Maria.

The moment the round ended, the entire garden erupted into movement.

People stood abruptly, voices overlapping, cheers mixing with arguments and excited chatter. The energy that had been focused so intensely on the track now exploded outward in every direction. Bodies brushed against mine from all sides as everyone tried to move at once.

I was suddenly crowded.

Shoulders bumped into me. Someone stepped on the hem of my dress. The noise became overwhelming, suffocating.

I stood there for a second, frozen in the middle of it all.

Darren had gotten one point.

One.

It was only the first round.

Only horse riding.

But it felt like something far heavier than that.

I didn’t know how I was supposed to feel.

Relieved that Noah hadn’t lost outright?

Angry that Darren had cheated and gotten away with it?

Terrified of what seven more rounds meant?

My chest felt tight again, like invisible fingers were pressing against my lungs.

How was I supposed to live through the rest of today with thoughts like these clawing at me?

I needed air.

I needed space.

I began pushing my way through the crowd, murmuring soft apologies as I squeezed between bodies, avoiding eye contact with anyone who tried to stop me. The cheers still echoed behind me, but they felt distant now.

All I wanted was to reach my room.

To be alone.

To think.

Or maybe to stop thinking entirely.

I hadn’t even reached the hallway leading toward my quarters when I saw him.

Darren.

Standing there as though he had been waiting.

My steps faltered.

That was fast.

How on earth did he get here immediately?

The track wasn’t close. The crowd had barely dispersed. Yet here he was, positioned right in my path like a trap.

I tried to avoid him, tried to turn around before he noticed, but it was too late. His eyes locked onto mine and in the next second, he moved, not casually, not calmly.

He sprang forward with the sharp, predatory energy of his wolf barely restrained beneath his skin. Before I could react, his hand shot out and gripped my wrist tightly.

"Running away, Maria?" he asked, though his tone made it less of a question and more of an accusation.

His fingers tightened slightly.

"Don’t worry," he added, leaning closer. "Soon enough, you won’t have to run anymore."

The implication made my stomach churn.

I jerked my hand away forcefully, the disgust on my face impossible to hide.

"Don’t be too confident, Alpha Darren," I replied, my voice colder than I expected. "You just won the first round. There are seven more ahead."

I stepped closer deliberately, refusing to shrink back from him. I lifted my chin high, meeting his gaze without hesitation.

"And don’t think I didn’t notice," I added quietly. "I know you cheated."

For a split second, something flickered in his eyes.

But then he smiled.

"And so what, Maria?" he responded smoothly.

Before I could move, his hand rose and gripped my chin, lifting it even higher than I had held it myself. His touch was firm and ppossessive.

His lips hovered dangerously close to mine.

"You love me too much to tell on me, right?" he murmured, a smug smirk curling at the corner of his mouth.

The audacity.

The assumption.

It snapped something inside me.

I slapped his hand away from my chin and forced a smile onto my facebigger, sharper, colder than his.

"You wish," I said evenly.

I leaned in just enough to ensure he could hear every word clearly.

"Just watch out," I continued. "Because I am no longer the Maria you know."

There was no tremor in my voice, no hesitation. I stepped back before he could touch me again and turned away. I didn’t look back.

I refused to give him that satisfaction.

I would not let him see the crack. Not the flicker of doubt. Not the tremor he was probably waiting for. I kept my chin lifted, my spine straight, my steps measured and unhurried as though his presence meant nothing at all.

But as I walked away, I caught a brief glimpse from the corner of my eye.

Shock.

It was clear and umistakable.

It flashed across his face before he could mask it, his brows slightly drawn, his lips parted just enough to betray that I had unsettled him. I had disrupted whatever outcome he had expected.

A bright smile spread slowly across my face, not wide, not exaggerated, just enough.

Enough for him to see it.

Enough for him to know.

I didn’t break stride. I didn’t look back again. I let that small, deliberate smile be the final image he had of me before I turned the corner and disappeared from his sight.

The moment Darren was no longer visible, the moment the tension of his gaze no longer pressed against my back, I finally let out a breath I hadn’t realized I had been holding.

It escaped in a shaky rush.

My lungs burned faintly, as though I had been underwater far longer than I should have been. I pressed a hand against my chest, fingers curling slightly into the fabric, grounding myself as I inhaled deeply.

Slow.

Controlled.

Again.

Back there, in front of him, I had stood my ground. I hadn’t trembled. I hadn’t stuttered. My voice hadn’t cracked or softened or betrayed the fear that used to rule me whenever he was near.

I had looked him in the eye.

I had challenged him.

But now that I was alone...the strength drained from my limbs all at once.

My knees felt weak, unsteady, as though they might buckle if I stopped moving. My pulse still raced, adrenaline lingering beneath my skin, buzzing and sharp.

I didn’t know what had come over me.

The words had poured out before I could second-guess them. The boldness. The challenge. The defiance threaded clearly through my voice.

That wasn’t the old me.

The old me would have swallowed her thoughts. Lowered her gaze. Chosen silence over confrontation.

And yet...A slow warmth spread through my chest, steady and undeniable.

I felt fulfilled.

There had been something satisfying about wiping that smug smirk off his face. About seeing that flicker of shock in his eyes. About refusing to let him control the narrative for once.

To hell with his confidence.

To hell with his arrogance.

I reached my door and pushed it open roughly before stepping inside. The moment it shut behind me, I slammed it hard enough for the sound to echo through the room.

The noise vibrated in the silence.

"Arrrrrrrrrghhhh!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, frustration exploding out of me all at once.

I marched toward the bed and began hitting the mattress repeatedly with the palm of my hand. Not hard enough to hurt myself, but enough to release the storm brewing inside me.

Again.

And again.

And again.

Until my arm felt heavy.

My breathing uneven.

And slowly, as the physical frustration faded, my thoughts drifted where they always seemed to drift lately.

To Noah.

The image of him arriving late replayed in my mind. The way he had stood at the far end of the garden. The way relief had flooded me when I saw him.

Why did he come late? 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

He was never careless.

Never disorganized.

And why did he look so pale?

That haunted me more than anything.

I had stolen a glance at him the day before, just a quick one when he was laughing with Anabel in the hallway. He hadn’t looked like that then. He had looked fine. Strong. Radiant even.

But today...there had been something off.

Something drained.

Was he alright?

The question circled my mind endlessly.

What if he wasn’t well?

What if he was pushing himself?

What if....I groaned and fell backward onto the bed, staring at the ceiling.

It hurt.

It hurt so damn much that I couldn’t simply walk to his room and demand answers. It hurt that I had to pretend I didn’t care. That I had to respect the distance he created.

The worst part?

I knew if I went to his room right now...Anabel would probably be there.

Laughing.

Smiling.

Standing close to him.

And he would look at her the way he used to look at me.

The thought twisted painfully in my chest.

"Noah, what’s wrong with you? Can you stop acting childish?" I yelled at the wall, my voice cracking slightly.

The room didn’t answer.

Of course it didn’t.

I sat up abruptly, running my hands through my hair in frustration.

Why was he avoiding me?

Why couldn’t he just talk to me?

Why did everything have to be so complicated?

I didn’t even realize when the tears started falling.

They streamed down my face silently at first, hot against my skin. I wiped at them angrily, but more replaced them.

I wasn’t even sure what I was crying for anymore.

The distance.

The silence.

The uncertainty.

Or the fear that I was losing him slowly without even knowing how to stop it.

I curled onto my side, clutching the edge of the pillow tightly.

"Noah..." I whispered softly this time, the anger draining into something far more vulnerable.

And the room remained painfully quiet.