The palace felt different before Ann even knew why.
As she sat in yet another meeting fighting the urge to shove her fist down people's throats, the air shifted...it became sharper and heavier somehow.
Coral stopped in the middle of a sentence about rations as the doors swung open violently, crashing against the walls.
Adam's scent hit her in a wave as he strode in confidently, his boots still dirty from the road. And his hair damp with sweat.
The fury on his face and the wolf in his eyes was terrifying as he allowed his aura to extend over the room heavy with his undeniable strength and fury.
Ann's heart jolted hard against her ribs and she realised too late that he wasn't supposed to be back yet. Not for two more days.
The realization dawned on her why Adam looked so furious.
Because Brad was there too.
Two paces behind her chair, where he'd been every hour since she had been attacked. Her silent shadow.
And the place where he stood now, was the position that Adam usually took whilst she was busy with her duties.
Her stomach sank.
"Oh Maeve…we're well and truly fucked."
Adam's eyes locked onto Brad and his wolf surged forward instantly with a roar so loud that Ann swore it rattled the walls.
"What," Adam said, voice low and lethal, "is he doing here?"
The gallery stilled. Nobles froze in their seats, caught between gawking, casting excited yet scandalized glances between one another and praying someone else would speak first.
Ann stepped forward, hands half-raised in a placating gesture,
"Adam..."
But Adam didn't look at her at all, his gaze was focused solely on Brad.
"You. Answer me."
Brad didn't flinch, instead he shrugged lightly as if it was a stupid question to ask of him.
"Guarding her."
Those two words were like gasoline on a fire..
Adam's roar spilled out through the chamber, deep and violent. The nobles jolted backward and Lady Maren's hand flew to her pearls as if they might save her.
"Guarding her?" Adam snarled as his wolf's claws broke through his skin. "You dare...after what you did?"
Maeve snorted in Ann's head
"Oh, this is going to be fun. Front-row seats to a dick-measuring contest."
"Please…." Ann begged as she shoved herself between them, ignoring the heat of their wolves sparking against her back. "Both of you."
Neither of them moved.
Brad's wolf only seemed to push harder, his eyes locked on Adam.
"A little ungrateful aren't you?" Brad sneered, "She was attacked in her own garden, you nearly lost your mate and your pups. Where were you?"
The words hit him like a slap across the face and the whispers began to ripple almost instantly:
Adam surged forward, claws flashing as he went for Brad's throat.
"Say that again." he snarled, his teeth bared
Ann slammed her palm against his chest.
"Adam stop! Please!"
Her voice cracked with desperation and for the first time since he had entered the hall, Adam's eyes tore from Brad's and landed on her, full of fury and hurt tangled together.
His voice dropped low, almost breaking.
"Tell me you didn't let him stay here."
Her throat tightened at the hurt and betrayal that bled into his voice and it took her all her time not to cry as she spoke.
"I didn't let him do anything, Adam. He chose to stay."
"Jesus…wrong fucking phrasing," Maeve snapped. "Now all he and his wolf hears is permission. He hears choice. Well done."
Adam's jaw clenched and his wolf seethed under his skin, fighting to break free.
"Days," he ground out, voice shaking with restraint. "Only a matter of fucking days I'm gone and he circles you like..." His mouth cut the rest short, but the words he had wanted to say lingered anyway.
"Adam," Ann said, softer, trying to steady the relentless tide of his fury. "It isn't like that. It isn't, I promise you."
But he wasn't hearing her. Not yet. His wolf had already decided.
Around them, the whispers grew bolder:
"…an Alpha at her side, just like before…"
"…doesn't look broken to me…"
"…a triangle forming, plain as day..."
Ann didn't turn to address it. She couldn't. If she looked anywhere but at Adam, the chamber would use that as ammunition.
Brad's voice cut through the murmurs.
"I was here. When she needed someone, I was here."
Gasps and more whispers rippled in the air.
"This is better than prime time telly for them…" Maeve grumbled angrily.
Adam's wolf exploded forward at the arrogance in Brad's voice.
"You think that gives you any right to her at all?! You think saving her once erases everything?"
Brad held steady, voice iron.
"I think she's alive. That's what matters."
Ann's hands shook where they pressed against Adam's chest. She forced her voice steady.
"Stop this. Both of you. This is exactly what they want."
Maeve barked a laugh.
"Oh sure, play mediator between two frothing Alphas in front of half the nobility. Excellent strategy. Maybe next you can juggle knives."
"Adam," Ann pushed harder, meeting his eyes. "Look at me. Not him. Me."
For a second, his gaze caught hers, wild and burning. The wolf behind it growled, refusing to back down.
Brad shifted just enough to draw attention again, and Adam nearly lunged.
Ann's stomach turned. She couldn't do this...not like this, not here.
"Guards," she snapped, voice sharp. "Clear the gallery. Now."
There was a second of hesitation, then chairs scraped and robes rustled as Nobles began spilling out in clusters, muttering between themselves, and craning for one more glimpse.
"…scandal…"
"…the Alpha will kill him…"
"…the Queen torn between..."
Maeve spat.
Parasites. They'll chew this until there's nothing left but bones.
The doors slammed behind the last robe, leaving only the three of them in the echoing chamber.
Adam's chest heaved. His claws hadn't fully withdrawn and his wolf growled through clenched teeth.
"This ends now."
Brad didn't move a muscle and he didn't blink.
"Not until I know she's safe."
Ann's voice dropped to a growl of her own.
"I said enough."
The silence that followed was suffocating.
And Ann knew, deep in her bones, this was only the beginning.