Chapter 516: Sorry for everything.

MARIA.

The freezing night wind whipped across the courtyard, biting into my skin, but I barely felt it. My body was completely numb.

Noah was staring down at me, his dark eyes searching my face with a painful mixture of desperation, fear, and insecurity. The weight of his question hung between us like a heavy iron anvil.

’Will you really marry them too?’

I stared at him, my jaw trembling, completely speechless. Adrein’s blood hadn’t even dried on the stone floorboards inside. His body had dissolved into dust only a few hours ago, Damien was lying in the medical wing with a hole in his chest, and here we were, standing by the fountain talking about marriage logistics.

A fresh wave of hot tears spilled over my lashes, scalding my cold cheeks.

"Noah..." my voice broke, coming out as a strained, disbelieving whisper. "How... how can you even ask me that right now?"

Noah flinched as if I’d physically struck him. His jaw clenched tight, a sudden flash of shame washing across his tired, dirt-stained face.

"Maria, I—"

"Adrein was dying in my arms!" I cried out, my chest heaving as I wrapped my arms tightly around myself under my cloak. "He was bleeding out on the floor! He asked me to keep his family together. He asked me to promise so he could pass away in peace! Do you really think I was going to argue with a man taking his final breath?!"

Noah closed his eyes, letting out a long, ragged exhale that blew white in the freezing air. He dragged a rough hand down his face, stepping closer to me, his raw Alpha pride completely crumbling away into pure remorse.

"I’m sorry," he rasped, his voice dropping into a quiet, painful murmur as he reached out and took my trembling hands in his. "I’m so sorry, Maria. That was completely out of line. It was selfish, and it was stupid."

"I can barely breathe, Noah," I sobbed, shaking my head as I looked up at him through a blurred haze of tears. "Every time I close my eyes, I see Adrein turning to dust. I hear the arrow punching through Damien’s chest. I am so exhausted. I can’t think about who I’m marrying or what the future looks like tomorrow. I just want everyone to survive tonight."

"I know. I know, sweet girl," Noah whispered, pulling me gently against his broad chest. He wrapped his arms securely around my shoulders, resting his chin on top of my head as I pressed my face into his tunic. "I was terrified. I was afraid of losing you... but I had no right to bring that onto your shoulders right now. Forgive me."

I leaned into his warmth, letting my tears soak into his leather vest, feeling the steady, heavy thud of his heart against my cheek. For a brief, quiet moment, the nightmare inside the pack house felt a little further away.

Then, the soft crunch of gravel echoed from the edge of the courtyard path.

Noah and I both froze. I slowly pulled back from his chest, wiping my cheeks with the back of my hand as we turned toward the shadows of the garden archway.

Anabel was standing there.

She looked small, exhausted, and completely drenched in forest mud. Her dark hair was tangled over her shoulders, and her eyes were red and swollen from crying. She was clutching her cloak tightly around her throat, staring at the two of us with a look of pure, agonizing guilt.

The moment her eyes met mine, and then shifted to Noah’s stern face, she flinched.

Anabel took a quick, panicked step backward, turning her heel toward the dark trail as if she wanted nothing more than to swallow her pride and run straight back into the woods.

"Don’t you dare turn around," Noah’s voice cut through the cold air like a snapping whip.

His command wasn’t loud, but it was laced with a hard, unyielding Alpha authority that froze Anabel right in her tracks. She stopped instantly, her shoulders hitching up to her ears, her boots glued to the gravel.

"Stop right there, Anabel," Noah ordered, stepping forward away from the fountain, his dark eyes fixed on her shaking frame. "You don’t get to run away this time."

Anabel stood frozen for three long seconds before she slowly, painfully turned back around to face us. Tears immediately began streaming down her pale, dirty cheeks, spilling over her chin.

"Noah..." Anabel whispered, her voice cracking so badly it was barely audible above the wind. "I’m... I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come out here. I’ll go back inside—"

"I said stay," Noah repeated, his tone softening slightly, though his posture remained rigid.

She covered her face with her trembling, muddy hands, her shoulders shaking violently as she wept right there on the gravel path.

"I did this," Anabel sobbed out, her words choked with raw, agonizing self-hatred. "If I had stayed... if I had been here to fight alongside Aidan and Davian... maybe Adrein would still be alive! Maybe Damien wouldn’t be bleeding out in the infirmary! It’s my fault!"

My heart pulled painfully in my chest as I watched her break down. Anger and betrayal had burned inside me when she first fled, but seeing her standing there—broken, exhausted, and utterly consumed by guilt—made the anger melt into a dull, tragic ache.

Noah walked down the gravel steps toward her, his heavy boots making a slow, steady crunching sound. He stopped two feet in front of her, looking down at the trembling girl who had once been like a sister to him.

"Adrein didn’t die because of you, Anabel," Noah said quietly, his raspy voice dropping into a solemn, heavy register. "He died because Vincent and Galen are cold-blooded monsters. He died protecting Maria."

Anabel slowly lowered her hands from her face, looking up at Noah through a wall of wet eyelashes, her lip trembling uncontrollably. "You... you don’t hate me?"

"I am disappointed that you ran and you didn’t answer me when I needed you the most," Noah said honestly, looking her dead in the eye. "You broke my trust, and you abandoned your family when the storm hit. But you came back. You tackled Galen off that rafter before she could put an arrow through Davian’s heart. You saved your brother’s life tonight."

Anabel swallowed hard, fresh tears spilling over her cheeks as she wiped her nose with her sleeve. "Is... is Damien really going to be okay? I heard the guards saying the arrow went straight through his chest plate."

"Physician Thorne got the arrowhead out," I spoke up, stepping down the gravel path to stand beside Noah, offering her a tired, gentle look. "He’s still in critical condition, Anabel... but his wolf is fighting. He’s breathing on his own."

Anabel let out a long, shuddering breath, pressing her hand over her heart as if holding herself together. She looked at me, her eyes filled with a deep, unspoken plea for forgiveness.

"Maria..." Anabel stammered, stepping toward me with hesitation. "I’m so sorry... for everything."