Chapter 476: Proper status.

Davian.

The heavy footfalls of my boots echoed down the narrow stone stairway, Aidan following right behind me with his hand resting on the hilt of his blade.

We had been upstairs making final preparations to pack Maria’s things for transport, trying to figure out how to move her without causing her fragile spirit to snap completely, but then the faint sound of raised voices and a sharp, cracking crash came echoing up through the lower levels. In a pack on lockdown, every unusual noise made my skin prickle.

"Through here," I muttered under my breath, rounding the corner into the servant passage leading toward the laundry exit.

"If it’s another group of guards panicking, I swear to God I’m going to lose my mind," Aidan growled softly from behind me, his tone dark and exhausted.

We burst through the heavy wooden threshold into the cold night air of the back courtyard, expecting to find a broken supply wagon or a startled sentry. Instead, the yellow glow of a single lantern illuminated three figures frozen near the doorway.

Daniel stood in the center of the yard, his hand tucked halfway into his coat, looking back toward the shadows near the outer wall where a heavy wooden trellis had collapsed onto the flagstones. Standing right in front of him, clutching a heavy wool traveling cloak tightly around herself, was our sister Anabel. Beside her, Valerie was trembling like a leaf, a packed leather satchel slung over her shoulder.

My eyes swept over the scene, taking in the traveling gear, the packed satchel, and the pure, raw terror on Anabel’s face.

A sharp, furious heat erupted in my chest, cutting straight through the heavy haze of grief I’d been carrying all night.

"Anabel?" I barked out, stepping into the lantern light, my broad shoulders blocking the passage behind us.

Anabel gasped, flinching back as if she’d been struck. Valerie let out a tiny squeak and shrunk back against the stone wall, covering her face. Daniel instantly smoothed his expression, pulling his hand away from his coat belt and letting a calm, controlled smile slip back onto his face as he turned to look at us.

"Davian. Aidan," Daniel said smoothly, taking a small step back to give us space. "I’m glad you heard the commotion. I was just trying to reason with your sister."

Aidan pushed past me, his bloodshot eyes narrowing into dangerous slits as he locked his gaze onto Anabel’s packed cloak. "Reason with her about what?" He looked at the satchel on Valerie’s shoulder, then back to Anabel’s pale, defiant face. "Where do you think you’re heading to, Anabel?"

Anabel swallowed hard, her jaw tightening as she forced herself to meet Aidan’s harsh glare. "Away from here," she said, her voice shaking slightly before she found her footing and pushed the words out stronger. "I’m leaving."

"Leaving?" I repeated, stepping closer, my voice rising in utter disbelief. "Are you out of your mind? The entire pack is..." I paused taking in a deep breath. "Never mind, but you have to know that Maria is slowly dying upstairs, and you’re sneaking out the back door like a thief in the night?"

"I don’t care about the pack, Davian!" Anabel snapped back, tears of frustration glistening in her eyes under the lantern light. "Look at yourselves! Look at what this house has become! You’re all losing your minds over Maria, locking down the doors, screaming at each other—I am not going to sit in my room like a prisoner and wait for this place to burn!"

"We locked you in your room to keep you safe!" Aidan roared, taking a threatening step forward, his Alpha presence flaring out in a sudden, suffocating wave. "And aside from that, you are fully aware that you refused to speak about the idiot who had dared to...!" He took a deep breath. "Anabel! Do not get me angry... you have any idea what would happen to you if you walked out past those gates alone right now... especially with your current condition!"

"Alone?" Anabel asked as she raised her brows up. "I am not alone Aidan, I have Valerie!" she yelled back, taking a defensive step toward her maid. "And I’d rather take my chances in the forest than stay in a house ruled by four desperate, unhinged Alphas who is trying to control my life!"

"Watch your tongue," I growled, stepping between her and the open courtyard path. "You are an Alpha’s sister... and since you aren’t married yet, you belong to this pack." I declared.

"I am carrying a child, Davian!" Anabel screamed, her hands flying to her stomach as her composure finally shattered, tears spilling down her cheeks. "I am carrying a baby! And neither of you give a damn! All you care about is Maria! All you care about is your own pride and your own bonds! I am trying to save my child’s life!" She blinked rapidly. "Tell me, how do you expect me to live in this pack with such shame?"

The heavy silence that followed her confession hit the courtyard like a physical blow.

Aidan froze mid-stride, his chest heaving, his mouth slightly open as he stared at her hands resting against her cloak. I felt the air pull right out of my lungs. My mind reeled, trying to process her words through the thick fog of our existing nightmare.

"You’re... you’re calling it a shame?" Aidan asked, his rough, authoritative voice dropping into a shocked, hollow whisper.

Anabel wiped her cheeks aggressively with the back of her sleeve, sniffing hard as she glared at both of us. "Yes... like you said, I am not married and I am not going to let my baby get caught in the middle of the war nor the scorn from the pack." She paused. "I am leaving. Step aside, Davian."

"No," I said softly, though the harsh edge in my tone was completely gone, replaced by a heavy, sick realization. "No, Anabel. You can’t leave... especially not now... I don’t care who the bastard who did this was, but I am going to get him to do the proper thing..." I paused. "He would marry you and give both you and your child a proper status." I added.

Anabel chuckled. " I don’t need all that Davian... I just... I cant..." she paused. "I’m not asking for your permission!" she cried, trying to push past me toward the dark path.

I grabbed her upper arm—gently, but firmly enough to stop her forward momentum—and pulled her back into the center of the courtyard. "Listen to me! Daniel just came up to Damien’s room, and we’ve reached an agreement... we’re leaving this pack tonight."

Anabel stiffened, her eyes darting nervously toward Daniel, who was standing quietly by the wall, watching the entire exchange with a cold, unreadable expression. "Leaving? To Where?"

"We’re taking Maria to the.... border," Aidan explained, his tone flat and dead as he tried to regain his composure. "We’re making a tactical move to draw the fight away from this house... if you run off into those woods right now on your own, you are walking straight into the path of the enemy forces... and you won’t make it a mile."

"He’s right, Anabel," Daniel added softly, stepping forward and placing a comforting, diplomatic hand near her shoulder. "It’s far too dangerous for you out there tonight. If you stay inside the pack walls under guard while your brothers execute our plan, you and your child will remain completely untouched."

Anabel looked between the three of us—at me, at Aidan, and then at Daniel—her chest heaving with deep, panicked breaths. She looked down at the dark, looming shadows of the forest beyond the broken trellis, then back at the heavy stone walls of the pack house behind us. She was cornered, trapped between the danger of staying and the terror of running into the dark.

"Valerie," Anabel whispered, her voice cracking as she turned to her maid.

Valerie just shook her head, tears streaming down her face, clutching the satchel to her chest. "Please, lady Anabel. Please let’s just go back inside. It’s too dark out here."

Anabel let out a long, ragged sob, her shoulders slumping as the last bit of her fierce defiance drained away. She pulled her arm out of my grip and wrapped her cloak tightly back around her body, staring at the ground.

"Take her back upstairs, brother..." I said quietly, running a hand down my exhausted face. "Lock the doors again. Make sure the hallway guards stay posted."

Aidan nodded grimly, stepping up beside Anabel and placing a heavy, protective hand on her shoulder. "Come on, Anabel. Let’s get you inside."

Anabel didn’t say another word. She turned around, dragging her heavy feet back toward the servant door, Valerie scrambling close behind her like a shadow.

I stood in the cold night air, watching them disappear into the dimly lit hallway, the heavy weight of another crushing secret pressing down on my chest.