I didn’t see Adrian again until that evening.
Dr.
Voss kept me cooped up most of the day.
She changed my bandages twice, muttered nonstop about rogue venom and how lucky I’d been—it sounded like whatever had surged through my veins fought off the poison faster than it should’ve.
I didn’t bother telling her why.
Honestly, I didn’t even know the reason myself.
All I knew was, beneath my bruises and the exhaustion, my wolf stirred again—soft but real, like a candle relighting after too long in darkness.
Trusting it made me nervous.
The last time I felt hope, it ended with silver ropes and rogues’ teeth.
By sunset, when gold light crept in through the blinds, I could actually sit up without the room spinning.
Curiosity got the better of me.
I eased myself out of bed, tried my legs, and shuffled to the hallway.
That’s when I heard voices.
“—can’t be serious.” That was a man, low and clipped, so tense he sounded ready to snap something in two.
“You brought a wolf into Vitale territory.
Not just any wolf—a rejected Luna, hunted by two packs and, maybe, the Morettis.
All because of her.” “I know what I did, Enzo.” Adrian’s voice barely moved; calm, which only made the tension worse.
“I was there.” “Then explain it.
From where I’m standing, it wasn’t a rescue—it was picking a fight with Redthorn and Moretti.
All over a woman you hadn’t met until Tuesday.” I stopped, pressed my back to the wall, tried not to let my heart give me away.
Thought about walking away—but I stayed.
“She’s not a fight,” Adrian said.
“She’s an opportunity.” “An opportunity.” Enzo’s laughter was bitter—no amusement, just disbelief.
“For what?
You know what harboring a rejected Luna means?
Every Alpha in three territories will see this as an act of war.” “Or,” Adrian said, his voice sharpening, “every Alpha will see that Redthorn tossed aside a bloodline more valuable than they realized—and I was smart enough to claim it.” Silence stretched out.
“You don’t even know her worth,” Enzo finally said—a little quieter now.
“You’re gambling, following a hunch.
All over a woman half-dead on your operating table.” “I’m rarely wrong about value.
You know that.” “But if you’re wrong this time?
If she’s what Redthorn said—a weak link, right to cut loose.
We’ll have enemies, and for what?
A wolf with nothing special about her.” That line hit hard.
It stung, maybe because it echoed every thought I’d had the past two years: a weak link.
Useless.
Not worth keeping.
“That’s the thing about value,” Adrian said quietly, and that quiet made his words feel heavier.
“Nobody discards something for free.
Redthorn didn’t just reject her.
They tied her with silver, marched her to a rival border, and left her to the rogues rather than let her stay.” A pause.
“You don’t do that to someone worthless,” Adrian said.
“You do it to someone you’re afraid of.” I pressed my palm to the wall, steadying myself.
I’d never thought of it that way.
Not once, in two years of being called too weak, too wolfless, too much of a liability for Ronan.
Never spent a second wondering why, if I was truly nothing, they’d gone so far to ensure I never returned.
“So that’s your theory,” Enzo said.
“She’s dangerous, not weak.
And you want something dangerous in our house because—what, it excites you?” “Because,” Adrian said, footsteps crossing the room as he spoke, “I want to know exactly what Redthorn feared—and I’d rather it belong to me than Moretti.” Belong to me.
Those words hit weird in my chest.
Not quite anger, though maybe it should have been.
Two years of being talked about, not talked to.
Of people making choices for me in rooms I wasn’t even allowed in.
It was happening all over again—but this time, the man doing the choosing hadn’t thrown me out.
He’d gone to war to keep me.
I honestly couldn’t decide which option scared me more.
“And what does she get out of it?” Enzo asked.
For the first time, he actually sounded a little curious, not just frustrated.
“Because as far as I know, she never asked for any of this.
She hasn’t asked to be your opportunity or your leverage—or your theory about Redthorn’s fear.” The pause that followed stretched until even I stopped breathing.
“No,” Adrian said at last.
“She hasn’t.” “So ask her.” Before I could run, or do anything but freeze there, the door swung open.
Adrian was looking right at me, like he’d known I was standing outside all along—which, honestly, with my luck, he probably had.
Enzo watched from behind, dark hair and sharp jaw making the family resemblance obvious.
He studied me, irritation mixing with curiosity.
I straightened up as much as I could, ignoring the aching shoulder and the oversized hospital gown that made me feel too small.
“How much did you hear?” Adrian asked.
He sounded amused, not embarrassed—a man who expected this all along.
“Enough,” I said.
“You want to know what I’m worth.” Adrian shook his head.
“I want to know what you are.
That’s not the same thing.” I looked between them—Enzo, guarded and suspicious; Adrian, weirdly patient.
Then I made a choice I know the version of myself kneeling on that stone three days ago would never have dared.
“Then ask me,” I said, repeating Enzo’s words, “instead of talking about me like I’m not right here.” Adrian’s face shifted—not quite a smile, but close, and it unsettled me more than an actual smile might have.
“Fair,” he said.
“Sit down.
Both of you.” He waved us toward the sitting area by the window.
And for the first time since the ceremony, something other than fear filled the hollow space where the mate bond used to live.
I sat.
“Let’s start here,” Adrian said, settling across from me, his gaze unwavering.
“Why does a rejected Luna still have a wolf strong enough to survive a rogue attack that should’ve killed her?” His question hit right where I hoped it wouldn’t.
I didn’t have an answer.
Not a real one, not yet.
All I knew was something inside me was waking up—beneath the silver burns and the broken bond—that probably shouldn’t exist at all.
“I don’t know,” I said, and it was the truth.
Adrian considered me, and whatever he saw made the corner of his mouth twitch.
Not friendly—just interested, and that made my pulse speed up for reasons that had nothing to do with fear.
“Then I guess,” he said, “we’ll find out together.” Behind him, Enzo let out a breath like a man watching his brother step straight into a fight he hadn’t planned for.
He wasn’t wrong.