Maria.

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

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

Before I could react, Noah pulled me forward and laid me back against the bed in one swift motion. The small container of ointment 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 moments ago. This was something 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 claimed my lips, hungrily and possessively. The kiss wasn’t gentle this time. 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 me 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 something hidden beneath my skin.

"Maria," he said, his voice rough, edged with something 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 me back to the pack. Yes, I had leaned against him. Yes, he had touched me, 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 me..." he murmured, leaning closer again. His lips brushed mine slowly this time, seductively, as though he was trying to coax the truth from me through proximity alone. "Do you love Adrien?"

My heart skipped violently.

Love?

The word felt too heavy.

Too real.

My thoughts betrayed me instantly, dragging me back to earlier, Adrien’s intensity, the way his voice had dipped low when he spoke my name, 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 memories aside before they surfaced in my expression.

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

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

Waiting for something 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 same time, the tension in the room breaking abruptly.

Noah’s jaw tightened slightly, but he rolled off me, allowing me 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 me.

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 me and the unexpected calm in front of me. 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 me. No tension threaded through it. No jealousy hiding beneath it. No possessiveness disguised as concern. Just simple affection. Just my name, spoken like it belonged to something 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. Meaningless.

I didn’t know what else to say.

Behind me, 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 me, a reminder that I wasn’t alone in this doorway. That every word I chose was being measured.

Daniel’s eyes flickered briefly over my shoulder.

He noticed.

Of course he did.

His smile dimmed just slightly, not in anger, not in accusation, but in curiosity. The excitement that had lit his face moments ago softened into something 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 me.

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 me 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 came 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 me to tell the truth. "You disappeared earlier. Some of us were worried."

Some of us.

The words twisted in my chest.

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

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

Claiming.

A statement disguised as comfort.

I flinched before I could stop myself.

The movement 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 came to see if you can join me," Daniel continued, keeping his voice even, controlled. He didn’t look past me 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 meant something 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, unwelcome.

I hadn’t answered him.

Not because I wanted to avoid it.

But because I didn’t know.

And that uncertainty frightened me more than I wanted to admit.

Now Daniel stood here, steady and calm, offering something 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 me for another moment. 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 time.

Just an admission.

He stepped back from the doorway, giving me 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 immediately, It felt smaller now, heavier, like the air had thickened.

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

"Must you accompany him?" Noah asked quietly.

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

Something tight.

What the hell was wrong with Noah today?