Chapter 84
Chapter 84 — Adrian Valehart.
I drove home with the same feeling that had been crawling under my skin since this whole damned night began:
I needed to move fast.
Make decisions fast.
Find a way to keep Sofia safe before everything went to hell.
When I pulled up to the main entrance and saw the lights glowing across the front of the house, the first thing I did as I stepped out was inhale the air.
And I confirmed it.
My mother wasn’t here.
At least there was that.
I’d given her a very clear warning before I left — one that spelled out exactly what would happen if I found out she had anything, even a finger, involved in what was happening.
And for the first time in my life, it seemed like she actually took me seriously.
Or at the very least…
She took the tone in my voice seriously.
Maybe she finally realized I really would tear her head off if I had to.
“Come in,” I told Sofia, holding the door open for her.
The staff came toward us almost immediately.
The humans kept their heads down, like always.
But the wolves…
I felt the fear roll off them when their eyes landed on Sofia.
A half-blood, walking into my home with me.
They tried to mask it.
But they weren’t fooling anyone.
None of them dared say a word, of course.
They knew exactly who they were dealing with.
Sofia stayed near the door, lost, taking in everything.
That place… I could see it in her eyes — it looked like another universe.
Too clean, too wide, too silent.
Too much space for someone carrying that much pain.
Then she let out a breath — heavy, cracked, the kind a person gives after crying so hard they shake — and it went straight through my fucking chest.
She was trying to be strong.
But she was falling apart.
“You need to rest,” I said, trying to steady my tone. “Eat. Shower. Lie down. Do whatever you want.”
She just looked at me — tense, sad… broken.
“You’re coming back… right?” she asked softly. “You’ll find out what happened to Letícia?”
“I will,” I said, stepping closer. “And I’ll try not to take long. I’m going to find out who’s behind all this.”
She nodded slowly, like someone walking on a floor that might crack at any second.
And that—that pissed me off.
Not at her.
At the entire fucking world that had ripped every certainty out of this girl in a matter of days. Someone was doing this on purpose, and I would never forgive them.
“Anna,” I called.
The older human woman — quiet, discreet, trustworthy — approached.
“Take care of her. Anything she wants, anything she needs.”
Anna bowed her head and led Sofia down the hallway, guiding her like a shattered jewel that needed to be held carefully.
I watched them until they disappeared around the corner.
Only then did I turn around and head back to the car.
I had to move. Fast.
It took me only minutes to reach the company.
I ran red lights, sped through empty streets, and drove like the fucking world was ending.
When I arrived, the building was nearly empty.
Security stepped aside immediately, confused to see me at this hour, but no one dared ask questions.
I went straight up to the top floor, to my office.
Cael and Cedric were sprawled across the armchairs like bored teenagers.
Both of them lifted their heads when I walked in.
“Finally,” Cael muttered. “Does this count as overtime?”
“And we charge extra,” Cedric added.
I took a breath. For a second, I’d actually forgotten how annoying they could be.
“Shut the hell up,” I growled, heading to the desk. “I need you both to listen.”
They traded confused glances but straightened up.
“What happened? Why the hell did you call us here at this hour?” Cedric asked.
“The Council,” I said.
They both let out the same long, synchronized groan.
The atmosphere shifted instantly.
“Oh, great… I’d almost forgotten…” Cael ran a hand through his hair. “Isn’t that ridiculous meeting in two days?”
“Deaths, disputes, old bastards thinking they still run the world… same circus as always,” Cael rolled his eyes. “But what does that have to do with us? You never wanted to get your hands in that shit.”
I exhaled and sat behind the desk.
“I’m entering the competition.”
They froze.
Literally froze.
Then exploded, jumping to their feet and storming toward me, absolutely outraged.
“WHAT?!”
“You lost your damn mind?!”
“What the fuck is going on?!”
Words overlapped, panic spilling everywhere.
“Why would you do that?!”
“Why now?!”
“Who threatened you?!”
I shut my eyes for a moment, searching for a way to say it that didn’t make me sound like a complete idiot — or like a man stupidly, dangerously in love.
But there wasn’t one.
So I just said it.
“I found my mate.”
Silence. Absolute.
And then—
“Noooooo way…” Cedric burst out laughing. “No. Nope. Impossible.”
“You?!” Cael broke into laughter too. “You, Adrian Valehart — the most emotionally dead man in the entire state?!”
I glared at them, already regretting bringing them here.
But I knew what they were like.
I knew this reaction was inevitable.
They could only laugh.
“This is amazing,” Cedric wheezed, bending over. “Years avoiding the Council, years saying you’d never get involved with those vultures — and now… you’re doing all this for a woman?”
My patience was razor-thin.
But they were the only ones I trusted.
“If you don’t shut the fuck up—”
“Wait,” Cael raised a hand, still laughing but confused. “You’re actually serious? This isn’t a joke?”
I opened my mouth — ready to tell them both to go to hell — but the door opened behind them.
“He’s not joking,” a deep, calm, dangerous voice said. “And you two would be wise to stop treating this like a joke.”
He stepped in with the heavy stride of someone summoned to war.
My cousin, Edgar Blake.
My deepest contact in the werewolf underworld.
The only person who understood just how ugly this was about to get.
The cast-off son of one of the contenders for the throne.
He stopped beside the desk, eyes locked on mine — like a man examining a bomb before it goes off.
“We need to move,” he said quietly. “They found out about us, Adrian… about her… there’s no turning back now.”