Maria.
The mont we arrived at the pack, exhaustion settled deeper into my bones.
My body ached, not just from the bee stings, not just from the long journey, but from everything that had happened in between. Every movent felt heavier than it should have. Every step reminded that I wasn’t as unaffected as I pretended to be.
And yet...What unsettled more was the way my body reacted whenever I leaned even slightly against Adrien’s chest.
I couldn’t ride a horse in my condition. The healer had insisted I avoid straining myself further, and Adrien had only brought one horse. So I had no choice but to sit in front of him during the ride back.
His arm had been firm around my waist, protective and possessive.
His breath brushed against my ear every ti the horse shifted pace, warm, teady, and distracting.
I tried so hard to suppress my wolf.
Vernia stirred restlessly beneath my skin, clearly unbothered by pride or resentnt. She reacted to his closeness instinctively, leaning into the warmth, absorbing the strength.
Traitor.
My legs were still sore from what Adrien had done earlier. The mory flashed through unwanted, his dominance, the way he had touched , the way my body had betrayed my anger and responded to him anyway.
I wanted more.
That was the truth I refused to say aloud.
But he was damn annoying.
Arrogant.
Infuriating.
And I refused to let him see how deeply he affected .
When we finally dismounted, I forced myself to stand straight despite the lingering soreness. I handed the carefully secured shawl to the waiting guards without hesitation.
"Deliver it to Luna Vanessa," I said evenly.
I had no intention of presenting it myself. Not looking like this.
The bee stings were still slightly swollen despite the balm. My skin felt tight in places, irritated. I wouldn’t give Vanessa the satisfaction of seeing weakened.
Without sparing Adrien another glance, I began walking toward my room, the distance felt longer than usual. My mind raced with everything I needed to untangle.
The kiss, the argunt, the possessiveness, the hunger.
The closer I got to my door, the more aware I beca of a figure standing beside it.
Tall, still and waiting.
My steps slowed slightly.
It was Noah.
Relief flickered across my chest before I could stop it.
"Noah...."
I hadn’t even finished saying his na when he closed the distance between us and captured my lips in a kiss, there was no hesitation, no warning, just imdiate warmth.
He kissed like he had been holding back for too long. His hands settled at my waist, steady but not forceful. His mouth moved against mine with familiarity, with need.
And I didn’t pull away.
I couldn’t.
I allowed him to deepen it, allowing myself to lt into the familiarity of his touch.
Damn.
I really needed this.
The hunger in my wolf hadn’t been quenched yet. Vernia surged forward eagerly, responding to Noah’s steady intensity.
He tasted different from Adrien.
Softer, less demanding, but no less consuming.
Noah pulled back first, breathing harder now, his eyes searching my face as if gauging sothing.
I stared at him, confused by the sudden distance. Then the craving surged again....I stepped forward and claid his lips hungrily this ti.
My fingers curled into his shirt as I pulled him closer.
He responded imdiately.
The kiss deepened again, more desperate, more consuming. Our breaths tangled, our bodies pressing closer as if proximity alone wasn’t enough.
We kept kissing like we couldn’t get enough of each other.
Like the world outside the corridor didn’t exist.
Like nothing else mattered.
We were so buried in it, so utterly consud by the heat and urgency of the mont, that the rest of the world ceased to exist.
The corridor, the distant hum of voices, the faint shuffle of movent sowhere beyond us... all of it dissolved into nothing. There was only the warmth of his hands, the press of his body, the dizzying rush that blurred every rational thought in my mind. My fingers had curled into his shirt without even realizing it. My breathing had grown shallow, uneven. The air between us felt thick, electric.
We didn’t hear the approaching footsteps.
Didn’t register the subtle echo of boots striking polished floors.
Didn’t sense the shift in the air, the way tension crept in like a silent warning.
Not until...a strong hand suddenly shoved Noah away from .
The force of it tore him from my grasp so violently that I nearly lost my balance. The warmth vanished in an instant, replaced by a rush of cold air against my skin. The separation was abrupt. Jarring. Like being ripped out of a dream and thrown onto concrete.
Noah stumbled to the side, his body swaying as he fought to steady himself.
My heart slamd against my ribs.
I turned sharply toward the person who had dared to interrupt, indignation already rising in my chest....and froze.
Darren.
For a split second, my mind refused to process it. My thoughts stuttered, disoriented.
The hell?
What was his problem?
His chest was heaving, shoulders tense beneath the fabric of his shirt. His jaw was clenched so tightly I could see the muscle ticking beneath his skin. His eyes—God—his eyes were blazing. Not just angry.
Furious.
Possessive.
"You son of a bitch! Stay away from my mate!"
His roar ripped down the corridor, raw and unrestrained. It bounced off the walls, sharp and echoing, making my ears ring. The words barely registered before he lunged forward.
His fist flew.
The punch connected with Noah’s lips in a sickening crack.
The sound was sharp. Wet. Violent.
It cut through the lingering haze of the kiss like a blade.
I gasped.
The world snapped back into brutal clarity.
Noah’s head jerked violently to the side from the impact. His body recoiled, staggering backward as the force of Darren’s blow knocked him off balance. For a second, it looked like he might fall.
Blood blood instantly at the corner of his mouth, bright red against pale skin. It spread in a thin line down his chin, stark and shocking. His hand flew up reflexively, fingers brushing his split lip as he sucked in a sharp breath.
"Stop it, Darren! What is wrong with you?" I shouted, rushing forward without thinking.
I moved between them, my body instinctively shielding Noah from another blow. Darren’s chest was heaving, his eyes blazing with sothing feral and unrestrained.
I turned quickly, grabbing Noah’s arm to steady him.
"Are you okay?" I whispered urgently as I helped him back to his feet.
Noah wiped the blood from his lip, his jaw tight but silent.
"Maria," Darren growled, his voice thick with fury, "how could you allow him to kiss you? He is engaged!"
I stared at him in disbelief.
The hypocrisy was so blatant it almost stole my words.
I scoffed.
A short, sharp sound of disgust.
"This is the exact definition of the pot calling the kettle black," I shot back.
His brows pulled together in confusion and irritation.
"Yes, he is engaged," I continued, my voice rising, "and you, what about you? you are married."
I stepped closer, anger bubbling up through my chest.
"Do you want your Luna....my precious sister....to rip my tongue out of my mouth?" I demanded, staring at him with blazing fury.
The ntion of Patricia made sothing flicker across his face.
"Leave Patricia out of this, Maria," he snapped.
"No," I said firmly. "I won’t."
"You are my mate," he insisted, stepping closer despite the tension between us. "And that’s all that matters."
The audacity.
"I was deceived by her," he continued, his tone shifting slightly, almost pleading. "I am willing to make things right."
"Oh really?" I said flatly.
"Yes," he pushed, lowering his voice as if trying to regain control. "Let’s forget about this competition... Co ho with ."
Ho.
The word felt foreign coming from his mouth. He has been the sa person to cast out of it.
And now he said to co back....as if I were so misplaced belonging he could simply retrieve.
"No," I declared without hesitation.
The refusal hung heavy in the air.
Darren’s face darkened instantly. The fury didn’t explode outward this ti, it tightened inward, condensing into sothing far more dangerous.
His next words ca barely above a whisper.
"Rember what I told you, Maria. We can do this calmly."
The softness of it chilled more than his shouting had, It wasn’t a suggestion, It was a warning.
I froze.
Every instinct sharpened at once.
I turned imdiately to Noah.
My heart pounded.
I needed him to be safe.
"Darren," I said carefully, keeping my voice steady even though my pulse was racing, "this isn’t yours to control."
His jaw flexed.
"It is when you are my mate."
"I am not an object," I shot back.
The corridor felt smaller by the second, tension coiling thickly around us.
Noah’s presence at my side was grounding, but I could feel Darren’s gaze burning into both of us.
Possessive.
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