A Rogue For The Quadruplet Alpha's. Chapter 146: Must you?

Maria.

I was still carefully applying the ointnt to the corner of his lips, concentrating on not hurting him further, when everything shifted in a heartbeat.

One second, he was sitting still beneath , the next, his hands shot to my waist.

Before I could react, Noah pulled forward and laid back against the bed in one swift motion. The small container of ointnt slipped from my fingers onto the mattress beside us.

My breath caught.

The look in his eyes had changed, this wasn’t the controlled, teasing Noah from monts ago. This was sothing deeper, darker.

His wolf.

I could see it clearly now, the possessive intensity burning through his gaze, the restraint he had been clinging to finally snapping thread by thread.

Without hesitation, he claid my lips, hungrily and possessively. The kiss wasn’t gentle this ti. It wasn’t exploratory or playful. It was demanding, as if he needed to reassure himself that I was still there, still his to reach for.

My fingers instinctively curled into his shirt.

His hand tightened slightly at my waist, holding in place as his mouth moved against mine with urgency.

Then he pulled back abruptly.

His breathing was uneven, his eyes scanning my face as though searching for sothing hidden beneath my skin.

"Maria," he said, his voice rough, edged with sothing raw, "why do you have Adrien’s scent all over you?"

The question hung between us, heavy and sharp.

I froze.

His gaze was intense, almost piercing, studying every flicker of emotion on my face.

"I... I..." The words refused to form properly.

How was I supposed to answer that?

Yes, Adrien had ridden back to the pack. Yes, I had leaned against him. Yes, he had touched , in inappropriate places.

But how could I explain the way my body had reacted?

The way my wolf had stirred?

Was Noah jealous?

The realization sent a strange heat through my chest.

"Tell ..." he murmured, leaning closer again. His lips brushed mine slowly this ti, seductively, as though he was trying to coax the truth from through proximity alone. "Do you love Adrien?"

My heart skipped violently.

Love?

The word felt too heavy.

Too real.

My thoughts betrayed instantly, dragging back to earlier, Adrien’s intensity, the way his voice had dipped low when he spoke my na, the way my body had responded even when I told myself not to.

Oh no.

Shit.

I shook my head quickly, trying to push those mories aside before they surfaced in my expression.

"Tell , Maria!" Noah’s tone shifted. Impatient now. Demanding.

His hand pressed more firmly against the mattress beside my head as he hovered over , waiting.

Waiting for sothing I wasn’t even sure I understood myself.

I opened my mouth to answer...and then there was a knock at the door.

The sound startled both of us.

We turned toward it at the sa ti, the tension in the room breaking abruptly.

Noah’s jaw tightened slightly, but he rolled off , allowing space to stand.

I quickly adjusted my clothes, smoothing my hair as I moved toward the door, my heart still racing from everything that had just happened.

When I pulled it open....Daniel stood right in front of .

Smiling, bright, easy. Unaware of the storm he had just interrupted.

Hi, Maria," he said warmly. "Missed you."

For a second, I could only stare at him, caught between the lingering heat behind and the unexpected calm in front of . His smile still felt like stepping out of a storm into sunlight.

"Maria." He called out again.

His voice carried warmth, the kind that didn’t demand anything from . No tension threaded through it. No jealousy hiding beneath it. No possessiveness disguised as concern. Just simple affection. Just my na, spoken like it belonged to sothing gentle.

I forced a small smile in return, hoping it didn’t look as shaken as I felt. Hoping it didn’t betray the way my pulse was still sprinting beneath my skin. My heart hadn’t slowed since Noah’s questions. Since the weight of his body hovering over mine. Since the accusation wrapped so tightly in his voice it had felt like a hand around my throat.

"I’ve been around," I replied softly.

It was a vague answer. Safe. aningless.

I didn’t know what else to say.

Behind , I could feel Noah’s presence like heat against my back, steady and watchful. He hadn’t said anything, but his silence felt louder than Daniel’s voice. It pressed against , a reminder that I wasn’t alone in this doorway. That every word I chose was being asured.

Daniel’s eyes flickered briefly over my shoulder.

He noticed.

Of course he did.

His smile dimd just slightly, not in anger, not in accusation, but in curiosity. The excitent that had lit his face monts ago softened into sothing more cautious.

"Oh," he said lightly. "I didn’t know you were."

Of course, I wasn’t.

If only he knew what I went through.

"Yeah, I wasn’t," I answered quickly, stepping out of the doorway just enough to block his view of the room.

Just enough to shield him from what stood behind .

I didn’t want him seeing Noah on my bed.

Didn’t want another confrontation erupting in the hallway. Didn’t want raised voices or sharp words ricocheting off the walls.

Daniel’s gaze lingered on my face a second longer than necessary.

"Maria..." he observed gently. "Are you okay?"

The question hit differently coming from him. There was no claim in it, no ownership, no underlying expectation that I owed him an explanation.

Just concern.

It caught off guard more than anything else had.

"I’m fine," I said automatically.

The response was instinctive and polished. But my voice lacked conviction. It ca out thinner than I intended, like it didn’t quite believe itself.

His eyes softened.

"You sure?" he asked again, lowering his tone as if the quiet would make it easier for to tell the truth. "You disappeared earlier. So of us were worried."

So of us.

The words twisted in my chest.

Before I could respond, I felt movent behind , subtle. Noah stepped closer, not aggressively, not loudly but deliberately.

His presence shifted from heat to contact as his hand ca to rest lightly on my lower back. The touch was subtle, almost casual to anyone looking, but unmistakable to .

Claiming.

A statent disguised as comfort.

I flinched before I could stop myself.

The movent was small, barely noticeable, but I felt it all the way down my spine as his fingers traced slow, absent lines against my back.

Daniel noticed the subtle shift in my body, the faint stiffness in my shoulders, the almost imperceptible flinch at the touch on my back, and his expression changed.

Just slightly.

Not enough for anyone careless to catch.

But enough.

The warmth in his eyes didn’t disappear, but it sharpened, edged with quiet awareness.

"I heard you are back and I ca to see if you can join ," Daniel continued, keeping his voice even, controlled. He didn’t look past again. Didn’t challenge. Didn’t provoke. "Nothing serious. Just... company."

Company.

The word settled in the space between us, heavier than it should have been.

A few hours ago, it would have ant sothing simple. A walk. A conversation. Normalcy.

Now it felt layered, weighted as my mind was still tangled in Noah’s earlier question.

Do you love Adrien?

The words echoed again, unwelco.

I hadn’t answered him.

Not because I wanted to avoid it.

But because I didn’t know.

And that uncertainty frightened more than I wanted to admit.

Now Daniel stood here, steady and calm, offering sothing uncomplicated, while Noah’s touch burned against my spine like a silent reminder of tension and ownership.

"Sure, I will join you later," I replied carefully.

Daniel studied for another mont. His gaze searched my face, not invasive, just attentive, as if he were trying to read the silence between my sentences. Trying to understand what I wasn’t saying out loud.

Then he nodded slowly.

"Alright." A small, teasing smile tugged at his lips. "Just don’t disappear again without a word. I don’t like not knowing where you are."

There it was again.

Concern.

But lighter this ti.

Just an admission.

He stepped back from the doorway, giving space without making a show of it.

"I’ll see you later, Maria."

I nodded, forcing steadiness into the gesture.

"See you."

The door closed gently between us. The click of the latch sounded louder than it should have.

Only then did I exhale, a slow release of the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding hostage in my lungs.

The room shifted imdiately, It felt smaller now, heavier, like the air had thickened.

I turned slowly and t a pair of dark eyes already fixed on .

"Must you accompany him?" Noah asked quietly.

His voice wasn’t raised, it wasn’t harsh, but it carried sothing else.

Sothing tight.

What the hell was wrong with Noah today?