Maria.
Noah didn't stop walking until the noise of the arena faded behind us.
The further we moved away, the quieter everything became. The shouts, the accusations, the chaos—it all slowly dissolved into the distance until only the sound of Noah's steady footsteps remained.
His arms were firm around me as he carried me down the long corridor of the pack house.
I still hadn't fully recovered from the shock of what had happened.
My mind replayed everything over and over again.
The arrow.
Adrien pushing me, then the way he collapsed onto the ground.
A small tremor ran through my body again.
Noah must have felt it because his hold tightened slightly, as if he was afraid I might slip away.
"It's okay," he murmured quietly, his voice calm, soothing. "You're safe now. No one will hurt you."
Safe.
The word echoed faintly in my mind, but it didn't quite settle the storm inside me.
Why had someone tried to kill me?
And why…Why had Adrien taken the hit for me?
