Noah.

I hadn’t seen Maria for a while.

At first, I told myself it was nothing.

She was strong, capable and independent to a fault. She didn’t need constant supervision, and she certainly didn’t owe anyone explanations for her movements.

But as the hours stretched, something inside me began to unravel.

My wolf grew restless.

Agitated.

He paced endlessly beneath my skin, unsettled in a way that was becoming harder to ignore. Her absence wasn’t just emotional, it was physical. It felt like something essential had been removed from my surroundings.

I couldn’t breathe the same without her scent lingering nearby, and that terrified me.

I had gotten worse.

There was no denying it anymore.

I was addicted to her scent.

It clung to my memory, to my lungs, to my thoughts. I found myself walking through places she had once stood just to catch the faintest trace of it. The training grounds. The inner courtyard. Even the garden path she rarely used.

Nothing.

She was nowhere.

The more I searched, the tighter my chest became.

I had openly gone against the Quadruplets before, and I knew what that meant. Crossing them was not a small matter. It wasn’t forgiven lightly.

But this....this was different.

If I had to stand before them and demand answers, I would. Even if they went mad at the audacity. Even if they saw it as defiance.

I didn’t care.

All I wanted was Maria.

I made my way down the main corridor where I knew they often gathered when discussing pack matters. My steps slowed as voices reached me before I turned the corner.

Familiar voices.

I didn’t need to see them to know who was speaking.

"Adrien has gone to the eastern wing. I wonder if he really went there for the reason he stated," Aidan said.

My jaw tightened instantly.

Eastern wing?

Why? Would Maria be near there? 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"I’m getting worried about Adrien," Davian added. "I just hope he doesn’t make the wrong decision."

My heart began to pound.

"What wrong decision?" Damien’s voice cut in.

There was a pause.

"Helping Maria out in getting the shawl...Vanessa won’t be happy about that."

Maria.

The moment her name left their lips, everything else blurred.

The shawl, the eastern wing and Adrien. The pieces aligned too quickly. She had been sent there.

Vanessa.

Of course.

I clenched my fists at my sides, connecting the dots faster than I wanted to. Maria had likely been ordered to retrieve something ceremonial, something unnecessary for someone like Vanessa to fetch herself.

Couldn’t she spare Maria some slack?

Was it that difficult?

"Hm... well I don’t know," Damien added. "He should be back soon, considering the time he left."

Their conversation continued, but I wasn’t listening anymore, my mind had already drifted.

Adrien had gone to the eastern wing.

Alone.

The thought gnawed at me, not because I doubted Maria, but because I knew Adrien, knew the way his gaze lingered, knew the tension that sparked whenever they were close to Maria.

He keeps claiming she is his personal maid but I doubt it is about what he says.

I stepped back from the corridor before they noticed me, there was no point confronting them now, not without knowing whether she was safe.

I made a decision instead.

A silent one.

I would wait, I placed a bet in my own mind, I would stand at the entrance of Maria’s room for an entire day if I had to. I would wait there, unmoving.

If Adrien didn’t bring her back....If something had happened....I would go to the eastern wing myself.

Consequences be damned.

I took my place outside her door.

Time crawled.

Every passing minute felt heavier than the last, pressing down on my chest until even breathing felt like effort. Time dragged, thick and uncooperative, each second stretching far longer than it should have. The corridor felt too quiet. Too still.

My wolf remained alert inside me, restless, agitated, pacing in tight circles as if trapped behind bone and flesh. I could feel his impatience bleeding into my own nerves. He didn’t like not knowing. He didn’t like the distance. His senses strained, searching, listening for anything familiar.

Then...Footsteps, soft at first, echoing faintly against the walls, but unmistakably familiar.

Approaching.

I straightened immediately, every muscle in my body going rigid. The shift in the air was subtle, but I felt it all the same. My pulse kicked up, anticipation tightening in my chest.

I had no idea what had happened in the eastern wing.

No idea what Adrien had done. Or said. Or whether he had crossed lines he had no right to cross.

The uncertainty gnawed at me, sharp and relentless.

But the moment I saw her....Maria.

Standing there.

Within reach.

Relief flooded me so fast it nearly stole the air from my lungs. It crashed through me in a powerful wave, drowning every anxious thought, every dark possibility that had been clawing at my mind.

She was here.

She was safe.

Nothing else mattered.

Not pride.

Not anger.

Not unanswered questions.

The only thing I wanted in that moment was to close the distance between us and kiss her, to feel her warmth, to reassure myself she was real and standing in front of me.

"Noah..." she began softly.

I didn’t let her finish.

I closed the distance between us and captured her lips with mine, desperate and unfiltered. I didn’t ease into it. I didn’t ask.

I grabbed her as if she might disappear again. My mouth pressed to hers, and I kissed her like I needed air.

Like I needed proof.

She gasped softly against me, and I took that breath into myself, deepening the kiss instinctively. My hands settled at her waist, pulling her closer as if proximity alone could erase the hours she had been gone.

And she responded.

That was what undid me, she didn’t push me away, she melted into it.

Her lips softened beneath mine, moving with mine in a way that sent heat straight through my veins. I deepened the kiss without thinking, without restraint.

When I finally pulled back, it was only because I needed to see her, I needed to assess her, I needed to make sure she was truly fine.

My hands hovered near her shoulders as I searched her face, her lips were swollen, her skin slightly marked, her eyes....she stared at me in confusion for a split second.

And then, without warning, she lifted herself toward me and kissed me again.

This time, she initiated it.

Her hands gripped my shirt as she claimed my mouth hungrily, and something inside me snapped.

The hunger I had been suppressing ignited instantly. My wolf surged forward, restless, demanding, begging to be unleashed.

He wanted her, not cautiously, not patiently.

Now.

I responded immediately, kissing her back with equal intensity. My control thinned as the kiss deepened, as her body pressed closer to mine.

The world narrowed, It was just her lips, her breath, her warmth.

I was lost in it.

Completely.

And then...It happened too fast.

A forceful hand shoved me away from her, I barely had time to register the movement before a fist collided with my face.

Pain exploded across my jaw.

I staggered backward, tasting blood almost instantly. Before I could recover...before I could retaliate....Maria moved.

She stepped in front of me, shielding me. Her hand grabbed my arm, steadying me as I regained my footing.

"Stop it, Darren! What is wrong with you?" she shouted.

Darren.

Of course.

I wiped at my mouth, anger rising quickly now, but I didn’t move past her. She stood firm between us, refusing to let the situation escalate further.

They began yelling at each other.

Accusations, sharp words, old wounds surfacing in heated tones. I stayed silent, watching Darren carefully, reading the tension in his stance.

Maria’s voice was fierce, defensive and protective over me. That alone sent something sharp through my chest.

Then Darren’s tone shifted.

He leaned closer to her and said something in a low whisper. I couldn’t hear the words, but I saw the effect.

Maria’s face paled instantly, the color drained from her cheeks, her shoulders stiffened.

And then she turned to look at me.

Confusion flickered inside me.

What had he said?

Why did she look like that?