Maria.

The room fell into a tense, suffocating silence after my outburst.

For a moment, none of them spoke.

My chest rose and fell heavily as I waited, my gaze moving between Aidan, Damien, and Davian. They exchanged brief looks with one another, the kind of silent communication that spoke louder than words.

It was clear they hadn’t intended to tell me anything.

But now they had no choice.

Aidan exhaled slowly.

The breath left his lungs in a long, heavy sigh as if he had been holding it in for far too long. His hand lifted to the back of his neck, fingers rubbing against the tense muscles there in clear frustration. For a moment, he didn’t speak. His gaze drifted toward the floor, jaw tightening as though the words sitting on his tongue were difficult to say aloud.

When he finally spoke, his voice was lower than before.

"Adrien was fighting the poison."

The words hung in the air.

My brows knit together immediately, confusion tightening my expression as I looked between them. Fighting it?

"With his wolf," Aidan added quietly.

The clarification made my heart tighten sharply inside my chest.

Of course.

A werewolf’s first line of defense was always their wolf. Their instincts. Their strength. Their ability to heal and resist things that a normal human body never could but something in Aidan’s voice made it clear this wasn’t something admirable.

It sounded like a battle that had already been lost.

"He held on longer than we expected," Damien said from beside him.

His voice had changed too.

The usual firmness in his tone had softened, the edges dulled by something that almost sounded like reluctant respect.

"Much longer."

Slowly, almost hesitantly, my gaze drifted back toward Adrien.

The sight of him made my chest ache.

His body looked so weak against the restraints, the heavy chains digging into his wrists and ankles. The man who once carried himself with such terrifying strength now looked barely able to hold himself upright. His breathing was uneven, his chest rising and falling with shallow, strained breaths. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

It was hard to reconcile this broken figure with the Adrien I knew.

Davian’s voice cut through the heavy silence again, sharper this time.

"The poison was too strong," he said.

His tone was clipped, controlled, like someone forcing themselves to stay factual instead of emotional.

"It kept spreading through his system."

I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry.

"And his wolf tried to suppress it," Davian continued. "Tried to fight it from the inside."

Inside.

The word made my chest tighten painfully.

I could almost picture it, the wolf inside him battling desperately against something it couldn’t see, something that was eating away at its host from within.

My fingers curled slightly at my sides.

"So what happened?" I asked quietly.

My voice sounded smaller than I intended.

The question lingered in the room.

For a brief moment, none of them answered.

The silence that followed felt thick and suffocating, stretching longer than it should have. Aidan, Damien, and Davian exchanged brief glances, as if silently deciding who should say the next part.

That hesitation alone made dread creep into my stomach.

Then Aidan spoke again.

"It got to a point where his wolf couldn’t take it anymore."

My stomach dropped instantly.

The words landed like a stone sinking deep into water.

The image that formed in my mind was horrifying, a creature fighting with everything it had until there was simply nothing left.

"And now?" I whispered.

The question slipped out before I could stop it.

Aidan’s jaw tightened, the muscle there flexing slightly.

For a second he looked away from me, his gaze drifting toward Adrien’s restrained figure before returning.

"His wolf is gone."

The words hit me like a physical blow.

Gone.

The single word echoed in my mind, loud and disorienting.

My thoughts struggled to process it.

Wolves didn’t just disappear.

They were part of a werewolf’s soul, their other half, their strength and identity. Even injured wolves healed eventually. Even weakened ones survived.

They didn’t simply... vanish.

Yet the heavy silence filling the room confirmed the truth of his words.

No one corrected him.

No one argued.

"And his human body," Damien added grimly, "can’t withstand the poison the way his wolf could."

My gaze flickered back to Adrien again.

This time, the sight of him made everything fall into place in a way that made my chest ache.

The chains.

The violent growling from earlier.

The way his body had strained against the restraints like he was trying to tear himself apart.

The way his eyes had looked wild... unfocused... like he was fighting something no one else could see.

"The poison has started affecting his brain," Davian said.

My chest tightened painfully at the bluntness of the statement.

"That’s why he’s like this now."

I swallowed hard.

The dryness in my throat made the simple movement uncomfortable.

"What do you mean?"

Davian’s expression hardened.

His gaze shifted briefly toward Adrien before returning to me, his voice losing any trace of softness.

"He can’t control himself," he said bluntly, the finality in his tone made my stomach twist. "When he sees someone," Davian continued coldly, "the only thing his mind registers..." He paused deliberately. "...is attack."

My breath caught.

"He wants to jump at them... crush them... bite them," Damien added.

The words sounded cruel when spoken out loud.

Aidan’s gaze moved to me again, his eyes cold.

"But I suppose you’re happy now, aren’t you?" he said bitterly, the accusation hung heavily in the air. "With what you’ve caused."

Something inside me snapped.

But this time, I didn’t shout.

I didn’t argue.

I didn’t even defend myself.

Because there was nothing I could say.

The weight of their words crushed against my chest.

Adrien had lost his wolf.

Because of the arrow meant for me.

Without saying a word, I turned away.

The room suddenly felt suffocating.

I couldn’t stay there another second.

I walked straight past them.

No one stopped me.

The moment I stepped out of the room, the door slammed shut behind me as I stormed down the hallway.

My vision blurred slightly as anger, guilt, and frustration twisted together inside me.

Footsteps sounded behind me.

"Maria." Daniel’s voice.

I didn’t stop walking.

"Maria, wait."

His steps quickened until he caught up beside me.

"Calm down," he said gently.

But I shook my head, refusing to look at him.

"I’m fine," I muttered.

"You’re not."

Before I could protest, Daniel gently took my arm and guided me down another corridor.

"Come with me."

Too overwhelmed to argue, I allowed him to lead me.

A few moments later, we stopped in front of a door.

Daniel pushed it open.

His room.

"Sit," he said softly.

I walked inside slowly, my mind still spinning with everything I had just heard. Without saying anything, I sat down on the edge of his bed.

Daniel studied me for a moment.

"I’ll get you something," he said.

I barely reacted.

He quietly stepped out of the room.

The door clicked shut behind him.

Finally alone, I let out a long breath and leaned back onto the bed.

My head felt heavy.

Everything felt heavy.

I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to calm the storm of emotions raging inside me but the pillow beneath my head felt... strange.

Lumpy.

Uncomfortable.

Frowning slightly, I lifted my head and pulled the pillow away, and something was hidden underneath it.

My curiosity immediately stirred.

Slowly, I reached down and pulled out what looked like a flat leather folder.

A portrait case.

My brows furrowed.

It was the same portrait I had wanted to look at the other day.

Why would Daniel hide something like this under his pillow?

Curiosity got the better of me.

Carefully, I opened it.

The moment my eyes landed on the image inside....My entire body froze.

My breath caught in my throat.

"Oh my God..." I whispered.

My hands trembled slightly as I stared at the portrait.

Because the person staring back at me from the painting was someone I never expected to see there.