Chapter 90: Adrian is Awake
Then his gaze lands on his mother’s worried face hovering above him. "Adrian!"
"Mum, call Dad." He struggles to talk despite the pain shooting through his abdomen. "Don’t hurt my friends!"
---
Alpha Darius sits behind his desk, several thick files spread across the surface. Ramon stands opposite him, there’s no expression on his face.
"It is done, Alpha," he says solemnly. "The signal went dead five minutes ago." The small orange flames and smoke mixing with the early morning sky are evidence enough.
Darius’ hand, hovering over the latest reports delivered by the police, pauses.
"And Luca? Did he manage to get out?"
Ramon shakes his head. "Unfortunately, not."
Darius lets out a loud exhale, half relief, half sadness. Luca had been a good staff member to them. "He knew what he was getting into, may the Goddess guide him home."
--
The Alpha continues to go through the documents on his desk as Ramon continues to give updates.
"And on the guns...they are completely untraceable," Ramon says, frowning. "The police found no registration. No purchase records. Nothing."
Darius’s eyes narrow. "Nothing at all?"
"Nothing. It’s almost as if they never existed."
Darius leans back slowly. "And Anna?"
Ramon shakes his head. "Still missing. Her scent was too faint to trace when the team went back, almost as if she’d vanished."
The older man exhales loudly, running a hand through his hair. The fact that Anna’s body has disappeared bothers Darius more than he wants to admit.
"The two remaining rogues that were captured at the scene have absolutely refused to cooperate," Ramon continues. "Their identities are being investigated, but none of them appear to have any connection to Anna’s family or anyone inside Moon-Crest."
Darius’s jaw tightens. "That’s all the more reason we need to find her. I don’t trust her at all...and if she really saw Adrian’s true abilities, then it’s not safe for her to be out there like this."
"We’re trying."
"Try harder. I don’t care what means you use." His gaze is fixed on the wall behind the Beta. "Find Anna. And the moment you do? Kill her on sight. This nonsense has to end."
Ramon understands the gravity of the situation. Alpha Darius is not just trying to protect Adrian, but the entire pack too. If the heir becomes a target, the entire pack would be vulnerable.
But more than that, there are a few neighboring packs that have been trying to take over Moon-Crest’s territory for years. If a war breaks out now...it would become fatal very quickly.
"Yes, Alpha." He nods immediately.
Before either man can say anything else, Darius’s phone vibrates against the desk.
He glances at the screen, expression folding into a scowl that can only mean one thing. His younger brother, Dorian’s father--Caius.
Darius reads through the message, and his face scrunches even harder.
He looks up. "Caius is returning to the pack with Dorian. He said to expect him in a week."
Ramon’s expression also folds. Why would he be coming back now? Especially just as the news of Adrian’s kidnapping and the attack has already begun spreading through the territories.
As if reading his mind, Darius sits straighter. "This is all the more reason to hide Adrian’s true abilities. Caius wouldn’t return without motive."
"Do you think he’s behind all this?"
"No." He shakes his head. Knowing his brother has always been one for confrontation, he wouldn’t do things like these behind his back.
That doesn’t make him innocent either.
"But I do believe his coming here is a power move. He might try to convince the court that his son, Dorian, is more fit for the seat."
He remembers the earlier scandals. The way the council had threatened to replace Adrian with Dorian if they didn’t contain it--coming here at a time like this is definitely not with good intentions.
Darius stands, walking toward the window. He looks out over the slowly brightening estate. "We need to be on edge."
"Yes, Alpha."
"And we need to find Anna quickly, before she sells this information to the wrong hands."
They are still scheming when hurried footsteps slice through their conversation. The office door opens without a knock.
A nervous servant appears. "Alpha, I’m sorry for interrupting."
"What is it?"
"It’s Adrian, sir." Darius’ heart skips. "He’s awake. And..."
"And?"
The servant swallows. "He’s asking for you."
---
Downstairs, Selene is barely able to process the sight in front of her. Adrian is frowning, clutching his stomach as he sits up.
"Call Dad."
"Adrian, you need to lie back down."
"Mum, please." His voice is strained. "You know how urgent this is."
Selene exchanges a worried look with the nurse before sending one of the servants upstairs.
Within minutes, Darius enters the infirmary, looking like he rushed all the way there.
Adrian looks at him, then at Mr Ramon behind him. He can smell the guilt emanating from both of them like a foul stench.
"Call it off."
Darius’s expression doesn’t change, but Adrian knows his father enough to see the faint twitch in his jaw.
"What are you talking about?"
"You know what I’m talking about." He glances at his mother, then his father. "My friends? Whatever you’re planning, call it off."
Darius’s expression remains carefully blank. It’s far too late, he thinks. The van had been laced with explosives, designed to go off after a few minutes.
It was designed to look like an accident.
He clears his throat, coming closer. It’s still shocking to see how fast Adrian’s wolf healed itself.
"I’m afraid it’s too late, son. It’s already done."
"What do you mean done!?" He sneers. "Why didn’t you wait!? You didn’t ask! You just assumed they would sell me out?"
"We were trying to protect you--"
"By obliterating the very people who have been protecting me!?" For a moment Adrian just stares at him like he can’t believe what he’s seeing.
Then something inside him simply snaps.
He throws the blankets aside, then rips the drip and cannula off his hand, blood dripping onto the tiles.
"Adrian!" Selene rushes toward him.
"I need to go there. I need to see for myself."
He tries to stand, but the two male nurses rush and hold him down before his leg can fully hit the ground.
"Sir, you can’t!"
"Let me go!" He sneers, flinging his arm back. Nobody expects both nurses to fly backward, hitting the wall with so much force that they groan as they hit the floor.
The machines connected to him begin beeping rapidly as his heartbeat starts to accelerate.
"Adrian, calm down!" Selene pleads.
"How could you do that to them!?" His eyes are locked onto his father, and the rage in them is so intense that Darius instinctively takes a step backward.
"Answer me!!" His voice booms through the infirmary. "You knew what they meant to me!"
Darius’s jaw tightens, trying to pretend like the sheer power emanating off his son doesn’t make his heart race. "I have a duty to you and my people!"
"Duty!?" Adrian laughs bitterly. "You call murdering my friends doing your duty!?"
Selene’s eyes fill with tears. "Son, please..."
"Nyra is going to be devastated!" His voice cracks at the mention of her name. She sent him here to help, but he’s failed her again. "She just lost our baby!"
He looks between his parents, completely devastated. "Imagine she wakes up and finds out not only her child is gone, but everyone who stayed beside her is gone too!"
The machines continue beeping loudly beside him, startling the nurses who are now trying to quiet the machines, but it’s useless.
"You don’t even trust me, do you?" He stares directly at his father. "You don’t trust me to make my own decisions. You don’t trust my judgment!"
"I trusted your judgment and look where it landed you!" His father snaps back. "From the moment you brought that girl into our house, I told you I didn’t like her, yet you remained stubborn!"
Adrian’s shoulders sink, the moment those words escape his father’s lips. He remembers so well, his father never liked Anna, but that time he had been so sure she was the one for him.
"Now look at where you are? Look how much trouble that girl has caused!"
Meanwhile, Luna Selene is still trying to calm both of them down, but neither of them is listening.
"I know you care about them, but I had to do it. And maybe when you’re finally in my shoes, you’ll understand."
The silence that follows is suffocating. All that rage inside Adrian has twisted into guilt strong enough to choke.
This is all his fault.
Before it can escalate further, one of the staff members, Clara, rushes through the infirmary door, looking white as a ghost.
"I’m sorry to interrupt, Alpha."
Everyone turns to face her. Adrian is looking down at his lap.
"But...the Future Alpha’s friends are here."
Adrian’s head instantly snaps up. "What? They’re here?" He looks at his father in confusion. "A guy, three girls?"
"Yes, Future Alpha." She nods. "They’re waiting downstairs. But they don’t look so good."