The cabin door creaked. My heart jumped.
I spun around, gun raised.
Adrian stepped inside. Blood still on his side, jaw tight, eyes sharp as a blade. He looked at Lucien… then at me.
"Stay out of this," he said to Lucien, voice low but dangerous.
Lucien didn't flinch. "I'm keeping her alive. Something you might want to consider."
I froze. The tension between them was palpable. Two alpha presences. And in the middle… me.
Adrian's gaze softened—not at Lucien, at me. Something unspoken passed in that look. Relief? Anger? Care?
"You left," he said finally, voice tight. "You didn't wait. You
"Stop," I snapped. "I had no choice! You were injured. And they were coming!"
His eyes flared. "I can handle myself!"
"Clearly," I muttered, gesturing to Lucien.
Adrian's jaw clenched. "Why him?"
"Because he's keeping us alive," I said, voice shaking. "Because you're not invincible!"
Silence. Heavy. Charged.
Then Lucien stepped aside. "This isn't a rivalry. Focus. They're tracking us. Time is short."
Adrian's eyes flicked to the monitors Lucien had been using. Alarmed. Calculating.
I felt my chest tighten. This wasn't just a reunion. This was a standoff. Power, control, trust, and fear all tangled together.
"Listen," Adrian said quietly, voice now directed at me, "I don't trust him. But I trust you. That has to be enough for now."
I swallowed hard. My pulse racing. Finally, a shred of clarity in the chaos.
Lucien motioned toward the map on the table. "Here's your way out. A route they don't expect. You follow it, you survive."
Adrian glanced at me. "You follow it with us, or you're on your own."
My hands shook. But I nodded. Survival first. Emotions… later.
The three of us huddled over the map. Tension thick, every second a countdown.
And for the first time tonight, I realized… this war wasn't just about life or death. It was about trust.
And I didn't know who I could afford to trust.