Isabella’s grip on my arm could’ve left bruises.
She dragged me toward the house, but I dug my heels in before we got to the door.
“Wren—” “I want to see.” I barely recognized the sound of my own voice.
Just three days ago, I’d knelt on an altar stone—quiet, passive, letting strangers decide my fate.
So, I wasn’t about to start hiding again while men argued my future out in a driveway I couldn’t even glimpse.
Isabella paused, caught between Adrian’s order and whatever she read on my face.
Something shifted.
Maybe respect.
“Second floor window,” she said after a breath.
“You’ll spot the gate from there.
But if Adrian finds out I let you near an actual door, we’re both dead.” We raced up the stairs.
From the window of what looked like a study—dark wood everywhere, ancient leather-bound books covering every wall—I stared down at the main gate.
Wrought iron.
Twelve feet tall.
Two black SUVs flanking it, and they definitely hadn’t been parked there an hour ago.
Three more cars waited beyond the gate, engines humming, headlights stabbing through the dusk.
Men in suits stood nearby, not hiding, just watching.
It wasn’t an ambush.
It was a statement.
Adrian stood with his men at the center, Enzo right behind him.
They didn’t move, and that was almost more dangerous than any weapon.
Sal—quick-eyed, the guy I’d seen in the medical wing—stood on Adrian’s other side, hand ready on his hip, like he’d done this dance a thousand times.
The lead car’s door swung open—some guy stepped out, tall, silver hair at the temples, moving like no one’s ever dared tell him no.
“Rocco Moretti,” Isabella whispered, answering before I could ask.
“He runs the Moretti family.
He and Adrian?
They’ve hated each other longer than I’ve been alive, and nobody ever bothers to tell me exactly why.” Below, Rocco stopped right outside the gate.
Close enough to talk without yelling, but he sure wasn’t stepping onto Vitale land.
“Adrian,” he called out.
His voice carried on the evening air, polite, almost pleasant—which made me want to crawl out of my skin.
“Heard you picked up a stray.” Adrian didn’t flinch.
“Word travels fast.” Rocco grinned, all teeth, no warmth.
“Word’s always quick when a Vitale picks a fight with werewolves over a woman nobody’s heard of.
So, I’m curious.
What did Redthorn’s reject do to deserve all this protection?” “That’s not your concern.” “Everything a hundred miles from my turf is my concern,” Rocco shot back.
Then he scanned the house, his gaze somehow landing on my window.
My stomach dropped—how did he know where to look?
“Especially when word gets around about a wolf who’s not supposed to be a wolf at all.
Gold eyes, right?
Funny detail for a woman everyone claims is nothing.” Isabella yanked me backward, fast.
I stumbled.
“He shouldn’t know that yet,” she hissed, mostly to herself.
“That happened an hour ago.
Someone here is feeding him info.” The idea hit like a bucket of ice.
Someone in the house.
Enzo’s suspicion flashed through my mind, the staff I’d never met.
Too many ways for secrets to leak.
Adrian stayed still, but his posture had sharpened, pure threat now.
“You’re very well-informed for someone who wasn’t invited.” “I always know things, Adrian.
It’s why I’m alive and half your father’s friends aren’t.” Rocco looked friendly, almost casual.
That made it worse.
“So here’s the deal.
Whatever she is, whatever Redthorn was scared enough to toss her to the wolves rather than keep her—I want in.
Think of this as a nice warning before I quit being polite.” “And if I say no?” “Then we find out if this Vitale estate means more to you than a real war.” Rocco’s smile got wider; calm, fearless.
“You know I don’t bluff.” Nobody moved.
The tension was a living thing.
I realized I was holding my breath, fingers curled tight on the windowsill, Isabella gripping my arm like a lifeline.
Adrian broke the silence, voice quiet but definite.
“Get off my land.
Now, before I decide conversation isn’t worth the courtesy.” Rocco considered him, then gave a small nod, like he was letting Adrian win a single round in a much bigger fight.
“Your choice.” He strode back toward his car, paused, and glanced up at the house—right at my window, as if he could still see me.
“Tell your new pet I’m looking forward to a proper introduction.
Soon.” The convoy slipped away into the night, taillights disappearing down the private road.
Only after the cars vanished did the men below finally start to relax.
Isabella let out a ragged sigh.
“That was about as good as it was ever going to be.
Which is to say, nightmare.” “He knew about my eyes.” My voice shook a little.
“Isabella, he had details from an hour ago.
How—” “I don’t know.” Her jaw tightened.
For the first time since I met her, she looked icy, calculating—a sudden reminder that she was Adrian’s sister.
“But I’ll find out.
Tonight.” Downstairs, the front door slammed hard enough to rattle the floorboards.
Quick, angry footsteps thundered up the stairs.
Adrian appeared, all pretense gone, staring right at me.
“You were supposed to stay inside,” he said, voice low.
“I wanted to see who’s threatening your whole family over me.” “That’s why you should’ve stayed inside.” He crossed the room quickly, close enough that I had to look up to meet his eyes.
Up close, his anger wasn’t really aimed at me.
I caught a glimpse of fear before he buried it again.
“Rocco Moretti doesn’t do courtesy.
He makes threats disguised as conversation, and if he knows about your eyes, it means someone talked.” “Someone here,” Isabella said, almost spitting.
“I know.” Adrian clenched his jaw.
“From this moment, no one outside this room finds out anything else about her.
No staff.
No extended family.
Nothing.” He looked at me, and whatever gentleness he’d had in the garden was gone.
Only resolve remained.
“You wanted to understand what’s happening to you,” he said.
“Congrats.
You’re officially valuable—valuable enough for Rocco Moretti to start a war to find out why.” Outside, darkness blanketed the estate.
Somewhere beyond the gate, Rocco’s people were watching, waiting—patient, the kind of patience that belongs to predators who already know how this story ends.