Chapter 510: Promise me!

Aidan.

Davian slammed his heavy boot directly onto Vincent’s spine, pinning him face-down onto the blood-slicked marble. The Prince gasped for air, thrashing helplessly as Damien pinned his wrists behind his back, binding them tight with thick leather rope.

"Get your filthy hands off me!" Vincent choked out, his voice muffled against the bloody stone. "I am royal blood! You cannot treat me like a common animal!"

"Shut up," Damien growled, digging his knee hard into Vincent’s shoulder until the bone popped.

Heavy, rushing footsteps echoed down the archway as a fresh detachment of Noah’s house guards—the reserve squad from the lower barracks—came sprinting into the foyer. They skidded to a halt, their weapons drawn, their eyes wide as they took in the carnage. Dozens of Vincent’s elite lay dead, and the Lycan Prince himself was pinned under Davian’s boot.

"Alpha Aidan!" the lead reserve guard gasped out, dropping to one knee. "We heard the siege horns—we came as fast as we could!"

I turned to them, my voice flat and icy. "You’re late. But you’re just in time to take out the trash." I gestured toward Vincent. "Drag this bastard down into the deepest cell in Noah’s dungeon. Iron chains. No light. No food."

"You can’t execute me!" Vincent shrieked as two guards hauled him roughly to his feet, binding his ankles. "My People will burn this valley!"

I stepped right up to his face, looking him dead in the eye. "I’m not going to execute you, Vincent. Once my brother is stable, I am personally coming down to that cell. I am going to torture you to death, inch by inch, until you beg for the breath I’m taking from you right now."

Vincent’s face went ghastly white. He stopped screaming, his jaw trembling in pure horror as the guards dragged him away, his boots scraping uselessly along the floorboards until his whimpers faded down the dark stairwell.

The moment he was gone, the fury in my chest collapsed into a sickening, hollow panic. Davian, Damien, and I turned as one, running back down the long corridor toward the infirmary doors.

Noah was still on his knees in the pool of blood, his broad hands pressed firmly against Adrein’s chest, trying in vain to stem the bright red flow soaking through the four iron shaft wounds. Physician Thorne was now kneeling beside him, his hands trembling as he applied pressure rolls, but the sheer volume of crimson pooling across the stone told the terrible truth. Maria was right there beside them, holding Adrein’s uninjured hand, her eyes overflowing with tears, her chest heaving with silent, painful sobs.

We dropped to our knees around him. Davian grabbed Adrein’s shoulder, his fingers digging into the fabric, while Damien gripped his brother’s forearm, his golden Alpha eyes shining with unshed tears.

Adrein’s face was ghastly pale, his lips stained red, but as his eyes slowly fluttered open and focused on our faces, a weak, crooked grin cracked across his lips.

"Well... look at you three," Adrein rasped out, his voice a faint, rattling whisper. "Took you long enough... to finish off those roaches. You’re... lucky you got back here... before I left."

"Shut your mouth, Adrein!" I scolded him fiercely, my raspy voice cracking as I leaned over him, grabbing his hand. "Don’t you dare use those words! Don’t you ever say something like that again! You hear me?!"

"You’re not allowed to leave us," Damien added, his voice shaking uncontrollably as he pressed hard against Adrein’s arm. "We came into this world together, you arrogant bastard. You aren’t permitted to step out on us now. You stay right here!"

Adrein let out a soft, bloody cough, his chest shuddering violently under Noah’s hands. "Always... so bossy, Damien..."

He tried to turn his head toward Maria, but the slight movement caused him to wince in unbearable agony, his sharp gasp cutting through the quiet room.

"Adrein, don’t move!" Maria cried out instantly, dropping closer to him, her fingers wrapping tightly around his hand, holding it against her face. "Please, don’t try to move! I’m right here. I’m right here with you."

Adrein’s fading golden eyes drifted to her face. His smile softened, becoming small, tender, and impossibly gentle.

"Maria..." he whispered, his breathing becoming shallow and ragged. "Promise me... promise me one thing... sweet girl..."

Maria nodded frantically, tears streaming down her pale cheeks and dropping onto his blood-stained tunic. "I promise! Anything, Adrein! I’ll promise you anything you want, just stay with us! Please!"

Adrein swallowed hard, a tiny, faint smirk touching the corner of his bloody lips as he looked up at her, then shifted his gaze weakly to include Noah, Aidan, Davian, and Damien.

"When I’m gone..." Adrein breathed out, every word a agonizing effort that cost him his remaining breath. "I don’t want you... to only marry Noah..." He coughed weakly, his chest rattling. "You have to... marry my brothers, too... all of them. Keep them... safe. Don’t leave any of them... behind..."

Maria froze, her eyes widening in absolute shock at his words. She looked up at Noah, then at the three of us, completely stunned.

"Adrein..." she stammered, her voice trembling. "What...?"

"Promise me..." Adrein insisted, his grip on her hand tightening with the very last surge of his fading strength, his eyes fixed on hers with desperate, burning intensity. "Promise me, Maria... please..."

Fresh tears spilled over Maria’s lashes as she looked into his pleading eyes. She squeezed his hand with both of hers, nodding firmly through her sobs. "I promise! I promise you, Adrein! I swear it!"

A deep, peaceful smile spread across Adrein’s pale face.

"Good..." he whispered softly.

He let out one long, quiet exhale. His fingers loosened their grip on Maria’s hand, sliding limply onto the cold stone floorboards. His head tilted slightly to the side, his chest coming to a complete, absolute standstill.

The invisible bond thread connecting our hearts snapped with a violent, agonizing jolt that ripped through my chest like a white-hot blade.

"Adrein?" Maria gasped, her voice shrill with terror as she shook his arm. "Adrein! No! Wake up!"

"Adrein!" Damien screamed, throwing his weight over his brother’s chest, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him frantically. "No! Adrein, open your eyes! Open your damn eyes!"

"Adrein!" Davian roared, his voice breaking into a guttural, heart-shattering sob as he slammed his fist into the stone floor, the marble cracking beneath his gauntlet. "Adrein, don’t do this! Don’t leave us!"

"BROTHER!" I shouted, pulling his lifeless form up against my chest, burying my face into his shoulder as raw, uncontrolled agony tore through my soul.

The entire corridor erupted into frantic, grief-stricken shouts, our combined Alpha roars shaking the stone walls of the estate, echoing out into the cold, empty night.