Chapter Five: The Decision

Adrian did not move for a moment. His hands were still clawed, even his shirt still torn, but his eyes had gone very still, like something inside him had shut a door.

"How long ago?" he asked Helena.

"Ten minutes, maybe less." Helena's voice shook. "The guard at the safe room is dead, they went in through the vents."

"They planned this," Adrian said quietly. "The message, the loud sound, all of it was to pull me away from her."

"What do we do?" Mira asked.

Adrian looked at her like he had forgotten she was there. "We will do nothing. I will go and you will stay here, with Helena, the guards will be on every door."

"You cannot go alone," the man with yellow eyes said, stepping forward. "Not against the whole Draven pack."

"I am not going alone. I am going now, before they get far." Adrian's voice left no room for argument. "Marcus, gather six men. We move in five minutes."

Marcus nodded and disappeared down the hall, already shouting orders.

Mira grabbed Adrian's arm before he could turn away. "Wait. Just wait one second."

"Mira, I do not have a second to spare."

"Then take it anyway." Her voice came out sharper than she meant it to. "You just told me I am your wife, maybe your mate, whatever that means. If something happens to you tonight, I am the one left standing here not knowing anything. Tell me something, just tell me anything."

Adrian's jaw tightened, but he did not pull away from her hand. For a moment, something that showed helplessness softened in his face.

"If I do not come back," he said quietly, "Helena has instructions. You will be taken care of, you will be safe."

"That is not what I asked." Mira replied.

"It is the only answer I have time to give you." He pulled his arm free, gently this time, and stepped back. "Stay inside, stay with Helena. Please."

He said please like it cost him something to say it at all. Then he was gone, moving fast down the hallway, Marcus and five other men went behind him.

Mira stood alone in the wrecked study, broken glass under her feet, the smell of blood and smoke still hanging in the air.

"Come, Miss Voss," Helena said gently. "There is nothing more you can do here tonight."

"There has to be something." Mira beckoned.

"There is." Helena's eyes were kind but firm. "You can survive the night, that is what he needs from you right now."

The hours crawled slower than any night Mira had known. She sat in the drawing room with Helena, a fire burning low, both of them were silent listening for any sound from outside.

"Tell me about the Dravens," Mira said finally, she was not able to sit with the silence any longer.

Helena hesitated. "They were allies once upon a time. Adrian's grandfather and their alpha built the eastern territories together, split the profits fair, kept the peace between species."

"What happened?" Mira curiosly asked.

"Money," Helena said simply. "And a woman, if the old stories are true. The Draven alpha's daughter and Adrian's father were once promised to each other, then his father chose someone else."

Mira whispered, "Adrian's mother."

Helena nodded. "The alliance broke apart within a year. The Dravens have wanted revenge for two generations now, dressed up as territory disputes and business grievances but underneath, it has always been personal."

"How about Adrian? Is there something personal for him too?"

Something shined across Helena's face. "That is not my story to tell, Miss Voss."

Surprisingly to Mira, the front doors slammed open and voices filled the entry hall.

Mira was on her feet running toward the sound before Helena could stop her.

Adrian stood in the entrance, blood on his hands, with a long cut across his cheekbone already healing before her eyes. Behind him were two of his men carrying Elena between them, she was unconscious but still breathing.

"You got her back," Mira breathed.

"Yes, we got her back," Adrian said, voice hoarse with exhaustion. "It cost us alot."

"What do you mean?" Mira asked.

His eyes met hers, tired and full of something she could not quite name. "They let us take her too easily, they wanted us to think we won something tonight."

"I do not understand." Mira said.

Adrian stepped closer, close enough that she could see every line of exhaustion carved into his face. "The Dravens do not make mistakes like that. If they let Elena go without a real fight, it means they already got what they actually came for."

Mira's stomach dropped. "What did they come for?"

Behind Adrian, Marcus appeared in the doorway, his face pale, something small and folded in his hand.

"Sir," Marcus said carefully. "This was left on the safe room floor addressed to you."

Adrian took the paper, and Mira watched his face change as he read it.

"What does it say?" Mira asked.

Adrian's eyes lifted to hers slowly, and for the first time since she had met him, she saw real fear behind the gold.

"They know about the bond," he said quietly. "They know what you could become to me if I let it finish forming. And they are giving me one week to end this marriage, or they promise to take you the way they almost took Elena tonight."

He held the paper out to her, his hand not quite steady.

At the bottom of the paper were sharp and deliberate handwriting, were seven words that made the room feel suddenly very cold.

One week, Ashfeld. Choose her, or lose everything.