Chapter Ten – The Confrontation

I woke up to the low murmur of voices outside Adrian’s bedroom door.

Not the hushed tones of guards changing shifts, but something sharper — edged with anger.

“You’ve gone too far this time.”

Lucas.

I froze, my fingers tightening around the blanket.

“You’re trespassing in my house,” Adrian’s voice answered, calm in the way that made people more afraid.

“Don’t twist this. You’ve got my fiancée’s ex-mate sleeping in your bed? In your quarters? Do you know what that makes you look like?”

There was a pause, the kind that felt like it could split the air in two. “It makes me look like a man who protects what’s his.”

The words slammed into me before I could process them. What’s his.

I slipped out of bed, padding silently to the door. When I cracked it open, I saw them — two tall, dark-haired Lycans standing only feet apart, tension coiled between them like a live wire.

Lucas looked the same as the night he’d rejected me — polished, smug, the faint scent of Clara’s perfume clinging to him like a brand. Only now, his jaw was tight, his eyes burning with something I almost mistook for jealousy.

“You think you’re protecting her?” Lucas scoffed. “You’re making her a target. Everyone will think she’s your new toy. Is that what you want?”

Adrian didn’t even blink. “I don’t care what they think.”

“You don’t care?” Lucas stepped closer, his voice rising. “You’re humiliating me—”

Adrian cut him off with a low, dangerous chuckle. “You humiliated yourself the day you threw her away for a political marriage. Don’t pretend this is about her safety. This is about you not liking that someone else sees her worth.”

My heart thudded against my ribs. I had never heard anyone talk to Lucas like that.

“This isn’t about worth,” Lucas snapped. “It’s about lines. And you—” he jabbed a finger toward Adrian “—have crossed one that should never be crossed.”

“Lines?” Adrian tilted his head slightly. “The only line I see is the one between a man and a coward. You drew it yourself.”

Lucas’s hands clenched at his sides, his knuckles whitening. “You think you can take whatever I’ve had? That’s what this is about?”

Adrian’s expression sharpened. “No. I don’t take leftovers.” His eyes flicked toward me in the doorway. “Emma was never yours to keep.”

The words hit Lucas like a blow. His jaw flexed, his voice dropping into something almost feral. “Stay out of my life. Stay away from her.”

Adrian’s voice went quiet — too quiet. “You want me to stay away from her? Then maybe you should ask yourself why she’s here in the first place.”

Lucas’s gaze snapped to mine, his face twisting as he realized I’d been standing there the whole time.

“Emma…” His tone softened, like he thought he could still reach me. “He’s using you. You can’t see it yet, but—”

“Enough.” Adrian stepped forward, his presence filling the hallway like a storm. “She doesn’t answer to you. Not anymore.”

The tension between them was suffocating, their eyes locked like two predators circling.

I could feel the weight of it pressing against my skin — the forbidden pull toward Adrian, the ghost of old wounds with Lucas, the fact that standing between them felt like standing at the center of a firestorm.

Lucas turned to leave, but his parting words were thrown like a dagger over his shoulder. “This isn’t over.”

The door shut behind him, and the silence that followed was thick enough to choke on.

Adrian looked at me then, his gaze unreadable. “You’re not leaving my room tonight.”

It wasn’t a question.

I swallowed, my pulse racing. “That’s only going to make him angrier.”

His mouth curved — not in amusement, but in something far more dangerous. “Good.”