Page 43 of Howl About That

She was an Alpha. She'd survived eleven years of challenges, financial crises, and political maneuvering. She wasn't some helpless female who needed rescuing, and she certainly wasn't going to let her cousin's jealous accusations poison what she and Keiro were building together.

Taking a steadying breath, Poppy opened her car door and stepped out onto the driveway. The late afternoon air carried thefamiliar scents of her territory—pine, earth, and the lingering trace of her pride members who'd patrolled earlier. As soon as she started to approach Keiro's car, both Keiro and Neve turned toward her. Neve straightened from where she'd been leaning against the Bentley, while Keiro's intense brown gaze locked onto Poppy with laser focus. Even from twenty feet away, she could see the way he held himself like a predator ready to spring into action.

Neve must have sensed the charged atmosphere because she immediately stepped back from the car. "Everything's secure around the estate," she called out. "I'll check in later."

Poppy nodded her acknowledgment, watching as her Beta disappeared into the treeline while Keiro emerged from his Bentley. Now it was just her and Keiro, standing in her driveway while unspoken tension crackled between them.

He approached her slowly, stopping just outside her personal space—close enough that his scent wrapped around her but not quite touching. His dark eyes searched her face with an intensity that made her pulse skip.

"What are you doing here?" she asked softly.

Something flickered across his features—worry, determination, and something that looked almost like dread. "Can we go inside? I need to tell you something."

The bottom dropped out of Poppy's stomach. Her mind immediately spiraled toward worst-case scenarios. Had something gone wrong with the retreat project? Had he realized that taking their relationship to the next level was a mistake? Maybe the pack elders had threatened him, or?—

"Sure," she managed, gesturing toward the front door.

She led him up the stone steps, her fingers trembling slightly as she deactivated the new security system and fumbled with the lock longer than necessary before finally getting the door open.

The grand foyer felt cavernous as they stepped inside, and Poppy headed straight for the living room, needing the comfort of familiar surroundings for whatever bombshell Keiro was about to drop. She settled onto the plush sofa, but Keiro remained standing near the fireplace. His restless energy filled the room, making her lioness pace anxiously beneath her skin. When he stayed silent for several long moments, just staring at the cold hearth with his jaw clenched, her worry transformed into something closer to panic.

"Keiro, what's wrong?"

"I'm not sure how to word this exactly. But I came here to warn you about Sander."

Of all the things she'd been expecting, this wasn't it.

"Warn me about what?"

His hands clenched into fists, and when he turned to face her, his eyes held a worried glint. "I might have done some digging today and discovered that Sander is dangerous."

"What do you mean you did some digging?" The question came out sharper than she'd intended, but something cold was unfurling in her chest.

"Well, I got a bad feeling about Sander after our confrontation today, so I investigated him." Keiro's voice was controlled, but she could feel his agitation through their bond. "And what I found isn't good."

"What did you find?"

"Connections that don't add up. Timing around your father's murder that was too convenient. Evidence that he was tied to that rogue attack the other night." His eyes never left her face, watching for her reaction. "So, I told Dax to conduct a full investigation into Sander and your father's murder."

His words hit her like a slap. Poppy shot to her feet, her lioness roaring with outrage. "You did what? Why would you dothat? Keiro, you had no right to go behind my back and try to solve this!"

He stepped toward her, his Alpha presence filling the room. "Poppy, I'm just trying to protect you. Trying to get you justice?—"

"You can't just keep solving my problems for me!" The words exploded out of her, eleven years of fierce independence and self-reliance behind them. "You can't just keep fixing everything, especially without asking if that's okay!"

Keiro moved closer, his protective instincts clearly overriding his common sense. "Poppy, you mean everything to me, and I want to do whatever it takes to remove any obstacles in your life. Remove anything that could threaten our future."

His words struck her deepest wound with surgical precision. The implication that she was helpless, that she couldn't handle her own problems, that her way of dealing with her father's murder—moving forward instead of seeking revenge—had been wrong. He hadn't said it directly, but that's exactly how it felt. This was exactly what she'd been afraid of. This was why she'd resisted love and connection for eleven years. Because depending on someone, getting attached, made you vulnerable. Made you weak.

She couldn't look at him anymore. The mate bond was screaming at her, flooding her with his genuine love and desperate need to protect her, but her logical mind was stronger. It had to be.

"Get out." The words came out quiet, deadly calm. "Just leave. Stop before you make this worse."

Through their connection, she felt his shock, his hurt, his desperate desire to fight for them. But after a long moment, she heard his footsteps crossing the hardwood floor, retreating away from her. Then the front door opened and closed with a click that somehow sounded like finality.

Immediately, a tidal wave of his emotions crashed through their bond—hurt, regret, love, confusion—all mixing with her own until she couldn't tell where her feelings ended and his began. Poppy collapsed back onto the sofa as her anger crumbled into something rawer and more fragile. Hot tears spilled down her cheeks as the reality of what had just happened hit her.

This isn't going to work.