Maria.
The silence in the room stretched out so long it felt like a physical weight pressing against my chest.
Noah was still holding onto my hips, his large hands trembling against my clothes. His dark eyes were wide, bloodshot, and filled with a frantic, desperate fear that I had never seen in him before. The commanding, unshakeable Alpha who had led us through a brutal siege was gone, replaced by a man terrified of losing his footing.
I took a slow, shuddering breath, my mind racing as I tried to process the absolute whiplash of the last five minutes.
First, the quadruplets had backed me into a corner with their smooth, relentless teasing about a joint marriage. Now, Noah was squeezing the air out of my lungs, demanding a wedding in two weeks out of pure, unadulterated jealousy.
Slowly, gently, I placed my hands flat against Noah's chest and pushed back.
