Maria.

The moment the door creaked open further and the figure stepped fully into the room, my eyes narrowed slightly.

When I recognized him, confusion washed over me.

"Alpha Daniel," I said almost immediately, the words slipping out the second our eyes locked. My voice carried both surprise and suspicion. "What exactly are you doing here?"

Daniel paused mid-step.

For a brief second, something unreadable flashed across his face, but it disappeared so quickly that I almost wondered if I had imagined it.

Then he smiled.

The expression spread smoothly across his face, almost too perfectly, as if it had been carefully placed there.

"Maria," he said warmly, his tone light. "Here you are. I have been looking for you."

I frowned slightly.

Looking for me?

The words didn’t quite sit right in my chest.

If he had truly been searching for me, why had he entered the room like that? Quietly. Carefully. Almost like he didn’t want to be noticed.

My mind began to race.

I had rushed here in panic after Vernia’s warning. I had left everything behind without telling anyone where I was going.

So how exactly did he know I would be here?

My gaze lingered on him suspiciously.

Was he really telling the truth?

"Took me a really long time to locate you," he continued, shrugging slightly as if the whole situation was harmless.

His smile remained firmly in place.

But the uneasiness inside me didn’t fade.

Instead, it grew stronger.

I opened my mouth, ready to question him further.

But before I could say anything...the door burst open again, the sudden sound made me flinch.

Three figures stepped into the room almost at the same time.

Aidan.

Damien.

Davian.

Their presence instantly changed the atmosphere in the room. The air felt heavier, more suffocating, as their powerful auras filled the space.

Davian’s sharp eyes swept across the room quickly.

They landed on me first.

Then Daniel.

Then Adrien, still chained to the bed.

His expression darkened immediately.

"What the hell are you both doing in my brother’s room?" Davian demanded, his voice sharp with anger.

Before I could even react, he strode forward.

His movement was fast.

Too fast.

In the next second, his hand shoved against my shoulder, pushing me away from the bed.

The sudden force made me stumble backward slightly, my balance almost slipping.

But the moment Davian touched me...Adrien reacted.

A deep, furious growl ripped from his throat. The sound was loud and primal, vibrating through the entire room.

Everyone froze.

Adrien’s body jerked violently against the chains again, his purple eyes blazing as he glared directly at Davian.

The growl carried clear warning—Don’t hurt her, don’t touch her, stay away.

Davian’s expression changed instantly, confusion flickered across his face. He stared at Adrien, clearly stunned by the reaction.

For a moment, no one spoke.

The rattling of the chains echoed softly as Adrien continued to struggle, his eyes still fixed on Davian.

Davian slowly stepped back, his brows furrowing in disbelief.

"What the..." he muttered under his breath, clearly puzzled by Adrien’s reaction.

The silence didn’t last long.

Damien’s voice cut through the room sharply.

"I had always known it," he said coldly, his gaze moving slowly between Daniel and me, as suspicion filled his eyes. "You two are working together."

My heart skipped a beat.

"What?" I blurted out instinctively.

But Damien didn’t seem to hear me.

He continued staring at us as if he had just solved a puzzle.

"Are you here to finish him off?" he continued, his voice laced with accusation. "Because he already lost his wolf?"

For a moment, the words didn’t make sense, they echoed in my mind slowly and then the meaning hit me.

My breath caught in my throat.

My eyes snapped toward Adrien.

"What?" I whispered, my voice barely audible.

My chest tightened painfully.

Adrien... lost his wolf?

My heart began to pound loudly in my ears, as the thought alone felt impossible. Yet the way everyone in the room had suddenly gone silent made the terrifying possibility feel real.

My head turned instinctively toward Adrien again.

For a moment, the rest of the room seemed to fade away, the accusations, the tension, the heavy stares pressing down on me from every direction.

All I could see was him.

Adrien lay against the bed, still restrained by the heavy iron chains. His chest rose and fell unevenly, his breathing ragged as though he had just fought a battle no one else could see.

His purple eyes looked duller now.

Weaker.

The wild rage that had burned in them moments ago had faded, leaving behind something far more painful.

Exhaustion.

Confusion twisted inside my chest.

He had lost control of his wolf, or rather he doesn’t have a wolf any longer, I thought as Damien’s words echoed again in my mind.

My stomach dropped.

His wolf was gone?

How could that even happen?

Wolves didn’t just disappear.

The bond between a wolf and its host was sacred, something that existed as long as life itself remained.

So how did Adrien lose his?

What could have possibly caused something like that?

"You are happy now, right, Maria?"

The sudden sound of Aidan’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

I looked up slowly.

He was walking toward me, his expression dark and filled with anger. Every step he took felt heavy, his powerful presence filling the room like a storm about to break.

"Now you both have a lot of explaining to do," he continued coldly.

His gaze flickered between me and Daniel, suspicion burning in his eyes.

But his words barely registered in my mind.

I wasn’t thinking about accusations.

I wasn’t thinking about threats.

All I could think about was Adrien.

"How did it happen?" I heard myself ask.

The question slipped from my lips before I even realized I was speaking.

My voice sounded distant to my own ears, my attention still fixed entirely on Adrien’s weakened form.

Silence followed my question.

Then Davian spoke.

"That’s none of your business, Maria." His tone was sharp, cold and dismissive.

The words hit something inside me like a spark hitting dry wood.

My head snapped toward him and for a second, disbelief flashed across my face...then anger surged through me.

I let out a harsh scoff. "None of my business?" I repeated, the disbelief in my voice quickly turning into fury.

I took a step forward, my hands clenching into fists at my sides.

"What exactly is wrong with you, Davian?" I snapped, the frustration I had been holding back finally exploded. "He fucking took that arrow for me!" I shouted, my voice rising uncontrollably.

The words echoed loudly within the room.

For a moment, even the air seemed to freeze.

"How is it not my business?" I demanded, my voice trembling with anger and guilt. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

My chest rose and fell heavily as the emotions spilled out of me. I could still remember that moment vividly, the arrow flying through the air, the split second where everything could have ended differently.

Adrien had stepped in front of me without hesitation.

He had taken the hit meant for me.

If he hadn’t...I clenched my jaw tightly, refusing to finish that thought.

"Answer me!" I shouted again, my voice ringing through the room.

The sudden outburst seemed to catch them off guard.

Aidan’s brows furrowed.

Davian actually flinched slightly.

Even Damien’s expression shifted with surprise.

The room fell into a tense silence..My breathing was uneven, my heart pounding loudly as I glared at them.

I didn’t care about their authority.

I didn’t care about their accusations.

All I cared about was the truth.

"Now tell me," I said again, my voice still trembling with anger and desperation, my eyes moving from one of them to the other, refusing to back down. "How did it all come to this?"