Ann never imagined packing for her life would feel so quiet. She stood in their bedroom closet, slipping clothes into a leather overnight bag with trembling hands. Around her, the world felt like it was shrinking — the walls closing in with secrets, danger, and the smell of her own fear.
Behind her, Adrian's voice drifted in and out of the room as he spoke on the phone. His words were clipped, lethal commands to someone she couldn't see.
"No. Burn the files. Move the cash. Keep the house under surveillance—anyone approaches, they disappear."
Ann paused, her fingers brushing the soft fabric of one of Adrian's shirts. Disappear. The word used to terrify her. Now it felt like a bitter promise she might have to cling to if it meant staying alive.
She zipped the bag shut and turned just as Adrian ended the call. He looked at her, and for a heartbeat, he was just her husband again — rumpled shirt, tired eyes, a man in love. But the next second, the mask snapped back into place.
"Is that all?" he asked, nodding at the bag.
She nodded. "Where are we going?"
"Somewhere safe. Somewhere no one knows."
He reached for her hand, squeezing it like a lifeline. She squeezed back, grounding him as much as herself.
Downstairs, the front door slammed open. Heavy footsteps echoed through the marble hallway — boots on stone. Not just one pair. Several.
Adrian's hand dropped from hers. His eyes darkened, and he gestured sharply for her to stay behind him.
"Stay here," he mouthed.
"Adrian—" she started, but he was already moving, a silent shadow slipping down the staircase.
Ann stood frozen at the top of the stairs, the overnight bag hanging from her shoulder like a useless shield.
She heard the voices first.
"Kingston! You're a hard man to find these days."
That voice — slick, mocking. Leo.
Adrian's tone was ice. "I told you to stay out of my house."
"And I told you the wolves were hungry," Leo shot back. "I tried to warn you, cousin. But you never listen, do you?"
There was a rustle — a grunt — then a muffled thud. Ann crept down two steps, just enough to peek through the railing.
Four men stood in the grand foyer — Leo in front, three others behind him. All armed. Adrian stood alone across from them, hands loose at his sides but his posture screamed murder.
Ann's breath caught in her throat. She knew that stance — the predator waiting for an excuse.
"You brought muscle into my home?" Adrian asked, voice deceptively calm.
Leo smiled, teeth flashing white under the chandelier. "Insurance. The family wants assurance you're still… obedient. And your pretty wife? She's part of that assurance."
Adrian didn't flinch, but Ann saw it — the flicker of rage, of fear, of a promise of violence.
"You touch her," Adrian said, each word sharp as broken glass, "and I will bury you next to every other ghost in this family."
Leo sighed dramatically. "Always so dramatic. You think you're untouchable because you wear the crown? You forget, cousin — the old wolves taught you how to kill. They can unmake you just as easily."
He gestured behind him. One of his men shifted, eyes scanning the stairs — eyes that landed right on Ann.
"There she is," Leo drawled. "Come down, sweetheart. We should all talk as a family."
Ann's heart slammed against her ribs. Adrian turned slightly, just enough to see her. His eyes said Run.
But she didn't move. Instead, she squared her shoulders and stepped down another stair, voice surprisingly steady. "I'm not going anywhere with you."
Leo clicked his tongue. "Pretty and loyal. Adrian, you really did well this time."
He stepped forward, hand reaching for her — and that's when the world cracked open.
Adrian lunged. A blur of motion — a fist slamming into Leo's jaw, sending him crashing into one of his own men. A gun drawn — not by Leo's men, but by Adrian himself, as if he'd conjured it from thin air.
Chaos exploded. One man grabbed Adrian's arm — a shot fired, missing by inches. Another man grabbed Ann, dragging her halfway down the stairs by her wrist.
She screamed, struggling, but the man's grip was iron.
Adrian roared — an inhuman sound that made even Leo flinch where he staggered against the wall. He twisted, elbowing one thug in the throat, then fired twice. The man holding Ann dropped like a puppet with its strings cut, blood blooming across his chest.
Ann stumbled, catching herself on the railing. Her ears rang with the echo of gunshots and the thundering of her own heartbeat.
Leo, half-conscious, lifted his head and spat blood. "You idiot—"
Adrian stalked forward, gun still raised, eyes black with fury. "I warned you."
He slammed Leo against the wall, pressing the barrel of the gun under his cousin's chin.
"You think you can bring this filth into my home?" Adrian hissed. "You think you can touch what's mine?"
Leo wheezed out a laugh, even with a gun pressed to his throat. "You can kill me, Adrian. But you can't kill the family."
Adrian leaned closer, his voice soft — terrifying. "Watch me."
He pulled the trigger.
Ann flinched as Leo's body crumpled to the marble floor. The silence afterward was deafening.
For a moment, Adrian just stood there — shoulders rising and falling with heavy breaths, the gun loose at his side.
Then he turned to Ann.
She was still halfway down the stairs, trembling, eyes wide.
He dropped the gun. It clattered on the floor as he rushed to her, pulling her into his arms.
"Ann—"
She buried her face in his chest, her hands gripping his shirt so tightly her knuckles went white.
"I'm sorry," he murmured against her hair. "I'm so sorry you saw that."
She pulled back just enough to look at him. There was blood on his face — Leo's blood — splattered across the collar of his shirt.
"You… you killed him," she whispered.
"He would've killed you." Adrian's voice cracked. "I'll kill them all if I have to."
Her chest heaved with silent sobs, but she didn't push him away. She pressed her forehead to his, their tears mixing with the blood and sweat between them.
"Where do we go now?" she asked, her voice so small it broke his heart.
Adrian closed his eyes. "Somewhere they can't find us. Somewhere I can make them regret ever thinking they could touch you."
Ann nodded, her breath hitching. "Then take me. Just… don't leave me behind."
"I never will," he swore, kissing her like it was the only truth left in their broken world.
Outside, sirens began to wail in the distance. Wolves howled for their fallen brother, but inside that house — among the ruin and blood — a king and his queen stood unbowed.
I
And they were ready to make the whole world burn for daring to tear them apart.