Aidan.

The moment Vanessa’s voice sliced through the room, ’I hope tomorrow when my wolf fully awakens, I would be your mate’, something inside me snapped awake, sharper than instinct, deeper than breath.

My senses flared, every nerve firing like lightning under my skin, and before I could stop myself, my gaze drifted automatically toward Maria, motionless on the ground.

Not collapsed. Not fainted. Just... still.

Like a statue carved from pain, her eyes wide open but staring into nothing. It almost looked like her soul had stepped outside her body for a moment, leaving only a shell behind.

And Goddess help me, my wolf reacted first. A violent ripple rolled through my chest, rejection, denial, refusal.

Not me denying Vanessa, not my mind, but my wolf.

’She is not ours. She cannot be. We already have one.’ my wolf hauled in protest.

Maria.

The same Maria, staring numbly at the floor, the same one whom fate chose, the same one, my wolf silently howled her name even while my heart beat for someone else.

But what was I supposed to do?

My heart slams against my ribs every time I look at Vanessa. My pulse stutters when she smiles. My world feels brighter just breathing the same air as her.

Meanwhile, Maria...She is a tug I don’t understand, a pull I fight every day. A bond, not a choice.

The reactions I get from her are probably just instinct, I reminded myself stubbornly.

Mate bond, wolf instinct, nothing more.

That must be it.

It had to be, because the alternative, the idea of caring, was something I couldn’t allow myself to feel.

I forced a breath through my lungs and grabbed Vanessa’s hand, grounding myself in what my mind insisted was the truth.

"Vanessa," I murmured softly, lifting her fingers to my lips, "regardless of if you become our mate or not, we would still choose you."

My thumb drifted over her palm, and she shivered beautifully beneath my touch. Her cheeks flushed a soft rose, glowing with shy triumph, and then she smiled, big, bright, heart-melting.

Without hesitation she threw her arms around me, burying herself against my chest. I felt her warmth seep through me, steadying every storm I carried, and I held her back, convincing myself that this, she, was the right path.

Damien stepped forward then, unable to watch quietly anymore. His grin stretched ear to ear as he joined the embrace, arms wrapping around both of us.

"Yes, Vanessa," he murmured with equal devotion, "you will always have our heart."

She giggled happily, squeezed between us, blissfully unaware of the chaos blazing inches away. To her, this moment was perfect, two Alphas declaring her chosen.

But even wrapped in her arms, even surrounded by Damien’s certainty, my attention betrayed me again.

My eyes cut sideways, magnetized.

Maria hadn’t moved an inch. There was no reaction from her, not even a blink nor did she flinch. She just sat there, shoulders rigid, her breath shallow and broken, like someone had ripped open her chest and walked away with the pieces.

And something inside me, something primal and ugly, reacted. Anger throbbing hot in my veins.

Why did she look like that?

Why did she stare like she was the wounded one?

She was supposed to be indifferent. Unaffected. She wasn’t meant to feel anything for us.

But the sight of her sitting there, falling apart in silence, irritated me more than I could explain.

Don’t look hurt. Don’t make me feel guilty. Don’t make my wolf restless.

I clenched my jaw and forced myself still, burying every flicker of emotion with the weight of Vanessa’s presence.

Vanessa, my warmth, my joy, my choice, I couldn’t slip, not in front of her.

So I inhaled slowly, masked my turmoil behind a soft smile, and gently pulled away from the embrace.

"Vanessa," I whispered, brushing my hand lightly across her hair like she was something precious, "why don’t you go to your room and rest? It’s your big day tomorrow."

She beamed like I’d hung the moon, her eyes twinkling with dreams and promises.

"Sure, Aidan! Good night." She blew me a playful kiss, turned, and practically bounced out of the room, Damien beaming behind her like a smitten fool.

When she turned her back and took a step, the silence that followed felt suffocating. My body still hummed with her touch, my wolf still snarled with rejection, and Maria still sat there like a ghost, and for one terrifying heartbeat, I wondered which part of me was right.

The moment the door clicked shut behind Vanessa, her scent still lingering faintly in the air, I felt the world shift. The warmth she always carried with her evaporated instantly, leaving behind a cold that crawled beneath my skin.

My gaze cut straight to Damien, still standing where she’d left him, and then slid to Maria sprawled on the ground like discarded debris. Her presence in the room felt wrong. Out of place. And yet I couldn’t ignore the pull in my chest whenever she was near.

I inhaled sharply. "What’s going on here, Damien?"

My voice came out low, controlled, just barely, but it carried authority enough to slice through whatever fragile calm lingered.

Damien stiffened visibly. He flicked his eyes to me and then immediately away, like he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t.

"Nothing much, brother." The dismissal sounded practiced, too casual.

Then his gaze snapped back to Maria, no hesitation this time, and pure disdain flooded his features. "I was just disciplining a rogue."

The word rogue rolled out of him like poison, as if it tasted foul in his mouth.

My jaw tightened. "Oh? The demoness seems to have done something again, I presume?"

A smirk ghosted across Damien’s lips, sharp, cruel, a little too eager.

"Actually, I saw her..."

He didn’t finish his words as Maria rose on unsteady feet and cut him off before the accusation could take form.

"Alpha Aidan," she said loudly enough that any doubt of timidity died instantly, "I actually asked Alpha Damien to release me. I want to leave the pack."

Every muscle in my body froze.

For a second, I genuinely wondered if I had heard her wrong. My heart slammed against my ribs. My wolf reacted violently, claws ripping at my insides like it wanted to leap out and silence her.

Leave?

She wants to leave?

I felt the urge to cross the room, grip her face, and demand she swallow those words back down her throat. My fingers curled into fists at my sides, control strained thin as thread.

I snapped my head toward Damien, searching his expression for confirmation—or worse, agreement. But Damien’s face wasn’t triumphant or satisfied. It was twisted with irritation and disbelief. He hadn’t said yes. He hadn’t let her go.

And relief, unwanted, inexplicable, poured through me like water over flame.

She wasn’t leaving. Not yet.

My voice came out colder than I intended, "Rogues aren’t allowed to leave Moon Bridge territory until after five years of service."

The room went dead still.

Damien’s brows shot up. Maria’s eyes widened, shock flickering into them like a spark. They exchanged a brief look, mute confusion etched on their faces, as if my words came from a rulebook they’d never seen.

Because they hadn’t.

"But I checked the records," Maria fired back, her voice steady but her breath trembling underneath, "and I asked around. There is nothing like that."

She sounded so certain. So infuriatingly sure.

That tiny spark of defiance sent a surge of heat through me, rage, instinct, something tied to the bond I refused to acknowledge. My wolf snarled in agreement.

I stepped closer, gaze hard. "Anything I say is what will be done, Rogue 456."

Her number, her label, hung heavy in the air, stripping her of her voice, her identity, her right to leave.

"And whereas," I continued, each word measured and unyielding, "you are our personal maid. You owe us your life. You haven’t paid the debt yet."

Her lips parted slightly, maybe to argue, maybe to breathe, but I didn’t give her the chance. My tone left no space for questions.

No space for escape.

A thick silence followed, one that seemed to swallow the room whole.

Damien’s shoulders loosened as the tension shifted, and when I glanced at him again, something unfamiliar flickered across his face, not confusion this time but satisfaction.

He was pleased, far too pleased, and I loved how much that look pleased me.I shot him one final look, a warning, a silent message, and turned toward the door.

My hand tightened on the handle.

But before I stepped out, I caught, just barely, the upward curl of Damien’s mouth.

A smile, one that can be classified as a triumphant smile.

Something inside me twisted.

And for reasons I refused to examine, it wasn’t Maria’s defiance or the lie I’d just spoken that unsettled me most, it was that smile on Damien’s face.

The moment I closed the door behind me, I realized I hadn’t decided whether I was more relieved that Maria couldn’t leave...

...or terrified by how badly I wanted her to stay.