The sound came just as Elara was beginning to drift into another half-sleep against Adrian's chest.
Three sharp, deliberate knocks.
Adrian's body went rigid. He didn't move at first, but his breathing changed—slower, deeper, a predator scenting trouble.
"Stay here," he murmured, brushing a kiss against her temple.
"Adrian—"
"Stay." His tone was steel.
He slid from the bed with lethal grace, not bothering to put on a shirt. The faint morning light carved shadows over every hard line of his body. Even in that moment of tension, Elara felt her pulse react to him—like her body didn't understand there was danger at the door.
The knocking came again. Louder.
Adrian moved to the hidden drawer in his nightstand and withdrew a sleek black pistol.
Her stomach flipped. He looked terrifying like this—danger coiled in every muscle, eyes sharp and glowing faintly in the dim light.
When he opened the door, the smell of rain and asphalt swept in. A man stood there—tall, broad, and not human. Elara didn't know how she knew, but she did.
"You're a long way from your territory," Adrian said, voice cold enough to cut glass.
The stranger's gaze flicked past him, catching sight of her in the bed. His lips curled in something between a smirk and a sneer. "Didn't think the infamous Adrian Voss would be keeping human pets."
The words made Elara stiffen. Pets?
Adrian stepped forward, blocking the man's view entirely. "Choose your next words carefully," he warned, the air between them crackling with something raw and feral.
The man leaned closer, lowering his voice, though Elara's sharp ears caught every syllable. "The Elders will hear about this. You've broken the oldest law of our kind."
Before Elara could process that, Adrian slammed the door shut so hard the frame rattled.
He turned to her, still holding the pistol, eyes burning like wildfire. "Get dressed. Now."
Her heart pounded. "Adrian, what's going on? Who was that?"
He strode toward her, grabbing her face in his hand—not roughly, but firmly, forcing her to look into his eyes. "That was trouble," he said. "The kind that doesn't stop until someone's dead."
He kissed her hard then, not gentle, as though needing to brand her with the taste of him before the storm broke. "Stay close to me, Elara. No matter what you see, no matter what you hear—don't run. Understand?"
She nodded, though her voice barely worked. "I… understand."
Good," he said, his gaze still locked on hers. "Because now, there's no going back."