CHAPTER 34
1560 Words
ADINNA’S POV
For a heartbeat, it's like I forget how to breathe.
Then I turn, and there he is.
Hunter.
The crowd parts around him as if instinctively afraid to stand in his way. His hand clamps around the stranger’s wrist, twisting it hard until a sharp cry breaks through the music that hasn’t yet started again. The sound echoes across the ballroom, cutting clean through the golden air.
Hunter doesn’t say a word at first. His expression is pure, full of a cold, steady, dangerous fury. His eyes burn a shade too bright, like molten gold barely holding shape. The stranger tries to pull free, but Hunter’s grip only tightens.
“What makes you think you can touch her?” Hunter’s voice is low, controlled, but the threat in it hums through every word. “You think that card gives you permission?”
The student stammers something, his face contorted in pain. Hunter twists harder until I hear the faint pop of strain, and the guy lets out another choked sound.
“Hunter,” I whisper. My throat feels dry. “You’re hurting him.”
He throws the student’s arm away before I finish. The guy staggers back, clutching his wrist, his bravado gone. Hunter doesn’t even look at him again. His gaze snaps to me, with something sharp and unreadable, like he’s not sure whether to yell or something else.
My heart slams against my ribs. The light from the chandeliers catches on the edge of his jaw, highlighting the tension there. His breathing is even, but his wolf sits close beneath his skin. I can feel it in the air.
“What were you thinking?” he asks. His tone isn’t gentle; it’s a growl dressed as a question.
“I wasn’t thinking anything,” I snap back. “He came to me.”
“You should’ve stopped him sooner.”
“I did stop him!”
Hunter’s jaw tightens. For a moment, I think he’s going to argue again, but his eyes flick down to the Ace card at my neck. His lips twist into something like a sneer. “You still wear that thing.”
I glance down at it instinctively, fingers brushing the pendant. “It's not like Jace or any of you gave me a choice.”
He steps closer, causing the space between us to shrink until I can feel the heat from his body. “You can’t run from what that card means, Adinna.”
Before I can respond, another voice joins in, lazy and cruel.
“Well, well,” Jace drawls. “Looks like the princess found her knight.”
My stomach drops. I glance to my right and, of course, there they are. Jace, Salem, and Dean are striding through the crowd like they own the night. Hunter doesn’t turn, but his posture stiffens.
Jace leans against the counter beside me, his smirk infuriatingly familiar. “You sure know how to make an entrance,” he tells Hunter. “You could’ve just scared the guy off instead of breaking his arm.”
“He deserved worse,” Hunter mutters.
Salem’s laugh cuts through the tension, sharp as glass. “You’re still so dramatic, Hunter. One touch and you lose your temper. You sure it’s anger you’re feeling?”
Hunter ignores him, but I catch the twitch in his jaw.
Dean stands a little apart, his eyes darker than usual. He doesn’t speak or smirk, he just watches. His stare flickers between me and Jace like he’s searching for something in my expression.
Jace turns his focus on me now, his smirk widening. “So, Adinna,” he says, dragging out my name, “still waiting for your big, bad mate to claim you?”
“Drop it,” I say.
He tilts his head. “Oh, don’t get shy now. I’m just curious. All these strong wolves around you and still no mate? You must feel so unwanted.”
My fists clench at my sides. I can feel the heat rising to my face, but I refuse to give him the satisfaction.
“I don’t see your mate here either,” I bite out.
Salem barks out a laugh. “Touché.”
Jace’s eyes glint dangerously. “Careful, sweetheart.”
Hunter moves subtly, stepping between us. His stance isn’t protective; it’s more like territorial. The energy around us shifts. The crowd senses it too, drifting further away, pretending to mind their own business while clearly listening.
“Don’t start,” Hunter says, his voice calm but cold.
Jace shrugs, grabs a glass of red wine from the bar, and swirls it lazily. “I'm just having fun. Relax.”
He turns to me again, his smirk returning. “You don’t like wine, right? Pity. It suits you.”
He tilts the glass slightly, red liquid shimmering near the rim. I realize too late what he’s about to do.
“Jace, don’t—”
Before he can tip it, Dean steps forward. In one quick motion, he snatches the glass from Jace’s hand and downs it in a single gulp. The movement is smooth, almost careless, but there’s tension under it.
Jace glares at him. “What the hell, Dean?”
Dean lowers the empty glass, his gaze steady. “You were about to waste it,” he says. His voice is quiet, almost bored, but when he looks at me, something flickers in his eyes.
Jace studies him for a second, then laughs softly. “Since when do you play hero?”
“I’m not.” Dean’s tone doesn’t change, but the way his jaw flexes says otherwise.
Hunter looks between them, his patience wearing thin. “Both of you, stop it,” he orders.
Salem rolls his eyes. “You three never change.”
My wolf stirs again, uneasy and curious all at once. I hate the way my pulse reacts to all of them, the way my body tenses when Hunter steps closer, or how my breath shortens when Dean’s eyes meet mine, or the way Jace’s presence still feels like a challenge I can’t ignore.
It’s too much. Too confusing.
I cross my arms. “I didn’t ask for any of you to get involved,” I say, voice sharp.
Hunter arches a brow. “You think I was going to stand there while he touched you?”
“I could’ve handled it.”
He lets out a humorless laugh. “Sure, you could’ve.”
Jace grins. “She’s feisty tonight.”
I shoot him a glare. “I’m not your entertainment.”
“Oh, you’ve always been that,” he says softly.
The words sting more than they should. I look away before he can see it.
Dean’s gaze follows me quietly, and for a split second, something gentler flashes across his face. Pity? No. Regret. Then it’s gone.
Salem pushes off the counter and sighs. “I’m bored. Are we done posturing, or do we plan to ruin the ball completely?”
Hunter ignores him. His eyes stay locked on me, the intensity in them almost unbearable. “Go back to your dorm,” he says. “Now.”
I narrow my eyes. “You don’t get to tell me what to do.”
“You shouldn’t be here.”
“And yet here I am.”
We stare at each other, the air crackling between us. I know he’s trying to protect me, but the way he says it, like I’m some problem he has to fix, makes something sharp twist in my chest.
“I’m not your responsibility, Hunter.”
His expression softens for a second, just a fraction. “Maybe not,” he says quietly. “But you don’t understand what’s waiting for you.”
My heart skips. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He doesn’t answer. He steps back, eyes flicking once more to the Ace card at my neck. His lips part slightly, but before he can speak, Jace interrupts with a low chuckle.
“She doesn’t need your warnings,” he says. “If she can survive me, she’ll survive anything.”
Hunter’s eyes flash dangerously. “You want to test that theory?”
“Oh, please,” Jace mocks. “Don’t act like you care. We both know what happens when she—”
“Enough,” Dean cuts in, his tone sharp for the first time.
Everyone stops. Even Salem looks surprised. Dean’s stare pins Jace in place. “You’ve said enough for one night.”
Jace’s smirk falters slightly, but he shrugs it off and looks away. “Whatever.”
The silence that follows feels heavy. The music finally starts again somewhere in the distance, awkward and hesitant, as if unsure whether it’s allowed.
I exhale slowly, realizing how tightly I’ve been holding my breath. My head throbs from the tension, and yet, somewhere under all of it, curiosity burns hotter.
I glance between them, Hunter’s steady glare, Jace’s smug calm, Dean’s quiet intensity, Salem’s amused detachment, and I can’t shake the feeling that something bigger is threading through all of this, something none of them are saying aloud.
My fingers brush the Ace card again, and the metal feels warm, almost pulsing. I drop my hand quickly.
“I’m leaving,” I say, and turn away before any of them can stop me.
- Writer
