Adrien.

Woah.

Something was definitely wrong with Maria.

I stared at her, trying to make sense of the boldness in her posture, the refusal in her tone. This wasn’t the girl who used to lower her eyes the moment my voice hardened. This wasn’t the Maria who carefully measured every word around me.

Maybe she has hopes in the upcoming competition.

The thought crept in slowly, then settled heavily in my mind.

Does she think Noah will win?

Is that it?

Does she believe he’ll rise above me—above us—and claim something he has no right to?

A faint heat burned beneath my ribs at the idea.

I couldn’t wait.

I couldn’t wait for my brothers and me to come out as the winners. To stand victorious, unquestioned, untouchable. I wanted to see the look on her face when reality settled in, when she realized where true power stood.

I wanted to wipe that defiance off her system completely.

A low chuckle escaped my lips. "You have no choice, Maria," I said calmly, though my eyes never left hers. "You cannot object."

Before she could step back again, I reached forward and grabbed her waist, pulling her closer to me.

Her body tensed instantly beneath my hands. I leaned down and pressed a brief kiss to her nose, light, almost playful.

But beneath that softness was intention. I could still faintly sense Noah’s scent on her.

It lingered.

And I hated it.

I wanted it gone.

I wanted to remove every trace of him from her skin and replace it with mine. I needed Noah to understand—without words—that Maria did not belong to him.

She was my mate.

Whether she accepted it or not.

"Little vixen," I murmured with a smirk, brushing a kiss against her forehead this time, slower, lingering. "There’s no need to play hard to get, alright? I will see you on my bed by 9 p.m. tonight."

The certainty in my tone left no room for argument.

Or so I thought.

She pushed me away.

Not violently.

But firmly.

I stumbled half a step back, surprised, but I couldn’t help the smile that curved onto my lips.

She looked cute like this.

Defiant.

Flustered.

Her chest rising slightly faster, her eyes flashing with frustration.

And taking a proper look at her now...She was damn sexy.

The fire in her gaze only sharpened the curve of her lips, the strength in her posture. The thought of what lay beneath those clothes sent a slow wave of heat through me.

My wolf stirred restlessly beneath my skin, a living force pacing within the confines of my ribs. I felt him rise, pressing hard against the fragile barrier of my control, his growl vibrating through my bloodstream. He wanted out. He wanted dominance.

Take control, he urged.

Claim her.

The command echoed inside me like a drumbeat, steady and relentless. My fingers twitched at my sides as instinct clawed upward, hot and demanding. Every breath Maria took fed that hunger. Every flicker of defiance in her eyes fanned it further.

But I couldn’t let him loose now.

Not here.

Not like this.

If I surrendered to him fully, to that raw, unfiltered Alpha instinct, I knew what would follow. The force of it. The intensity. The overwhelming claim. Maria wouldn’t be able to handle it, not the weight of my wolf, not the storm of possession that would crash down between us.

"Alpha Adrien... I really cannot..." she began again, her voice strained but stubbornly intact.

The words scraped against my control.

A frown creased my forehead, my jaw tightening. She was still trying to object. Still trying to refuse. The persistence should have angered me outright. Instead, it did something far more dangerous.

It intrigued me.

She stood there, small but unyielding, her voice trembling yet firm. Even with my presence crowding her space, even with my wolf pressing insistently beneath my skin, she tried to push back. To draw a line.

The defiance irritated me.

And yet... it drew me in.

Before she could finish the sentence, before another refusal could fully form on her lips, I stepped forward, closing the distance between us in a single decisive movement.

My hand lifted to her waist as I leaned down and captured her mouth in another kiss.

Quick.

Precise.

Decisive.

I silenced her with it.

Her unfinished protest dissolved against my lips, swallowed by the deliberate pressure of mine. I didn’t give her space to inhale, didn’t allow her the chance to collect herself and try again. The kiss cut through her words like a blade.

This time, it wasn’t as forceful as before.

There was no harsh urgency, no crushing demand.

But it was unmistakably deliberate.

Possessive.

A reminder.

My hand slid firmly against her waist, fingers curling just enough to steady her, just enough to let her feel the strength I was holding back. I pressed my lips to hers, slow and controlled, as though sealing something unspoken between us.

The kiss wasn’t meant to overpower.

It was meant to claim.

To remind her who stood before her. Who she was resisting.

My wolf quieted slightly at the contact, satisfied, at least for now, that I had asserted control without fully unleashing him. His presence still simmered beneath my skin, a low hum of warning and desire.

I held the kiss just long enough to steal her voice.

Long enough to leave no room for refusal.

You are mine, Maria.

The words thundered through my head, louder than the sound of our breathing, louder than reason.

No one is allowed to have your attention unless me.

You cannot refuse me.

The thoughts echoed again and again, each repetition feeding the storm already raging inside me. I tightened my grip on her as I deepened the kiss, pressing my mouth against hers with desperate intensity.

I held onto her tightly, too tightly, my fingers digging into her arms as if afraid she would slip away if I loosened my hold. I didn’t give her the chance to resist. Didn’t give her the space to speak.

I needed to drown out her defiance.

Needed to erase Noah from her mind.

From her skin.

From her memory.

My lips moved insistently over hers, demanding, claiming, trying to force certainty into something that suddenly felt uncertain. Her body was rigid in my grasp, but I refused to acknowledge it.

All I could hear were the words in my head.

Mine.

Mine.

Mine.

When I finally pulled out of the kiss, I was panting. My chest rose and fell rapidly, heat coursing through me in wild waves. I kept my hands on her shoulders, holding her in place as I stared at her.

"Tell me," I demanded, my voice rough with restrained fury. "What did Noah really give you?"

My eyes searched hers desperately.

I wasn’t sure what I was looking for, guilt, longing, regret.

Anything.

Something that would confirm this wasn’t just about him.

"Is it his body?" I asked, the words tasting bitter as soon as they left my mouth.

Anger consumed me whole.

The image of them together flashed again in my mind, and it felt like a blade twisting deeper.

"Answer me!" I yelled, my control slipping as I shook her shoulders.

Her head moved slightly from the force, but her eyes remained wide, shocked.

"Fine," I spat when she didn’t respond immediately. "It seems it is his body, right? Alright then, I will give you mine."

The declaration felt reckless, born out of wounded pride rather than thought.

Maria stiffened completely at my words.

I saw it, the shock in her face, the way her breathing hitched. For a moment, the room felt unbearably quiet despite the chaos inside me.

"Undress me, Maria," I commanded.

My voice was firm, absolute, but beneath it, something cracked because the more I looked at her, the more I realized this wasn’t victory, this wasn’t control, this was desperation.

Desperation to prove something.

To her.

To myself.

To Noah.

Her hands didn’t move.

She didn’t obey.

And that stillness, her refusal even in silence, pressed against my chest harder than any physical blow.

I was breathing heavily, staring at her as though daring her to challenge me again.

But deep down, beneath the jealousy and possessiveness, there was something I didn’t want to confront.

The fear that I was losing her.

And I didn’t know how to stop it without trying to dominate the situation completely.