Beneath the Alpha's Moon

ADRIAN’S P.O.V.

The castle felt unnervingly quiet as Juliette and I followed Elizabeth toward Eldur’s nursery. It wasn’t the absence of sound but the tangible anxiety in the air, as if the walls themselves were bracing for what awaited us. Juliette walked beside me, her arms folded tightly across her chest.

"Why does it always feel like we’re marching to our doom every time we come to check on him?" she muttered, shooting me a look that was equal parts exhaustion and annoyance.

"Because we are," I replied, my voice smooth and unhurried despite the situation. "But doom has a strange way of growing on you. Like moss."

She gave me a side-eye. "You’re comparing my sleepless nights and shattered nerves to moss?"

"Not just any moss, my dear. The resilient kind that thrives despite adversity."

Juliette snorted, shaking her head. "You’re insufferable."

"I’m charming," I corrected with a wink, earning a small, reluctant smile from her.

As we rounded the corner, Elizabeth glanced back at us. Her expression was grim. "He’s worse today," she said quietly, her tone apologetic as though she were personally responsible for the chaos that Eldur often unleashed.

"Worse?" Juliette groaned. "Last week, he turned Leonard’s hair green and Adam’s boots into vines. How do you get worse than that?"

Elizabeth sighed. "You’ll see."