Chapter 44 Awakening And Revelations #2
"Is the target," I interrupt, the realization clicking into place with devastating clarity. "Not you. Not me. Not even Sera, really. Adrian has been the target all along."
Luca stares at me, processing.
"Think about it," I continue, my mind racing through the pattern.
"Three years ago, Adrian experiences a catastrophic mechanical failure.
One that ruins his reputation, drives him from professional racing, makes him question his every decision.
But what if that wasn't an accident? What if someone engineered that failure specifically to destroy him? "
I can see Luca following my logic, his expression shifting from confusion to understanding to fury.
"Then Sera," I continue. "She was close to you, yes. But she was also had access to your pack,which includes Adrian. You guys having an Omega will benefit him. Would make life easier for all of you. Also means if the relationship had progressed, she’d have access to you all, but specifically Adrian. Benefit from being his Omega, from the financial aspect of him being a billionaire to maybe even racing relations, though she wasn’t like me who’s in the field of racing and tech.
What if whoever set up her demise was really trying to eliminate someone who might have noticed something?
Might have figured out that Adrian's 'failure' wasn't actually his fault? "
“You’re trying to elude that Sera may have caught onto something or someone pulling the strings as she got closer to me and well…decided to eliminate her?”
“Maybe,” I say slowly. “We won’t ever really know, right? But then…”
"But then there’s you," Luca finishes, the pieces falling into place. "You're our Omega. Part of our pack. Working on cars he designs. Close enough to potentially discover the same patterns Sera might have seen…and wait. You haven’t bonded with him yet…"
"Exactly. He’s the last one…saving the best for last" I smirk despite the situation, despite the fear and fury coursing through my veins.
"We've been looking at this wrong the entire time.
Thinking the threats were about me being Omega, or you being Pack Alpha, or our racing success threatening someone. "
I pause, meeting Luca's eyes with absolute certainty.
"But it's been about Adrian all along. Someone targeting him through the people he cares about. Using us as collateral damage to hurt him specifically…and what if Adrian picked this up long before we did? Which could be why we barely had instances together, but because he cooked and was always trying to make sure I’m well fed and hydrated, I didn’t notice he was trying to protect having long moments with me. "
The realization hangs in the air between us, heavy with implications.
If Adrian is the target—if he's always been the target—then the detonation wasn't just about sabotaging our race.
It was personal. Calculated.
The culmination of a vendetta that's been building for at least three years.
"Who hates him that much?" Luca asks quietly.
"I don't know," I admit. "But we're going to find out. Before the grand prix. Before whoever this is gets another chance to hurt my pack."
My pack. The possessive claim settles in my chest with fierce certainty.
Adrian is mine. Luca is mine. Cale and Elias are mine.
And I will burn the entire racing world to ash before I let anyone take them from me.
"Get me discharged," I say firmly, already trying to pull at the IV in my arm. "I need to make a phone call.”
"Aurora, you were poisoned," Luca argues, his hand catching mine before I can actually remove the IV. "You need to rest, let the doctors—"
"Adrian is in surgery because he drove in my place." My voice comes out harder than intended, edged with the fury I'm barely containing. "He risked everything…his life, trauma, and future, to make sure I didn't lose this championship. And you want me to rest?"
Luca holds my gaze for a long moment, then slowly releases my hand.
"Fine," he concedes. "But you're not pulling that IV out yourself. I'll get a nurse to do it properly."
He stands, and I can see the exhaustion in every line of his body.
How long has he been sitting beside my bed? Hours? Days? How much sleep has he lost keeping vigil over me while Adrian fights for his life in surgery?
"Luca?" I call before he reaches the door.
He turns back, and in this moment, he looks vulnerable in ways I've rarely seen. The commanding Pack Alpha facade stripped away, leaving just a man who's terrified of losing the people he cares about.
"We're going to figure this out," I promise. "And then we're going to win that championship. For Adrian. For Sera. For everyone who's been hurt by whoever's behind this."
A small smile curves his lips—tired but genuine.
"Yeah," he agrees quietly. "We are."
He leaves to find medical staff, and I'm alone with my thoughts.
Adrian is the target.
The revelation reshapes everything I thought I understood about these threats. Every piece of sabotage, every anonymous message, every carefully orchestrated incident—all of it designed to hurt Adrian specifically.
But why?
What did he do to earn this level of hatred?
What vendetta is so deep that someone would spend years destroying him piece by piece?
I think back to everything I know about Adrian's past. The mechanical failure that ended his driving career. His family's pharmaceutical empire and the Bravati connections that come with organized crime ties. His relationships, his business dealings, his racing history.
Somewhere in there is the key.
The moment when Adrian crossed someone, made an enemy, inadvertently threatened something that made him a target.
And I'm going to find it…with a single phone call.
Because Adrian gave me everything today.
His courage, his skill, his willingness to face trauma for my sake.
Now it's my turn to give him something back.
Justice. Truth. And if I'm very lucky and smart, his life.
I settle back against the hospital pillows, my mind already racing through possibilities while I wait for Luca to return.
The grand prix is in three days.
Which means I have seventy-two hours to figure out who's trying to destroy my pack and stop them before they get another chance.
Seventy-two hours to solve a mystery that's been building for at least three years.
Seventy-two hours to save Adrian and win a championship.
It should be impossible.
But I've built my entire career on proving impossible things are just challenges that haven't been solved yet.
And I'll be damned if I let Adrian's sacrifice be for nothing.