CHAPTER 279: BIRTHDAY II

He remembered my birthday.

Why?

Had I meant that much to him?

Even before my reveal as a wolfless nobody, my birthday was never a big event. And Adam and his brothers had always been... at best, civil.

A polite "hello" here, a nod there, maybe a fleeting smile or a wink if the mood suited them. Nothing more. Our exchanges were never deep, never intimate.

Considering the difference in status, I hadn’t expected anything beyond that surface-level civility. And yet—he remembered my birthday.

I tore my eyes away from the haunting intensity of his gaze, fixing them instead on a pair of slippers neatly by the bed. They looked ridiculously comfortable, as though made for feet that never had to walk barefoot across stones or mud.

Had I ever told him my birthday during our short-lived... fling? I doubted it. I would have remembered. He must have pieced it together on his own. After all, the day of my testing had been marked with a planned celebration in my family’s house, a party that never happened. Instead, that day had become the worst of my life.

Did he remember the spectacle of my failure too?

"I don’t think I will ever forget the look on her face," Adam said softly, breaking into my thoughts. "When the doctor pronounced, with disgust, that she was wolfless."

My breath stilled. What else didn’t he forget?

Anger sparked, sharp and sudden, without clear cause—anger at him, at myself, at the cruel memory.

"I almost told him to do a re-scan," Adam continued, his voice low, reflective. "But he never made mistakes. Our doctor was trusted. Still... she had looked devastated... goddess, she looked shattered. The same way I felt inside."

A pause. "You see, I had been ecstatic for that day. I was waiting for it. The moment she would finally come of age, when I could begin pursuing her openly. My plan was simple: train her myself, sharpen her until she was unshakable, then present her to my father. I wanted to prove she was strong enough. I had already mapped everything out in my head. I was smiling as she was led into the water for the testing. My wolf was dancing with me."

My body froze.

Was he saying what I thought he was saying?

Adam Brekan—the Adam Brekan—had once wanted me? Not just tolerated me, not just offered scraps of civility... but actually planned to claim me as his Luna?

The realization sat heavy in my chest, threatening to smother me. I knew he hadn’t hated me before the announcement. But this? This was beyond anything I had dared to imagine.

"And then," Adam said bitterly, sinking deeper into the sofa, "everything fell apart when she came out wolfless. My appetite vanished for days. My wolf—he liked her. He wanted her. But my father would never allow it, so I didn’t try. Futile. That’s what it became. Futile. So I forced myself to stop thinking about her. When the bullying began, I let it happen because I thought it would help me unlike her."

My lips parted in shock, but no words came.

"That too," he said, his jaw tightening, "collapsed the day of the pool. Do you remember the tale?"

Do I remember?

How could I not?

My throat constricted. All I could do was risk a tiny nod.

"But I never forgot her birthday," Adam murmured. "On her seventeenth, I stayed within sight while the others bullied her. I didn’t interfere, neither did I join them. I told myself it wasn’t much. That it was the little I could do."

His fists clenched. "A stupid thought. Maybe if I had stood up for her, even once, she wouldn’t have left the pack."

The ache in his voice pierced me. I almost broke then, almost told him the truth. Almost.

Instead, I asked, quietly, "Why... do you think she’s still alive?"

The question stuttered out of me, as though I had to wrestle with every word. I didn’t dare look at him. Meeting his eyes felt too dangerous. Too exposing.

"Because if she was dead," Adam said with firm conviction, "I would have felt it. Right here."

I didn’t need to look to know where he was pointing. His chest. His heart.

"I would have felt it, Dora. That’s how I know she’s alive. As a matter of fact..."

He stopped.

The silence dragged long enough to pull my eyes toward him. "What?"

He hesitated. His lips pressed together, his expression conflicted. But his eyes gave him away.

"You want to search for her..." I whispered.

His throat bobbed. Then he nodded.

"Before my coronation, I’ll be granted time to travel. To learn. To gain... insights, or whatever excuse they call it. I want to use that time to find her."

"I see," I muttered, turning my face away. He wanted to search for me. What then?

Let’s say I was really out in the human world, if he found me under another name, another mask—would he drag me back to his father like a prized possession? Or worse...?

"And what will you do if you find her?" I asked, forcing the words out steady.

Adam’s gaze lowered to his hands, spreading wide across his thighs as if anchoring himself. "I’ll make her my Luna."

"And what about me?" The question slipped free before I could stop it. Dangerous. Foolish. But I needed to hear it.

"I don’t know," he admitted, voice rough. "The feelings I have for you... they’re confusing. My wolf thinks you’re Maya. He insists you’re mine. Every day, I have to convince him otherwise. That it’s just trauma speaking."

We both laughed then, short, strained.

"Why? Because I look like her?" I asked dryly.

He frowned. "That was before. You don’t look like her now. But you still remind me of her."

"What is the color of your eyes?" he asked suddenly, leaning forward. "When I first met you, it was an ordinary shade. But now..." He peered closer, his gaze piercing, searching. "They look different. Is it the mask interfering... or is that their true color?"

"The latter," I whispered. "Magic plays with a lot."

"It makes you mysterious. More beautiful..." he said, almost reverently.

My instincts screamed danger. Every nerve in me lit up. I shifted subtly away, only to realize I had already pressed myself to the edge of the sofa.

"I want you, Dora..." His words were a low growl, heavy, dangerous.

I shook my head sharply. "You want Maya. Wait for her. Maybe she’ll return."

The haunted look overtook his features again, eclipsing the earlier desire.

"Sometimes I have nightmares about that night," he confessed, voice breaking. "Scenarios that make no sense..."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Adam nodded, clasping his hands together so tightly his knuckles turned white. "Maybe it’ll help me sleep."

"Maybe," I murmured, bracing myself. Whatever he was about to share, I could already tell—it was going to change everything.

"I..." he began—

Three sharp knocks shattered the air. Loud. Heavy. Urgent.

Adam stiffened.

"My brothers," he hissed. His eyes darted to me. "Get up. Quick. Hide!"

I arched a brow. Hide? Man’s gotta be kidding me.

I rose to my feet, squaring my shoulders, every drop of defiance burning through me. "I hide for nobody."