Adrien.

I had sworn to myself, long before this chaos, long before the tension and the anger, that when I found my mate, I would protect her.

Guide her.

Stand between her and anything that dared threaten her.

That was instinct.

That was law.

That was the promise every Alpha carried in his blood.

But standing here now, looking at Maria as she stared back at me with that cold, wounded defiance, I couldn’t help the bitter taste that rose in my throat.

Disappointment.

Not in her.

In myself.

I had meant to shield her, Instead, I had hurt her repeatedly.....and now she was looking at me like I was the enemy.

"It’s not your concern who touches me," she had said.

The words echoed in my skull like a challenge.

Not my concern?

It was my damn concern.

Every fiber of my being rejected her claim.

The mate bond pulsed low and steady beneath my skin, a constant pull toward her. It didn’t ask whether I loved her. It didn’t wait for permission.

It simply tethered me.

I couldn’t even say with certainty that what I felt was love, not yet. It was too tangled with pride, with frustration, with the war inside our pack.

But this bond....this relentless draw...It made it impossible not to care.

Impossible not to react.

Impossible not to want to claim.

Why the fuck is she a rogue?

The thought burned through me again.

Why her?

Why someone who stood on the opposite side of every structure I was raised to defend?

Why someone who looked at me like I was the villain in her story?

The questions tangled in my mind even as my body moved before reason could intervene.

I stepped into her space.

She didn’t step back.

That stubbornness.

That fire.

It only made it worse.

My hand caught her jaw, not harshly, but firmly enough to tilt her face up toward mine...and then I kissed her, not soft, not hesitant, it was impulsive, it was intense. A collision of anger and need.

My mouth claimed hers in a way that silenced her mid-breath. It was the only way I knew how to stop her from saying more words that would slice deeper. The only way to quiet the chaos roaring inside my skull.

She resisted at first.Her hands pressed against my chest, pushing, her lips tense, unyielding, but I didn’t pull away.

I couldn’t.

The bond pulsed stronger the longer I touched her, drowning out logic, drowning out doubt. I deepened the kiss, forcing her defenses to crumble, demanding she feel what I felt, not dominance, not control, but connection.

Her breath hitched, her resistance weakened, and the....She gave in.

Her body trembled beneath my hands, and the shift in her response nearly unraveled me. The tension melted into something raw, something vulnerable.

I got lost in it.

Lost in the way her lips softened.

Lost in the way her fingers tightened briefly against my shirt instead of pushing me away.

"Maria," I muttered against her mouth, breath ragged. "Don’t you ever say that again."

My voice wasn’t just a command, It was a warning, a plea.

Don’t tell me I don’t get to care.

Don’t tell me I don’t have a right to protect you.

Because I do.

Whether she wanted to accept it or not.

Damn.

I couldn’t seem to get enough of her, the more she fought me, the more I wanted her, not as a possession, not as a conquest, but as mine, just once.

I wanted her to look at me the way she looked at that rogue on the floor.

I wanted her loyalty.

Her trust.

Her fire turned toward me instead of against me.

And suddenly, the competition didn’t feel political anymore. It felt personal, I would win, I would not let any one take her away from me.

Not Daniel.

Not Darren.

Not Noah

Not anyone.

I broke away from the kiss abruptly, chest heaving. My lungs burned as if I had just run miles instead of standing still.

I looked away instantly.

Cowardly, maybe.

But I didn’t want to see any accusation in her eyes.

Didn’t want to hear her say something that would crack whatever fragile ground we were standing on.

The room felt charged, thick with unspoken things.

"Guards," I called sharply, activating the travel link to project my voice beyond the walls.

The connection carried my command outward, sharp and clear despite the distance.

Within minutes, the sound of boots striking stone echoed down the corridor.

Two guards entered swiftly, armor shifting with controlled precision as they stopped just inside the doorway.

"Alpha Adrien!" they chorused in unison, bowing their heads slightly in respect.

Their obedience was immediate.

Structured.

Orderly.

Unlike the chaos raging inside my head.

"Take him to another room," I ordered coldly, my voice sharp enough to cut. "And get him treated."

My fists clenched at my sides as I spoke, nails biting into my palms.

Left to me....I would have killed him.

The thought came without hesitation. Without guilt.

Seeing him on the floor. Seeing the way Maria had looked at him.

That look.

It replayed in my mind again, over and over.

Concern.

Fear.

Something deeply protective.

If she could allow him to touch her....If she could let him be that close...Has she shown him her nakedness?

The image flashed before I could stop it, her body beneath someone else’s hands, her vulnerability offered freely.

My blood boiled instantly, heat surged through my veins, hot and unrelenting.

The mate bond reacted violently to the thought, tightening like a chain around my ribs.

"Yes, Alpha," the guards answered together, breaking through my spiraling thoughts.

They moved toward the rogue carefully, lifting him with practiced efficiency. His arm hung limp, blood still staining the fabric around the arrow wound.

I watched every movement.

Every step they took as they carried him out of the room.

"Arrrrrrrrghhhh!" I screamed inwardly, the sound tearing through my mind like a beast clawing against bone.

I kept my face composed, controlled, but inside....Rage, Jealousy, possessiveness.

All of it collided.

The door shut behind them with a dull thud.

Silence returned.

And Maria was still there, still watching me with that guarded expression.She already seemed to hate me. I could see it in the way her jaw tightened.

In the way her shoulders stiffened whenever I stepped too close.

And I wouldn’t...I couldn’t...afford to make it worse.

If I lashed out openly, if I let my jealousy show in its rawest form, she would only pull further away.

Noah was already in the picture. Noah, with his calm demeanor and careful words.

And now this rogue.

This lowlife rogue.

The idea of him standing anywhere near her again tightened something dangerous in my chest.

I must not allow that.

But I couldn’t simply eliminate him, not now, not after what had just happened....If anything were to happen to him too soon, too conveniently....the suspicion would fall directly on me.

Maria would never forgive it.

She would see me exactly as she already feared I was.

A tyrant.

A threat.

A villain.

And I refused to let her see me that way, so I forced myself to breathe, slow, measured, think, not react.

There were other ways to remove obstacles.

Reassignments, distance, orders that sounded reasonable, protective even.

If he were transferred somewhere "safer.", If he were given duties far from her reach, If circumstances simply... shifted, It wouldn’t look like cruelty, it would look like leadership.

Necessary leadership.

My jaw tightened again.

I hated that I had to think this way, hated that a rogue could disrupt my focus this much, hated that Maria’s loyalty to someone else ignited something so primal in me.

But with him far away from her, killing him won’t be an issue.