Daniel.

Noah’s attitude was beginning to piss me off. The way he stood there earlier... the way he spoke... the way he looked at her like he had every right...My jaw clenched.

But even that irritation faded quickly.

Because compared to what I was really here for...It meant nothing.

I slammed the door shut behind me the moment I stepped into my room. The sound echoed loudly through the space, sharp and final, like it could somehow shut out everything swirling in my head.

But it didn’t.

Nothing did.

I exhaled roughly, dragging a hand through my hair as I paced forward. There were too many things to handle, too many loose ends tightening around my neck.

And yet...Maria.

She was the only thing my mind kept returning to. Over and over again.

"Fuck..." I muttered under my breath.

At this point, it was becoming a problem.

No—worse.

I was losing control.

That realization alone irritated me further.

Without thinking, my steps carried me straight to the bed. My focus shifted immediately to the one thing that had been grounding me these past few days.

The portrait.

I reached for it instinctively, my fingers already anticipating the familiar feel of it, the quiet comfort it always brought.

I just needed to see her, even if it wasn’t real, even if it was just ink and paper. I needed something.

But the moment my hand hovered over it...I froze.

Something was wrong. My eyes narrowed slightly as I picked it up, It had been moved, subtly, carefully.

But not by me.

The way it was placed... the slight shift in position... the almost unnoticeable difference in how it had been sealed...Someone had touched it.

My grip tightened slightly.

Then, I stilled as I caught the scent that lingered on it, faint but unmistakable.

It was Maria.

My heart skipped.

Has she...?

My eyes darkened instantly.

"Did she see this?" I murmured under my breath.

The thought hit hard and fast.

Was that why she left?

Was that why she suddenly ran out of my room earlier?

"Shit."

I turned sharply, my gaze snapping toward the other side of the bed.

The map.

I moved toward it quickly and picked it up, it was the same thing, wrong seal, wrong placement. Someone had definitely gone through it and there was only one person it could be.

Maria.

A cold realization settled deep in my chest, she had seen everything, the portrait, the map, everything I had tried to keep hidden.

My jaw clenched tightly.

It was only a matter of time now before the Quadruplets started connecting the dots, before they traced everything back to me, because I hadn’t come here for nothing.

I had a mission.

An order.

From the Lycan Prince.

And I had followed it, carefully and strategically, until...Maria happened. My grip tightened around the map, I had gotten distracted, no... more than that...I had gotten carried away.

Galen had seen it too.

She had stepped in, tried to help me move things forward, tried to push the plan along when I hesitated.

And now...She was captured, which meant one thing.Our plan was already hanging by a thread, exposed and dangerously close to collapsing.

I exhaled slowly, forcing myself to think...Logically, I should leave as that was the smartest move, the safest one. It was something that I needed to do nefore everything came crashing down, before I got caught in the middle of something I could no longer control.

But...My wolf kept stirring restlessly, greedily and unwilling. And I knew why....it was her Maria...I wanted her, not just as part of the mission, not just as an objective, but for myself.

That realization didn’t sit right.

But I didn’t deny it either.My gaze dropped back to the portrait in my hand. My thumb brushed lightly over her face, slowly and carefully.

"I’m not leaving without you..." I muttered.

Because at this point...It wasn’t just about the mission anymore, I wanted to win...the competition, everything. I just wanted to take her away from here.

With me.

No matter what it cost.

But then...Galen’s voice echoed in my head, clear, sharp and unavoidable. Just like it had been the day before the assassination.

"You are getting distracted, Daniel... Let’s focus and get out of here!"

My jaw tightened at the memory.

"No way, Galen," I had snapped back, my tone firm, unyielding. "You follow my lead."

I could still remember the way she had looked at me then, with a mixture of dsbelief, doubt, frustration and suspicion.

"Follow your lead?" she had repeated slowly. "Tell me, Daniel... do you love Maria?"

The question had caught me off guard.

"And what is that supposed to mean, Galen?" I had shot back immediately, irritation lacing my voice. "I know what I’m doing, okay."

But even then...I had known...I was lying, not just to her but to myself. I shook my head now, as if I could physically push the memory away.

But it didn’t leave, Instead, another moment surfaced and it was just as vivid and as sharp as the day if the assassination.

"Why did you do that, Galen?" I had demanded, anger clear in my tone as I turned toward her.

She hadn’t flinched.

"Do what exactly?" she had replied coolly. "That I almost killed your lover?"

My fists had clenched instantly.

"Galen, that was risky," I had snapped, stepping closer to her. "What if Adrien hadn’t stepped in?"

Even now, the thought made something twist inside me. I had faced her fully then.

"Maria is innocent," I had added, my voice lowering slightly but still firm. "Leave her out of all this."

But Galen...She had just stared at me like I was the one who didn’t understand anything.

"Daniel, why don’t you get it?" she had said, taking a step closer. "I am only trying to help you."

Her voice had turned serious then.

Dead serious.

"The Lycan prince is ruthless. If we don’t finish the task within a month, you won’t get the antidote."

Those words...they still echoed in my head, even now.

"Is Maria worth more than the antidote that will save your life?" she had asked finally.

I hadn’t answered her, not then and even now...that same question still lingered in my head, haunting me relentlessly because the truth was...the antidote wasn’t even a real solution.

It wouldn’t save me, not completely. It would only suppress the effects of the pill I had taken.

Buy me time.

Another month.

And then what?

The cycle would repeat, again and again, until...I exhaled slowly, dragging a hand down my face.

My thoughts drifted back to Maria.

She made me feel something I hadn’t felt in a long time, something real, something... human. It wasn’t that feeling instead I felt I was not a pawn nor a tool in someone’s chess board, bound by orders and consequences.

With her...I felt seen, grounded, alive and that was dangerous.

Because now...I wanted her, not as part of the mission, not as a means to an end but for myself, completely mine.

So yes...Call me greedy.

I wanted both.

Maria...And the antidote.

But time wasn’t on my side anymore, not after what had happened, not after Galen got caught and was saved by the Lycan prince men, and definetely not after Maria had most likely seen everything.

My jaw tightened.

Would she stay away from me now?

Would she start looking at me differently?

With suspicion?

With fear?

The thought didn’t sit well with me, at all. I exhaled slowly, my gaze hardening.

No.

I couldn’t let things spiral out of control, not now....I really needed to act fast...I needed to push things forward...Kickstart the competition again...Finish what I came here to do...And take her with me.

Before everything fell apart.