A Rogue For The Quadruplet Alpha's.

Aidan.

What the hell was going on between the two of them?

A dark, suffocating tide of jealousy surged through my veins as I watched the uncharacteristic warmth pass between them.

Why was Maria smiling at him so genuinely?

That soft, radiant smile was something she had completely withheld from me, yet here she was, bestowing it upon Damien as if he hadn’t played a part in her pain.

What exactly had Damien told her to break through her icy exterior and get her to smile like that?

Damien, clearly controlled by the primal urges of his wolf, stepped forward again without a second thought. Driven by the instinct to claim, he reached out and grabbed Maria firmly by her waist, pulling her flush against his chest until there was no daylight left between them.

The sight shattered my restraint. My heart instantly ached with a sharp, agonizing pang, and before I even realized what I was doing, I rushed forward, grabbed Maria, and yanked her completely out of his embrace.

"There is no time for this!" I snapped, my voice harsh with a desperate attempt to cover up the storm of jealousy raging inside me. I stared straight ahead, entirely unable to make eye contact with either of them. "We need to get the whole plan sorted out," I added, forcing the focus back to our immediate problem.

"Whatever it is we are concluding, let’s be fast about it!" Maria declared firmly, stepping back and running her fingers through her hair to arrange it back into place. "I don’t have enough time to waste standing around," she added, her tone sharpening back into its usual guarded impatience.

"I know!" I said, keeping my voice as calm and steady as I could manage through my clenched jaw. "I will mind-link Davian and Adrein to be here within seconds."

Damien shifted his weight, moving his legs to take another step closer to Maria, but I reacted instantly.

Stepping into his path, I interlocked my fingers with hers, holding her hand firmly in mine, and led her over to sit on the edge of the bed.

"You will need to be a little patient," I said softly to her, but while my words were directed at Maria, my gaze was locked dead onto Damien, glaring at him with pure, unadulterated annoyance.

Damien, seemingly completely oblivious to my lethal glare—or perhaps deliberately ignoring it—walked straight up to us without a care in the world and sat down on the bed right beside Maria, closing the distance all over again.

Geez!

Can’t he just stay away from her for even a single second?

I immediately opened the mind link, extending my thoughts across the bond and signalling for Adrein and Davian to step back into the room without delay.

And while we waited for them to return, I kept fuming with anger, the bitter taste of frustration burning in the back of my throat as Damien seemed so frustratingly relaxed around Maria.

He acted completely unbothered by the heavy tension in the room, leaning into her space as if he belonged there.

He kept trying to strike a conversation with Maria, tossing out low remarks, and whenever she didn’t give him a reply, he deliberately provoked a reaction from her—pushing her buttons until she was forced to look his way.

Watching the subtle back-and-forth between them made my blood boil, and I really couldn’t take it anymore. So, the very moment Maria adjusted her position on the mattress, I moved swiftly and sat directly between her and Damien, effectively blocking his physical proximity to her.

Can he not just focus on what brought us here in the first place?

Why did he have to turn every single moment into a game of attention?

I was still lost in my chaotic thoughts, staring straight ahead with my jaw clenched tight, when both Adrein and Davian came in immediately, quietly stepping through the doorway.

"Maria!" Adrein called out slowly, his voice weighed down by a heavy, unmistakable hesitation.

Every syllable seemed to carry a quiet caution, as though he were carefully testing dangerous ground with each word that left his lips. There was an uncertainty in his expression that was impossible to miss.

He looked like a man who had done something terrible and like someone who was painfully aware of his mistake. Someone who was bracing himself for the consequences, terrified of whatever reaction awaited him.

His gaze remained fixed on Maria, carrying a mixture of apprehension and silent hope, as though he desperately wished she would simply look at him.

But she didn’t.

Maria ignored him completely.

Not even for a fleeting second did she spare him a glance. It was as though his voice had never reached her ears at all. Her expression remained unchanged, calm and unreadable, offering him nothing—not a word, not a look, not even the smallest acknowledgment of his presence.

Instead, she slowly turned her head.

Her eyes moved away from Adrein entirely before settling directly on Damien.

"Share your suggestion, and let’s get started," she said.

Her tone was sharp, clear, and direct, leaving no room for hesitation as she prompted him to speak. There was a quiet authority in her voice, one that naturally drew everyone’s attention toward Damien without the need for another word.

Beside them, I silently clenched my fists.

My fingers curled tighter and tighter until my nails dug painfully into my palms, the pressure causing my knuckles to turn deathly pale against my legs. I barely noticed the discomfort.

My attention remained fixed on the scene unfolding before me.

One question refused to leave my mind.

Why was Damien suddenly getting her favor?

What has changed?

What had shifted within the span of only a few minutes to make her turn toward him so naturally?

To make her acknowledge him so readily?

To make her treat him with a lingering softness while the rest of us could barely earn so much as a single glance or the smallest fragment of her acknowledgment?

The thought lingered heavily in my mind, refusing to loosen its grip as I watched them in silence.

Damien cleared his throat with a confident smirk, stepping up to address the room, and shared his suggestion with us in detail. And soon, the initial friction faded into urgency, as we all brought our heads together and began to put the intricate plans in place for her escape.

But all through the intense planning, as maps and routes were quietly debated, my eyes never left Maria. My heart kept aching with a sharp, unrelenting pulse each time she glanced at Damien with a faint, subtle smile passing across her features.

What did he do to get that sudden soft spot?

Was it truly just his suggestion, or had something else broken through her guard when I wasn’t looking?

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!