My Convicted Wife is My Mate (Bella and Kane) novel Chapter 25

chapter 22-1
KANE’S POV

Jayden had been staring at my hands for the last five minutes. I could feel his eyes on me even while I signed off on the last page of a contract. The scratching sound of my pen against paper filled the silence between us until I finally set it down and leaned back in my chair.

“Why do you keep staring at my hands?” I asked quietly.

Jayden hesitated for a moment. His expression was unreadable. Then he said, “Because I’ve seen those hands choke the last breath out of an enemy. I’ve seen your claws tear through a hundred of them in one night.”

I arched a brow, feeling unimpressed. What was he getting at?

“And?”

He looked straight at me. His voice was lower this time. “Last night, on the drive home, I saw those same hands warming an ex-convict woman’s fingers.”

I went still. My jaw tightened slightly.

I knew where this was going. A slow frown crossed my face as I leaned back, studying him with a cold stare. The room felt heavier for a moment.

Jayden cleared his throat. “Never mind, your highness. It was just an observation.”

He reached into his coat pocket and placed a white card on my desk. I didn’t move to open it.

“What is it?” I asked flatly.

“The official invitation,” he said. “In two weeks, Damien and Gina Monroe will get engaged. Damien hopes you can join.”

My eyes stayed on the card. I didn’t need to look at it to know the purpose behind the gesture. “Engagement,” I said slowly. “So it’s official then.”

“Yes.” Jayden nodded. “They’re making a show of unity between the Silver Moon and Monroe packs.”

Of course. I understood perfectly well what this meant.

Gina Monroe was Sophia’s younger sister.

Once, Sophia had been mine. She was my fiancée before she died. She was the eldest daughter of the Monroe Alpha. It was supposed to be the perfect arrangement between two powerful packs. Until her death.

And now Damien was marrying her sister, Gina Monroe. How ironic.

“How poetic,” I muttered under my breath.

When the door closed, I exhaled slowly and turned toward the large window behind my desk. The city stretched out below me I owned a large share of it.

I watched how the humans moved like ants, oblivious to the kind of power that existed above them.

I spent the next few hours reading through proposals, adjusting clauses, and signing documents that would secure more of my pack’s holdings under discreet names. The Stonewood Empire didn’t need to parade its wealth. We built in silence. We ruled in silence.

By afternoon, Jayden reappeared. “It’s time,” he said.

I stood, adjusting my coat, and followed him to the elevator.

We drove in silence to a private medical facility the pack owned under human cover. The building was tall, clean, and quiet. Jayden stopped outside a ward door, nodding at me.

I pushed the door open and walked in.

The steady beep of a heart monitor echoed in the room. The smell of antiseptic filled the air.

The man lying in the bed looked smaller than I remembered.