A Rogue For The Quadruplet Alpha's.

VINCENT.

Maria was so impossible to deal with.

The more I tried to make sense of her, the more I realized she never followed any pattern I could predict. It was frustrating in a way I couldn’t properly explain, because no matter how much control I thought I had over myself, she always seemed to pull something different out of me.

I couldn’t believe she had that much power over me.

Over the years, I had built myself into someone who was supposed to be immune to women—untouchable, unshaken and unmoved by emotional distractions.

That was the version of myself I had carefully constructed but the moment it came to Maria, everything I had built seemed to fail completely, wholefully and without exception.

And the worst part was that I couldn’t even pretend otherwise. I just couldn’t help it, as it simply was what it was.

That was also why I never wanted to hear her talk about dying.

The mere thought of it unsettled me in a way I refused to fully acknowledge.

Because deep down, I wasn’t even sure what I would do if she actually wasn’t around anymore.

I genuinely didn’t know if I could continue without her presence.

The realization alone was irritating.

I leaned back in my throne, my body sinking into it as I raised a hand slowly to my forehead.

A sharp, unbearable headache had begun to build there, as though my thoughts alone were physically weighing me down.

I pressed my fingers against my temple, trying to ease the pressure, but it didn’t help much.

If anything, the thoughts only grew louder.

"Maria would be the death of me," I said firmly under my breath.

The words were meant to sound frustrated and controlled but even as I said them, I found myself smiling absentmindedly, as though the contradiction didn’t matter anymore.

The thought of her had that effect on me.

A strange, irritating kind of amusement.

"I really can’t wait for us to get married," I whispered slowly into the empty space around me.

But they carried weight I wasn’t fully willing to admit aloud.

My wolf stirred inside me at that moment, excited in a way that mirrored my own emotions too closely for comfort.

It reacted to her name, to her presence in my thoughts and to everything about her and strangely enough, I didn’t resist it.

In fact, after everything that had happened—after being pushed into a tight corner by Maria—I had started to realize something.

It wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all...not to keep things as they were but to keep them all alive.

Alive long enough to witness what came next and alive long enough to see me win.

Especially Noah.

The thought of him made something sharper twist inside my chest. I would make sure he watched—watched as I succeeded where he had failed, eatched as I took what he couldn’t.

And most importantly...watched as Maria became mine.

A low laugh suddenly escaped my lips before I could stop it. At first, it came out quiet and restrained, almost like a breath slipping through a crack in my control.

But then it grew deeper, louder and more uncontrolled with every passing second.

I didn’t even attempt to stop it anymore.

The sound echoed faintly across the empty throne room, bouncing off the cold walls and lingering in the silence that surrounded me.

And strangely enough, it only made the amusement inside me grow stronger, as something warm and restless curled within my chest.

My thoughts drifted freely, slipping into different possibilities, different outcomes and different ways I could handle everything waiting ahead without upsetting Maria in the process.

The idea itself was entertainig and almost amusing, carefully controlled chaos.

That was the only way I could describe it.

Enough pressure to keep them in line and enough restraint to avoid pushing Maria too far but never enough to turn her against me.

That balance mattered more than anything else, especially when it came to her.

Everything I did...every decision I made...somehow always circled back to that single consideration.

And just the thought of her made everything else feel less important and less serious and more manageable.

Then, still leaning back comfortably on my throne, I let out a slower breath, trying to settle myself.

But the amusement never fully left.

It lingered at the edges of my expression.

At the corners of my thoughts, and then, right at that moment, the doors to the throne room opened.

The sound cut through the silence like a blade, sharp and immediate, instantly pulling my attention forward.

Almost at once, everything inside me stilled just a fraction, as anticipation settled in quietly beneath my thoughts.

My gaze shifted without hurry toward the entrance, focusing steadily on the doorway as I waited for whatever was about to appear.

And then I saw him.

Alak stepped inside.

The moment my eyes landed on him, something subtle changed in my expression. My smile widened further without effort, without need for restraint.

There was a quiet satisfaction in it and a sense of alignment, as everything was moving exactly as it should.

"Alpha v..." Alak began, but he paused almost immediately and a second later, he corrected himself. "Lycan Prince," he said instead, bowing his head respectfully, as his posture remained low as he gestured behind him."The guests are here," he added.

My eyes flickered in the direction he indicated and my smile deepened instantly.

At least now that they were here, Maria’s mind would finally be at peace.There was no reason to worry about the rest of them anymore, as they were irrelevant.

My attention shifted entirely to the thought of her, because soon, she would have no choice but to look at me.

"Where is Maria?" Adrien asked immediately, his voice sharp and almost hostile.

He was staring at me as though he expected an answer he would dislike.

I tilted my head slightly, studying him for a moment. There was something almost amusing about the way he spoke—the urgency, the irritation and the entitlement.

I was putting on my mask, carefully maintaining my composure, but it seemed he either didn’t notice or simply didn’t care.

Shouldn’t he be afraid of me?

Or at the very least, cautious?

Instead, he stood there questioning me about my woman.

My jaw tightened slightly at the thought.

He had already lost his chance with her—that Chapter was over and now it was my turn.

And I intended to make that very clear.

I smirked faintly, though I made sure it wasn’t obvious.

"What exactly are you talking about, Alpha Adrien?" I asked, feigning innocence in my tone, as my voice was calm. "You only got the privilege to be brought here as a guest," I continued, letting a hint of authority slip into my words. "How dare you question me?"

My irritation was beginning to surface beneath the surface, but I kept it controlled and measured.

Davian stepped forward slightly. "And why that privilege?" he asked, but the tone he used was different from Adrien’s.

His voice was more careful, and observant.

I studied him briefly before responding.

"Well," I said slowly, letting the silence stretch deliberately just a little longer than necessary before I continued.

I could feel their attention sharpening on me, waiting for whatever I was about to reveal.

"In a few weeks," I added at last, my voice calm and controlled, "I will be having a grand wedding."

The moment the words left my mouth, they seemed to settle heavily in the air.

For a brief second, no one reacted. It was as though the entire throne room had paused to process what I had just said.

Then Aidan scoffed almost immediately. A short, sharp sound of disbelief.

"It has been rumored that you are immune to women," he said, his tone clearly laced with skepticism as he looked at me more closely. "It’s surprising you suddenly found someone to be the Lycan Princess."

His words should have been irritating, I mean under normal circumstances, they would have been.

But instead, I found them mildly entertaining and almost amusing, yet I didn’t show it outwardly.

My expression remained composed, unreadable, carefully controlled as always.

I didn’t respond to his comment.

There was no need to explain myself to him. Instead, I simply lifted one hand in a calm, deliberate motion and gestured toward the guards stationed nearby.

"Show the guests to their rooms," I instructed evenly, my tone firm and final.

There was no space for argument, no invitation for further discussion. It was just an order.

The guards immediately reacted, stepping forward to carry it out without hesitation.

Only after that did I slowly push myself up from my throne. My movements were unhurried and measured.

Every step deliberate as I rose, straightening to my full height with quiet authority.

Because now that they are here...everything had changed and so did the direction of my thoughts.

And above all else...there was only one place I wanted to go now.

Maria’s room.