Chapter 148: Just Like My Mother?

Adeline’s POV~

"Don’t talk, and don’t ask me any questions," he whispered.

His lips were nearly brushing my hair, and his voice was dragged down into a sound so low, so dead-silent, that I had to hold my breath just to catch the words.

"We are not alone out here."

My entire body went completely stiff.

"I can’t tell you anything right now," he whispered, his eyes darting into the trees around us. "And we can’t leave this place tonight, either. I wanted to take you somewhere else to explain the whole truth to you. But I can’t do that anymore. We will be followed. And I can’t bear to make them follow us to that place..."

Panic clawed its way up my throat. I whispered back, my voice shaking so badly I could barely form the syllables.

"Where?! Who?! Why can’t you just tell me right here right now if we can’t go anywhere?! Don’t you want to tell me what is going on?!"

"Don’t you smell it, Adeline?"

I blinked, confused. "Smell what?"

"The scent of alphas," he whispered, his breath hot against my ear.

My stomach plummeted. "Yes... I can smell them from the moment I got here, but I thought—"

"They aren’t random rogues," Adrian interrupted, his voice turning grim. "They are the Second Throne’s elite bodyguards. The Dowager Luna sent them here."

"Second Throne’s bodyguards?" I breathed, my eyes widening in horror. "Gwen sent them?"

"Yes. They are watching every single move we make," Adrian whispered. "And remember, Adeline... wolves have terrifyingly sharp ears. If I say even one word right now, they will hear everything we are talking about and it will definitely reach the ears that I don’t want it to reach."

He pulled his head back slowly.

A calm, easy, charming smile spread across his face. He looked at me with such gentle affection, as if he had just whispered something sweet and romantic to me. Anyone watching from the dark woods would think we were just a gorgeous, charming man and woman on a quiet first date by the river.

But inside my head, my entire world was burning to the ground.

The alphas I smelled out in the dark as soon as I got here... were the Second Throne’s personal bodyguards?

The Dowager Luna sent them to follow me? To watch my every step? To spy on who I talk to and who I meet?!

No. No, no, no! This can’t be happening!

If they were watching me every single second of the night, how on earth was I ever supposed to find out the truth about my real parents?

Adrian said he had planned to take me somewhere else tonight to tell me everything, but we couldn’t go.

If we moved an inch toward the truth, those guards would follow us straight to it. And he couldn’t tell me a single word right here, because wolf ears were listening to every breath we took.

Oh, Goddess. What the hell are we supposed to do now?

He said, his voice dripping with smooth, effortless charm, "So, now talk and act like everything is perfectly casual..."

He stepped back and stretched his hand out toward me, waiting. The cold, calculating spy vanished in a fraction of a second, and the mask snapped right back onto his face, that easy, polite, harmless smile that could fool anyone in the royal court.

"Do I have the absolute pleasure of taking you for a walk, Adeline?" he asked aloud, his tone carrying just enough volume for any listening wolf in the trees to hear a sweet, innocent date.

I stared at his outstretched hand. Then, I glared straight up into his dark, warning eyes.

"This doesn’t look casual, Adrian. None of this is casual," I muttered fiercely through my teeth.

I refused to take his hand. I crossed my arms tightly over my chest, turned on my heel, and walked straight past him. My steps were stiff, angry, and rigid with panic.

Behind me, I heard a low, rich chuckle rumble in his throat, warm and infuriatingly calm, as if I was just a stubborn child throwing a silly tantrum on a night out.

Then, his quiet footsteps caught up, and he was walking right beside me, his hands shoved casually back into his jacket pockets.

We walked like that for a long, agonizing while.

The dark bushes pressed in close from both sides. The ancient trees loomed overhead, their tangled branches blocking out the silver moonlight and throwing long, claw-like shadows across the path.

We walked across the old mossy bridge, the sound of the rushing river beneath us drowning out our footsteps.

"They’re all around us right now, aren’t they?" I whispered, keeping my head forward, my lips barely moving as I spoke. "I can smell them in the wind. At least four. Maybe more."

He didn’t even turn his head. He just gave a tiny, almost imperceptible nod of his chin.

"So what on earth are we supposed to do now?" My voice shook, trembling with a sudden, overwhelming wave of fear, and I hated myself for showing how weak I felt. "Can’t you just tell me quietly right here? I can keep my voice down. I promise I’ll whisper and you whisper too."

"I want to tell you, Adeline," he said.

His voice changed then. The polished, playful mask slipped, only for a fraction of a second, and what bled through from underneath was exhaustion, a bone-deep tiredness, and a heavy, crushing weight.

"I want to tell you the absolute truth. I was waiting for a long time to tell you everything I know," he whispered, his tone turning raw.

"Every single part of it. From the very beginning to the end. But I wanted to take you somewhere else first to explain it all. I was definitely not planning on telling you a single thing out here. And right now..."

He let out a slow breath, his eyes darting cautiously around at the pitch-dark trees lining the river.

"...Right now, I physically can’t."

I stopped dead in my tracks, spinning around to face him. "Take me where?! Where were you going to take me?!"

"To meet someone," he replied softly.

My heart nearly stopped beating in my chest. "Who?!"

A slow, gentle smile touched his lips, and we both stood completely still in the middle of the path. He turned his body, looking straight down into my eyes.

"You will know who it is when you meet that person," Adrian said quietly.

"I will arrange everything behind the scenes, Adeline. I promise you that. Until then... I need you to stay safe," he whispered, his dark eyes softening with genuine concern. "Stay healthy. And please... don’t do anything reckless that will get you killed before we get the chance."

His hand came up slowly from his pocket, moving with a hesitant grace, as if he was genuinely afraid that I might shatter if he touched me. His warm fingers brushed softly against my cheek. They were warm against my freezing skin, and they were shaking.

Neither of us said a single word for a long moment. His intense eyes roamed slowly over my face, tracing my forehead, my nose, and my lips.

"You look just like..." he started, his voice trailing off into a breathless rasp.

I grabbed his wrist, my breath hitching. "Like who?! Who do I look like?!"

His jaw worked tightly, the muscles bunching up. Under the pale light, his dark eyes suddenly looked glossy, swimming with unshed tears.

"Just like your mother," he whispered.