Damien.

I pushed the door open without knocking.

And I froze.

It wasn’t a dramatic freeze, not the kind where someone gasps aloud or stumbles backward, it was worse, it was silent.

My chest tightened painfully, like an invisible hand had reached inside and squeezed my heart without warning. The air felt heavier all of a sudden, harder to pull into my lungs.

The image before me burned into my vision instantly.

Adrien’s lips were interlocked with Maria’s. His hand rested at her waist, holding her close. Maria’s fingers were pressed lightly against his chest. I could see it, just barely, the slight tension in her posture. The small resistance in the way her shoulders stiffened.

But it didn’t matter.

The ache still came, sharp and unexpected.

Damn.

Adrien was my brother.

We had always shared things since we were little, secrets, victories, punishments, responsibilities. We were raised as one unit. Quadruplets. Bound not just by blood, but by loyalty.

So why was I feeling this way suddenly?

Why did the sight of him kissing her make something ugly twist inside me?

I had come from the study room. There were documents scattered across the desk, reports that required the attention of at least two or three of us. Matters of the pack couldn’t wait, especially not with the competition approaching and Alphas lingering longer than expected.

Naturally, I thought of Adrien.

Among us, he was the smartest, even if his playful nature made people underestimate him. He could dissect a problem faster than any of us when he chose to focus.

That was why I came here.

Not for this.

I cleared my throat lightly.

The sound felt louder than it should have in the room. "It seems I am interrupting something," I said evenly.

Adrien pulled away immediately, wiping his lips with the back of his hand as though nothing significant had just occurred.

Maria stepped back.

"Interrupting? I don’t think you are," Adrien replied casually. "You just actually saved me from this enchantress."

His tone was light.

Dismissive.

As though he hadn’t been the one initiating moments ago.

I saw Maria’s face pale at his words. Her fists clenched tightly around the fabric of her dress. The humiliation was subtle, but visible if you knew how to look.

My jaw tightened.

But I chuckled softly instead.

We were Alphas.

We never showed weakness.

Not to outsiders.

Not to each other.

And certainly not over a woman.

I forced myself to relax my shoulders, to lean into the role expected of me.

Truthfully?

I wanted to be in Adrien’s place right now. To be the one close enough to savour every expression that crossed Maria’s face. To see that defiance up close.

But I couldn’t let that show.

I couldn’t let my brother down.

"Hey, little vixen," I said, stepping further into the room, letting my voice rise just enough to assert dominance. "There’s a lot of work in my bedroom. You seem to really forget your place nowadays. Go attend to it, Rogue."

The word was deliberate, a reminder, a boundary.

Maria’s head snapped toward me, and she glared, and all I could see was defiance. For a split second, something inside me stirred, something dark and intrigued.

She didn’t lower her eyes immediately.

She didn’t nod obediently.

She held my gaze.

And then, without a word, she turned and walked out of the room. I watched her leave, stunned by the boldness of it.

I kind of loved her defiance.

It made my wolf restless. It made something primal stir in my chest. The urge to tame that fire, to break it down until it softened, especially beneath me.

The thought came uninvited.

Dangerous.

A slow smile curved onto my lips before I could stop it.

I turned back to Adrien.

For a fleeting second, neither of us spoke. The air between us felt thick, charged with something unspoken, something that refused to dissolve as easily as I needed it to. His gaze lingered on me, steady and unreadable, and I hated that my pulse betrayed me with that faint, stubborn throb beneath my ribs.

The tension stretched a second too long.

So I severed it.

The pack first.

Always.

I inhaled slowly, steadying myself, and forced every stray emotion into the dark corners of my chest where it belonged. Duty came before discomfort. Before confusion. Before whatever that sharp, unwelcome ache had been when I walked in.

"We have documents to review," I said, my voice carefully even now, controlled, neutral, stripped of anything personal. "This needs more than one pair of eyes."

Adrien didn’t answer immediately. He studied me instead.

Not the surface. Not the calm mask I wore.

He looked deeper, as if searching for a crack, some flicker of what had passed between us moments ago. But I gave him nothing. Not the tremor in my chest. Not the faint hurt that still pulsed like a dying ember.

Because whatever I had felt... whatever that ache had been...It wasn’t more important than blood.

Or loyalty.

Or the pack.

Even if it still beats faintly beneath my composure.

I swallowed it down.

Forced my mind away from it.

Adrien moved toward his desk, already slipping back into that sharp, calculating version of himself that most people rarely saw. I followed him, placing the folder I had brought onto the table between us.

"These reports came in this morning," I said, flipping it open. "At first, I thought it was just poor coordination from the border patrol. But it’s not."

Adrien’s playful expression faded as he skimmed through the documents.

"What am I looking at?" he asked.

"Supply discrepancies," I replied. "Food reserves are dropping faster than projected. Livestock counts don’t match last month’s records. And the hunters swear they’re returning with less game, even in territories that should be thriving this season."

Adrien frowned slightly.

"That doesn’t make sense. Winter is still weeks away. Migration patterns shouldn’t have shifted yet."

"I know."

I crossed my arms, leaning back slightly against the desk.

"And it’s not just food. Two patrol units reported minor injuries from skirmishes near the eastern ridge."

Adrien’s head snapped up.

"Skirmishes? With who?"

"That’s the problem," I said quietly. "They don’t know."

The room fell silent.

"They said they sensed presence," I continued. "Not rogues. Not a full pack either. Just... movement, watching and testing boundaries."

Adrien shut the file slowly.

"No scent?"

"Faint," I admitted. "But inconsistent. Almost like it was masked or mixed."

His jaw tightened.

And I couldn’t help but tighten my jaw also, as this wasn’t something mysterious or something occurring in a supernatural way.

It was strategic.

And strategy meant intention.

"Could it be one of the visiting Alphas?" Adrien asked.

I shook my head immediately.

I had also thought of that, but after putting together all the dots and connecting the odds, I wasn’t sure it was.

"If it were, they wouldn’t be this subtle. And none of their patrols have reported unusual activity in their own territories. I confirmed."

Adrien began pacing.

"And the supply issue?"

"That’s what bothers me most," I said honestly. "It’s too gradual to be accidental. Too steady to be coincidence."

He ran a hand through his hair.

"So either someone is siphoning resources quietly..."

"Or," I interrupted, "our hunters are being pushed further out without realizing it. Which means something—or someone—is slowly claiming ground."

That landed.

Hard.

Territory was everything.

It wasn’t just land.

It was pride.

Security.

Survival.

If something was pressing against our borders and reducing our access to food without outright declaring hostility, that meant they were testing us.

Adrien stopped pacing and looked at me directly.

"How long?"

"Two weeks," I answered. "That’s when the first minor inconsistencies appeared. It’s been escalating gradually."

"And no one reported it sooner?"

"They thought it was seasonal fluctuation. Poor tracking. Bad luck."

Adrien let out a slow breath.

"With the competition happening, the last thing we need is instability at home."

Exactly.

The Alphas were here.

Eyes everywhere.

If word got out that our supply chain was weakening or our borders were being probed, it would make us look vulnerable.

And vulnerability invited challenge.

"We can’t alert the whole council yet," Adrien said carefully.

"I agree," I replied. "But we need to increase patrol rotation. Quietly."

"And reinforce the eastern ridge."

"Yes."

He was thinking now, calculating angles, assessing risk.

"This isn’t random," Adrien muttered.

"No," I said. "It’s not."

"We’ll handle this ourselves first," he said firmly. "You, me, and the others. No panic. No announcements."

I nodded.

But even as we agreed, something sat heavily in my chest, because whoever was behind this...they were patient, careful, disciplined.

And that made them dangerous.

Outside the window, the wind picked up slightly, rustling through the trees that marked our borders.

It looked peaceful.

Stable.

Strong.

But if the reports were accurate....That peace was thinning.

And somewhere out there, someone was watching us weaken.

Waiting for the right moment to push harder.