"They’re saying it’s Keisha."
Still I said nothing and his expression changed. Then he asked the question I had been expecting ever since I left her house. "...Is it true?"
I nodded once. "Yes."
He didn’t speak for a second. "The pregnancy?"
I simply gave another nod. "Yes."
His chair scraped loudly against the floor as he stood. For the first time since I’d known him, I watched control leave his face.
He was already moving toward the door. "I need to see her."
I stepped into his path and he frowned. "Dane."
"No."
His eyes hardened. "Move."
"I can’t."
His voice dropped. "That’s not a request."
"I know."
We stood there looking at one another. I had followed this man for years.
I’d trusted him with my life more times than I could count. Tonight, I wasn’t moving.
"Move."
"I won’t."
His eyes searched mine. "Why?"
Because Lyra had just found out. Because Keisha was barely holding herself together. Because one more person walking through that door tonight would break her completely.
I took a slow breath. Then I met his gaze without looking away. "I won’t allow it."