Aidan.

I leaned back in my chair, stretching my legs out as Davian eagerly spread a collection of gift ideas across the low wooden table. Damien paced restlessly near the window, hands laced behind his head like he was trying to physically force his brain to think harder.

We had been tossing around suggestions for the last hour, and at this point I could barely tell one extravagant idea from the next, but the excitement buzzing between us kept me engaged.

"So..." Davian said thoughtfully, tapping his fingers against the table, "we agree it needs to be something meaningful, right? Something that absolutely screams you’re ours."

Damien spun around mid-pace, eyes lighting up. "How about a diamond necklace? Our princess deserves that!" he declared, a grin stretching from ear to ear.

His enthusiasm was almost contagious, and despite myself, I chuckled. I could already imagine Vanessa’s face—her eyes widening, her lips parting in surprise, the faint blush that always dusted her cheeks when we showered her with attention. The image alone made my wolf rumble in approval.

"That’s not a bad idea," I said, rubbing my chin in thought. "Something elegant. Something everyone will notice the moment she walks into the hall."

"And something that marks her," Davian added quietly, leaning forward with purpose. "Our Luna should stand out."

Those words settled between us like a promise, we weren’t just choosing a gift, we were making a declaration.

Tomorrow, during the party, we planned to make everything official. Confess openly, no more hiding, no more waiting, claim Vanessa as ours.

Our Luna.

It felt surreal, even to me.

"We should also think about the moment," Davian continued, eyes distant like he was painting the scene in his head. "Where we tell her. How we tell her. It needs to be perfect."

Damien dropped into a chair beside me, nodding vigorously. "We can’t just hand her jewelry and grunt you’re ours now like barbarians."

I snorted. "Speak for yourself. I’m sure Vanessa would find your barbaric charm adorable."

Damien shoved my shoulder playfully, rolling his eyes. "Nah. She deserves a fairy-tale moment."

"She deserves everything," Davian said softly, the words filled with far more emotion than he usually lets show.

For a moment, all three of us fell quiet.

The sense of anticipation hummed in the room like a second heartbeat.

Tomorrow was important, not just for her, but for our pack. For us, for the future we envisioned with her at our side. The party was just a day away. Preparations were complete, the hall decorated, the invitations sent.Every guest had arrived. There was nothing left to worry about except the moment itself.

"So what do we settle on?" Damien finally asked.

"Diamond necklace," Davian and I responded at the same time, then exchanged a grin.

"Perfect," he said. "And maybe a handwritten letter, from all of us. Something personal."

"That," I agreed, "is a good touch."

We officially wrapped up the discussion, but none of us moved from our seats. Instead, we lingered there, riding the wave of excitement, imagining different versions of tomorrow.

Every passing second brought us closer to the moment we’d been planning for months.

All that was left... was for Adrien to show up.

Among the four of us brothers, he was undoubtedly the most playful, sometimes irresponsible, sometimes infuriating, but he was loyal and he was ours. And we needed him here to seal the final decision.

We waited, voices dropping into idle chatter, eyes flicking toward the doorway every few seconds.

Tomorrow could change everything.

I lifted my chin toward the doorway just as footsteps sounded down the hall.

Speak of the devil, Adrien finally strode in, shoulders squared and eyes darting around the room like he’d misplaced something important.

"Have you seen Anabel?" he blurted the second he crossed the threshold, not even bothering with a greeting.

Damien snorted under his breath. Davian shot me a look that plainly said here we go again.

"Not really," I answered, tilting my head. "Why are you searching for her?"

Adrien opened his mouth, hesitated a fraction of a second, then shrugged like whatever urgency he had was obvious. "I need to collect something from her." His tone was clipped, distracted, as if his mind was somewhere else entirely.

But then he paused mid-step, eyebrows shooting upward as realization dawned on him.

"That reminds me—why didn’t I think of that earlier?"

"Think of what?" Davian cut in, leaning forward as though Adrien had just dangled a secret in front of us.

Adrien waved a hand, excitement buzzing off him. "Noah Alfred is definitely around already."

My spine straightened, a spark of surprise jolting through me. "Seriously?" I asked, eyebrows raised. "I can’t imagine how he didn’t come to see us immediately!"

We’d grown up alongside Noah, or at least close enough for the friendship to feel like family. Him arriving without stopping by felt almost... wrong.

Damien flopped back into his chair, a lazy smirk spreading across his face. "He would—if our baby sister hasn’t gone to hold him down."

A laugh burst out of me before I could stop it, the image forming crystal clear in my mind—Anabel, beaming like the moon, attaching herself to Noah the moment she heard he was on pack grounds.

Davian chuckled too, shaking his head. "Yeah, if she got so much as a whiff of his scent, she’s probably already glued to him."

Adrien huffed, half-amused and half-exasperated. "Seriously, that girl. The whole pack could crumble and she still won’t let go of that crush."

None of us bothered to deny it. We all knew exactly how bad she had it for Noah Alfred.

It wasn’t a new fascination—it was a long, stubbornly burning flame, the kind she would never admit out loud but couldn’t hide if her life depended on it. Every time he visited, she practically melted into a puddle at his feet.

"And she probably dragged him off somewhere," Damien added, voice laced with mocking affection. "Made him forget the existence of everyone else."

Davian grinned. "I give it ten minutes before she’s forcing him to taste her cookies or listen to her rant about dresses."

I laughed at that—because that was Anabel to the bone.

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, wherever she is, I’d better track her down. I need what she took from me yesterday."

His words held that familiar frustrated-big-brother energy, though his eyes gleamed with fondness beneath it. No matter how much he grumbled, he adored her—just like the rest of us.

Damien waved him off. "Good luck. You might have to pry her fingers off Noah first."

Another round of chuckles rippled through us. In that moment, it hit me how grounded everything felt. The four of us, sitting here, teasing, planning, waiting. We might be Alphas—leaders, protectors, heirs—but right now, it was just brothers being brothers.

"Anyway," I said with a sigh, sinking deeper into my seat, letting my shoulders relax against the backrest, "let Noah come to us when Anabel has had her fill."

It was pointless trying to outrun fate, or Anabel’s enthusiasm, which was practically the same thing.

Damien barked a short laugh, Davian smirked knowingly, and Adrien groaned dramatically, dragging a palm down his face. But even through the irritation, amusement tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered under his breath, half-laughing despite himself as he pivoted toward the doorway. "Just don’t blame me when she hogs him the entire night."

We watched him stride out, shoulders squared as if he were marching off to battle, and the moment the door clicked behind him, it was as though something loosening snapped back into place.

Silence settled for a breath, light, comfortable silence, the kind that only existed between brothers who had survived too many storms together.

Damien leaned back, feet propped up like the menace he was. Davian stretched his arms high above his head with a satisfied groan. And I exhaled slowly, a tiny smile tugging at my lips before I even noticed it was there.

The air in the room shifted, warm, easy, a little playful. There was no tension nor threats looming at our backs.

Just us, sharing a moment where nothing felt heavy.

Tomorrow would be different, tomorrow we’d face duties, responsibilities, a party full of alliances and potential enemies in polished clothes. Tomorrow the weight of our pack, our future, and our choices would sink its claws into us again.

But today...Today was still ours.

Today we could breathe, laugh, and exist without worry gnawing into bone.

Moments like this, quiet, comfortable, brotherly moments, had become rare treasures.

And as I sat there with Damien teasing Davian about gift choices, I held onto it, silently hoping we’d get just a little more time before reality struck again. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Because peace, even temporary, was worth savoring. And the decision we already made and was about to pronounce as permanent tomorrow, didn’t quite sit well with me.

Because somewhere deep down, all I could see was Maria....