Maria.

"Arrrrrrrrrghhhh!" I screamed beneath my breath, pressing my lips so tightly together it almost hurt.

Who did he think he was?

Seriously.

Darren, of all people, giving me orders?

I no longer belonged to his pack. I no longer belonged anywhere close to his life.

That Chapter had ended, torn, burned, and sealed shut.

Shouldn’t he stop bothering me? Shouldn’t he let me fade into the background like every other rogue forced to swallow her pride and serve?

But no, apparently the Goddess had decided that tonight would be the night every ghost from my past crawled back out just to ruin my sanity.

I pushed the trolley forward and hissed loudly under my breath, my frustration oozing out of me like steam.

My mind was spinning, unsettled, restless.

Every step echoed with a silent rant. If I could just get through this ridiculous birthday banquet, smile when necessary, bow when required, avoid eye contact, avoid humiliation, and then watch them all ride off tomorrow, I might finally breathe again.

Maybe.

Hopefully.

I reached the next door and forced myself to straighten my back. My knuckles rapped against the wood once.

Twice.

Three times.

The door swung open.

And my heart stalled.

Of course.

Noah.

"Hey," he greeted softly, voice like warm honey, "you really don’t need to carry my food here."

He didn’t wait for my protest. He reached out, took the tray from my hands, gently, so gently, and carried it inside, placing it with a care that made my chest pinch.

I didn’t respond, couldn’t, wouldn’t. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

I kept my gaze glued to the floor, praying he would take the hint and let me go.

"Maria?" his voice came again, softer, laced with concern.

I felt his fingers curl under my chin, light, but firm, lifting my face so I had no choice but to look at him.

Warm, clear eyes met mine, searching, worried, almost... pleading?

"Are you okay?" he asked. "Come on, you can talk to me. Your face looks pale."

I cursed him silently, painfully, viciously, but only inside my own skull, because somehow, his stupid, maddening kindness felt like a slap I didn’t have the strength or dignity to deflect.

Why now?

Why tonight of all nights?

Why after I had stood frozen, watching Anabel drape herself over him like she owned every inch of his body?

Could he, for once in his charming, oblivious life, take his hands off me? Could he stop looking at me like I mattered to him in some way that tore through my defenses and made my bones feel soft and useless?

I had work to do.

Tasks to complete.

Corners to disappear into, people to serve, mistakes to avoid, and trouble to step far, far away from.

But no—of course not.

He stood there anyway, refusing to move, as though anchored to the spot by some invisible chain. Too close. Much too close. Close enough that his warmth rolled off him in slow waves, brushing my skin like a touch he hadn’t technically made.

I didn’t have to look to know how near he was, my skin told me, prickling, tightening, trembling.

Then my brain caught up.

Wait...

Bare skin.

My eyes, traitors that they were, drifted over him before I could stop them.

What exactly was going on tonight?

Why were all the men shirtless?

Was there a memo I missed?

Water clung to Noah’s hair, dripping slowly, teasingly, down the sharp line of his jaw, then tracing a path over his neck and onto his chest. Every droplet gleamed against his skin, sliding lower... and lower...

A pulse fluttered violently at the base of my throat.

His lips, pink, wet, parted slightly as he breathed. His muscles flexed under the glow of the light, shoulders broad, chest defined, water droplets catching like crystals on smooth, tanned skin.

All of it...

All of him...

Enticing in a way I hated myself for noticing.

I tore my gaze away, cheeks burning hotter than a furnace.

Noah was watching me, and from the faint spark in his eyes, I knew he had noticed exactly where my attention had drifted.

’Moon above, can this night end already?’’ I pleaded silently.

"I—I..." The words tangled hopelessly on my tongue, stuck somewhere between my heart and my throat. I had tried to form a sentence, anything, but nothing coherent came out.

Before I could force myself to try again, a voice floated out from deeper inside the room, light, familiar, and way too comfortable for my sanity.

"Noah! Can you help me pass the towel?"

My blood chilled.

Anabel.

She was inside his bathroom.

My mouth went dry instantly. Did they...?

The thought slammed into me with the force of a boulder. My face fell, heat and disbelief prickling beneath my skin. A heavy, invisible fist clenched around my chest. It hurt, more than I had expected, more than I had prepared for.

Noah’s eyes locked onto mine, wide and uneasy, filled with something that looked dangerously like guilt. I couldn’t breathe.

"Maria..." he said, voice rougher than usual, as if the single word choked him. "Whatever you’re thinking, it’s not what it looks like. I..."

"You owe me no explanation, Alpha Noah."

I cut him off abruptly before the tremor in my voice betrayed me. Somehow I managed a brittle smile, the kind that felt like glass cracking across my face. I bowed my head, ready, desperate to escape with whatever pride remained.

But before I could step back, his fingers wrapped firmly around my arm, warm, insistent, almost frantic.

"Wait!" he said. "Don’t... don’t address me like that." His grip tightened ever so slightly, as though afraid I’d vanish the second he let go. "There really is nothing going on. Anabel is just..."

"Rogue 456! Is that you?"

Anabel’s voice cut through the air like a blade dipped in sugar.

She stepped out of the bathroom at that exact moment, wearing nothing but panties, her bare skin still glistening from steam or water, her chest shamelessly, no, boldly exposed, as if the world owed her admiration.

My stomach knotted so violently I almost doubled over.

Her eyes widened as she finally registered my presence, and a dark flush colored her cheeks. Not from modesty, no, Anabel was never that innocent, but from being caught without the upper hand secured yet.

She snatched a towel from a nearby rack and wrapped it around herself, all the while pretending the situation was perfectly normal, perfectly harmless.

Without missing a beat, she strutted forward and peeled Noah’s hand off my arm with a small, possessive flick of her wrist, like I was an inconvenient object she needed moved aside.

"You came to deliver the food?" she asked brightly, her smile stretching too wide, too polished, so fake it practically glowed neon. "Thank you! You can go now."

Dismissed, just like that.

Her tone dripped honey, but underneath it was venom, a quiet warning that echoed louder than a shout.

I stood there, frozen, my thoughts spinning wildly, humiliation clawing up my throat. The tray in my hand suddenly weighed a hundred pounds. I wanted to speak. I wanted to scream. I wanted to disappear.

Instead, I swallowed everything, hurt, confusion, whatever stupid thing my heart must have imagined, and straightened my spine.

I swallowed hard, forcing myself to breathe normally even though my lungs suddenly felt too tight.

I guess there really isn’t anything going on between them, I tried to lie to myself. Only someone utterly comfortable, brazen, even, would stroll out of a bathroom completely naked. And she had done it without hesitation, without fear, without shame.

Meaning what?

He must have seen her that way more times than I could count. There was no awkwardness between them, no startled embarrassment on his face, just that flash of guilt when he noticed me standing there.

My stomach twisted painfully.

Seeing that I still hadn’t moved an inch from the doorway, that I was rooted like a tree too stunned to bend, Anabel tossed one last sugary smile over her shoulder and turned to step fully into the room.

But she barely took a step before her foot snagged on something unseen and the towel flared like a flag. She pitched forward with a tiny gasp.

And then everything happened in one impossibly fast motion.

Noah surged toward her, his arm shooting out with wolf-born reflexes. He caught her before she hit the floor, bodies colliding, not clumsily, but almost smoothly, like they’d done this dance before.

Her legs, bare and long, hooked loosely around one of his, and her face hovered dangerously close to his, nose almost brushing his breath mingling. A pose so intimate it sent a sharp sting through my chest, like someone had reached in and twisted something vital.

That was it.

I couldn’t watch another second.

I slammed the door shut, maybe harder than necessary, and spun on my heel. Without thinking, without breathing properly, I strode down the hallway, heading straight to the kitchen to collect the food for the Quadruplet Alphas.

Anything to get away.