Chapter 484: Deal.

Damien

I snapped suddenly, as Adrein kept on talking again while leaning on the cold stone wall, because I couldn’t sit on the cold floor and listen to Adrein drown in his own regret for another second.

"Shut up, Adrein!" I barked, my voice cracking as I slammed my hand down on the edge of the leather cot. "Just shut the hell up!"

Adrein flinched, looking up at me with pale, hollow eyes, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t afford his despair right now. Maria was shivering violently beneath the heavy fur blanket, her skin turning an unnatural, translucent blue under the faint moonlight.

"We don’t have time for your guilt trip," I growled, dragging myself off my knees and standing up. My body was aching, my muscles screaming from hauling Noah through the woods, but the panic in my chest was louder than the pain. "You want to beat yourself up about six months ago or the first time we saw her in the forest? Fine. Do it tomorrow. Do it when she’s breathing on her own. But right now, she is freezing to death, and I am not sitting here watching her die."

"Damien, look at her—" Adrein started, his voice raspy and broken, his words strained by the fear weighing heavily on him. His gaze remained fixed on Maria, as though he was struggling to accept how quickly her condition was worsening.

"I am looking at her!" I shouted, turning around sharply to scan the dark, dusty interior of the cabin. My voice echoed against the rough wooden walls as frustration and panic surged through me. "She’s in shock, Adrein! Her wolf is fighting the wolfsbane, and her body is shutting down because she’s freezing!"

I looked toward Maria again, my chest tightening at the sight of her pale, motionless form.

"We need heat," I insisted, my voice coming out rough and urgent. "We need a fire."

"A fire?" Adrein rasped, staring at me like I had completely lost my mind. His expression hardened with disbelief, and his voice dropped into a tense whisper. "Are you insane?"

He glanced around the dark cabin before looking back at me.

"Smoke will give away our position to every single scout the Lycan prince has on this ridge!"

"I don’t care about Vincent’s scouts right now!" I snapped, my patience finally breaking. I turned away from him and marched toward the stone hearth built into the cabin’s far wall. My footsteps felt heavy against the floor as I dropped to my knees beside it.

I immediately began digging through the pile of dry timber and old pine needles stacked beside the iron grate. My hands moved frantically, grabbing at whatever pieces of wood I could find, my fingers shaking with urgency.

"If we don’t get her body temperature up, she won’t last until dawn anyway!" I shouted, my voice cracking as I struggled to keep my breathing steady, while I looked back at Adrein, desperation burning through my exhaustion. "What good is hiding her body from the enemy if she’s already dead?!"

Adrein didn’t answer. He slumped back against the wall, dragging his hand over his face, his chest heaving as he fought against the physical agony of his frayed bond.

I grabbed a fistful of dry pine needles and shoved them under a small stack of birch logs. My hands were shaking so badly I could barely strike the flint I pulled from my pocket. Sparks flew into the dark, catching on the dry brush, and a tiny, flickering orange flame licked up the side of the wood.

"Come on... come on," I muttered under my breath, blowing gently on the embers until the fire caught, casting a warm, flickering glow across the rotting floorboards.

I stood up, walked back to the cot, and carefully lifted Maria into my arms, blankets and all. I carried her over to the hearth, sitting down on the wooden floor right in front of the fire, pulling her tight against my chest. I wrapped my heavy arms around her, pressing my face into her hair, using every drop of my own body heat to warm her shivering frame.

"Damien..." Adrein whispered softly from the corner. His voice sounded different now—less angry, just completely exhausted. "You can’t fix wolfsbane with a fire."

"I know that," I rasped, squeezing my eyes shut as I rocked Maria gently in my arms. "I know I can’t fix the poison, Adrein. But I can keep her heart beating. I can keep her warm."

Maria let out a tiny, shallow gasp, her small fingers twitching against the front of my shirt. She didn’t open her eyes, but the violent shivering started to slow down as the heat from the hearth washed over us.

"See?" I whispered, tears pricking the back of my eyes as I pressed a kiss against her cold forehead. "See that? She’s fighting. She hasn’t given up on us yet. So don’t you dare give up on her."

Adrein let out a long, shuddering sigh. Slowly, painfully, he dragged himself across the floor, using his hands to pull his heavy legs along until he reached the hearth. He sat down beside us, leaning his shoulder against mine, staring into the dancing flames.

"I’m not giving up," Adrein said quietly, his voice barely audible over the crackle of the burning wood. "I’m just terrified, Damien. I’ve never been this terrified in my life."

"I know," I muttered, resting my head against his for a brief second. "Me too. But Aidan and Davian are back at the house holding off Daniel. They’re buying us time. We have to believe they’re going to figure a way out of this."

"And what about Noah?" Adrein asked, glancing over his shoulder at the dark form lying on the dusty floorboards near the door.

Noah was still motionless, but his breathing had deepened, no longer coming in those terrifying, ragged hitches. The warmth of the room seemed to be helping his body flush the lingering poison out of his system, too.

"He’s strong," I said, keeping my eyes on Maria’s face. "He survived wherever he might have been and he dragged himself all the way out here to find us. He’ll wake up when his wolf recovers."

We sat in silence for a long time, the only sounds in the cabin being the crackle of the fire and the howling of the night wind against the wooden roof. For a few fragile minutes, the warmth in the room made the nightmare outside feel miles away. Maria’s breathing evened out, her skin losing that terrifying blue tint, though she remained deeply unconscious, trapped under the weight of the dark potion in her blood.

"Damien?" Adrein murmured, his voice quiet and worn as he looked down at Maria’s pale face. His gaze lingered on her for a moment, taking in the fragile expression on her face before he slowly lifted his eyes.

"Yeah?" I answered softly, turning my attention toward him.

"If we get through tonight..." He hesitated, his voice carrying the weight of everything we had endured. "If we somehow kill Vincent and clear the border... what do we do?"

The question settled heavily between us.

I tightened my grip around Maria, holding her carefully against me. Beneath my arms, I could feel the faint, fragile thrum of her heart against my ribs. The weak rhythm reminded me of how delicate she was, and my jaw tightened with determination.

"We keep her safe," I said firmly, as there was no hesitation left in my voice this time. I knew what I wanted, and I knew what mattered most. "We take her as far away from these territory wars as we need to," I continued, my arms tightening protectively around her. "We fix your bond, we heal her wolf, and then..."

My words faltered.

I swallowed the thick lump that had formed in my throat, forcing myself to continue as I looked directly at Adrien.

"...and then we ask her what she wants." I paused, making sure he understood exactly what I meant. "No forcing her, no cornering her," I added quietly. "Just like you said."

For a moment, Adrein simply stared at me, and then a faint, sad smile touched the corner of his lips, carrying both exhaustion and relief.

"Deal," he whispered.

Suddenly, the warmth in the room felt stripped away in an instant.

Outside the cabin, far down the rocky slope near the edge of the ancient warding stones, a sharp, distinct sound cut through the howling wind.

CRUNCH.

It was the heavy, deliberate sound of a boot crushing frozen leaves.

I froze, my whole body going rigid. Beside me, Adrein snapped his head toward the small, dusty window, his eyes instantly shifting into a dark, golden glow.

"Did you hear that?" Adrein whispered, his breath catching in his throat.

"Yeah," I rasped out, my blood turning to ice.

Another crunch echoed outside, closer this time, followed by the faint, low rumble of something whispering in the dark.