DARIUS POV Ravenna stared at her hands like they were strangers, and I stared at her like I didn't know who was standing in front of me. In a way I didn't. My hand went to the shoulder where she had struck me and it hurts like hell. "I… I didn't mean to hit you that day," she stuttered, her hands shaking. "I just… I just felt this burst of energy. My veins felt like they were on fire." I rose from my knees and held her shaking hands in mine, she stared up at me, her eyes lost. My chest tightened at the sight and I just wanted to hug her but I resisted. I had also felt that energy, with how hard the nunchaku had landed on me. Her arm had vibranted with the force. And I think my goddamn shoulder must be broken. That strength was not natural, and even her fast reflexes. The way she had dodged that strike was next to impossible if you were a human. Ravenna squeezed my hands with her own that has stopped shaking. She looked up at me and my throat closed up. Her eyes were soft. She
RAVENNA POV"Why do we have to do this again?" I asked Mia for the hundredth time. "Because Beta Lucian asked us to," she replied, voice patient. "Lucian can go to hell." Mia and a few people near me snapped their heads to me, their eyes hard. I suppressed a sigh and held up my hand. Their eyes left me and I released a breath. So we're training with the pack today. Since the weeks I've been here I've only ever trained alone with Mia. But then today Lucian walked up to us with his expressionless ass and declared we were going to train together with the pack. I had wanted to tell him to fuck off but Mia had stepped in and agreed we'll train with the pack. Not like we had a choice. It was a goddamn order from Lucian. So here we were, standing with the rest of the pack who were either snarling at us or ignoring us—I liked the latter better—with Lucian nowhere in sight. We didn't know what to do without our trainer so some of us just stood and waited while others started training.
DARIUS POV I brushed myself off and rose to my feet. This was the second time this woman had swept me off my feet. It wasn't unwelcome, not at all. In the privacy of my own thoughts, I even admitted to liking it. Though I would never let that slip, not to anyone. My pack would surely think I'd lost my mind. Perhaps I had. Ravenna has unraveled my senses, made me a man with less reasoning. Training had always been a chore, something I endured rather than enjoyed. But now, I've found a new challenge. One that ignited my blood, drove me wild, and strangely enough, brought me a strange sense of peace. That challenge is staring at me right now, her eyes wide with panic and… fear? "Is this how you plan to kill me?" she whispers–yells. I wanted to tell her that there was no need to whisper. We were surrounded by wolves with sharp hearing. I bit down those words and instead said, "What do you mean?" Ravenna opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again. Her gaze swept across the p
RAVENNA POV Darius had said I was his, had said his heart has claimed me as its own. And now Darius was close to me, our bodies almost touching, his lips hovering over mine. My eyes left his lips and raised to his eyes. Those beautiful mismatched eyes were soft, softer than I've ever seen them. And they seem to be asking a question. They seem to be asking for permission. My eyes dropped back to his lips—his wonderful looking lips—and I took a deep breath and pulled away from him, even though my heart was screaming for me to close that space between us and kiss him. My heart was a confused bitch. My head was more reasonable. "We-we can't do this, Darius," I said softly, avoiding his gaze. "This can't happen between us. I am the prisoner, and you are my captor."Even as I said the word they sounded bland, unreasonable, an excuse. I managed to raise my eyes to Darius' and the hurt I saw shining in them had me looking away. Darius cleared his throat and straightened. "Of course," he
DARIUS POV "How did they manage to get past our border without us knowing?!" I yelled at Lucian as he handed my sword. "The guards at the border were killed before they could raise the alarm," he replied, as calm and composed as ever, but I wasn't having any of that. "All the guards couldn't have been killed before they could have rang the alarm," I said. "At least one of the idiots could have escaped and rang the goddamn alarm! What type of fools are you posting at the border, Lucian? Is your job too much that you can't station capable guards?" I knew it wasn't fair, it wasn't Lucian's fault. But I was so fucking furious. We haven't had a rogue attack in years. Why are they starting now? How the hell did they managed to breach my fucking border? Rogues didn't need a lot of reason to attack. Those fools didn't even reason. All they needed was blood, violence. They no longer had the humility to reason, they only think like animals. Lucian clenched his jaw as he fastened his armo
RAVENNA POV"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked Darius, confused by the look on his face. The look was a mixture of shock, confusion, awe, and confusion again. "Your… your eyes," Darius whispered, his voice tinged with something I couldn't place. I crossed my arms. "Yes, Darius, they're beautiful. I know that," I replied. "But that can't be the reason why you have that look on your face."Darius finally abandoned the spot where I thought his feets were glued on and walked to me, his steps slow and careful as if he was walking to a spooked horse. He got to me and took my face in his hands. I wanted to yell at the bastard that his hands were covered in blood but that look on his face stopped me. "Your eyes flashed silver," he said carefully. I snorted and tried to shake my face off his hands but he wouldn't let me. "I swear, Ravenna. Your eyes flashed goddamne silver."I stopped then. His voice were hard, his face harder. Darius was barely serious but when he did I ten
DARIUS POV I stood at the edge of the clearing, the moonlight casting a silver glow over the makeshift pyres. The air was heavy with the scent of wood smoke and the bittersweet fragrance of wildflowers. I took a deep breath, gathering my thoughts as the members of my pack gathered behind him, their faces etched with grief.This never gets easy—the loss. Each of my pack members were like a piece of me. Each time one of them dies, I lose a piece of myself. I would have given anything to save them. If it was my life I would gladly give it. Gladly. I didn't know all my members personally—that wasn't possible when I had hundreds in my pack—but they were still my responsibility. Their burdens were mine, their pains mine. So when one dies, I mourn them like I would mourn anyone close to me. The fact that I may be the cause of their death has been eating at me since last night. The rogues had attacked because I had made an enemy of them. This was the way I got my pack killed when I ma
RAVENNA POV As Darius and I walked to his training room, I kept telling myself that the reason I had hugged Darius, had tried to console him, was because he was grieving. But deep down I knew that was just a load of bullshit. I had wanted to hug him, had wanted to see that dead look in his eyes gone because I cared. I care for Darius. It was like there was a thread always pulling me to him. When I had seen him just standing there while the pyres were burning, a part of me had wanted to reach for him and hold him. I didn't care much about this pack. I mean I was a prisoner. How could I? But I cared for soft Mia, for always scowling Anya, even stonecold Lucian. And I cared a whole lot for Darius. For this man who was cruel, savage and had killed my best friend. But I was starting to see a heart beneath all that. I was starting to see the real Darius beneath the masks he wears. And he was hurting The death of their pack members had affected the people I cared about. Mia didn't s
DARIUS POV THREE YEARS LATER "Jasper, come back here right this instant!" Ravenna yelled, her hands on her hips.Jasper giggled and ran towards me, his arms raised. I picked him up with a laugh and looked over at Ravenna."Bring him here," she commanded."No, daddy! Don't!" Jasper shouted as I carried him towards his mother, fighting against me with his little hands."Sorry, buddy," I said as I handed him to Ravenna. "Your mother is scary when she's angry." Said mother rolled her eyes and carried Jasper back into the bathroom where she was trying to bathe him before he all but ran out naked. Something nudged my leg and I looked down. A smile spread across my face as I picked up my little girl. "Morning, angel," I said softly as I pressed a kiss on her forehead."Jasper is making trouble again, isn't he?" Juniper asked, rubbing her sleepy eyes.Unlike her twin, Juniper was a late raiser, calm where Jasper was restless, silent where Jasper was loud. Yan and yang, these two. "Yeah,
RAVENNA POV I cupped Darius’ face and kissed him harder when he hesitated to kiss me back. After a few moments his tongue slipped into my mouth and he deepened the kiss. He left the ground and climbed into the bed, laying me on my back and he climbed on top of me. He sucked my bottom lips before he bit it gently, causing me to moan. I tugged on his shirt and he broke the kiss to pull it off. He kissed me as he took off his remaining clothes, before he took off mine. His lips trailed down to my nipples but I fisted his hair and dragged his head up so he could look at me. "No time for that. Just fuck me." I wanted to feel him, wanted to feel if this was real. I wanted to know that I wasn't in that cell and this wasn't just a dream. Darius studied me for a while before he kissed me again, softly, and positioned himself on my entrance. He pulled away to look down at me as he pushed slowly inside. The both of us moaned at the same time and I struggled to keep my eyes open. Darius pu
RAVENNA POVRowan had shifted so suddenly, that Darius didn't have time to react. Rowan's massive wolf jaws locked around Darius's hand with a sickening crunch, and the sound of bone breaking sent a ripple of terror through me. My heart stopped as Darius roared, a sharp, agonized cry that echoed in my mind."No!" I screamed, my voice weak but filled with panic. The pain in my shoulder was blinding, and I could barely keep my head up, but the sight of Darius in agony was too much. My body trembled as I tried to push myself up, my hand pressing against the bleeding wound, but I collapsed back down. I was losing blood too fast.Darius was struggling now, his face contorted in pain, and he was trying desperately to pull Rowan off his hand. He pushed and shoved, but the wolf’s hold was relentless. And then, in the blink of an eye, Darius shifted.His body twisted and contorted, bones cracking as they rearranged into his wolf form. I could hardly take a breath as I watched him grow in si
RAVENNA POV I tried to struggle against Rowan but he had a choke hold on me, and he also had strength that I didn't have. That poison was still taking a toll on me and I haven't regained my full strength. Plus, I couldn't feel my wolf. That filled me with so much fear and panic. I had thought after the poison had worn off I would feel her again but I couldn't. Have I lost my wolf again? I wasn't sure I could live with that.But I pushed that to the back of my mind. I couldn't panic now. I had to stay clear headed.Darius was here. My mate was here and Rowan was going to use me as leverage against him before he would kill him. I couldn't let that happen. But no matter how I fought against Rowan he didn't let up.I had bite, and pinch, and stepped on his foot but he remained unfazed as he held me and waited for Darius to come through that door. When he finally did, my knees buckled, but Rowan's hold on me kept me standing.Darius was here, covered in blood, his hair tied up, his han
DARIUS POV The heavy air of the night clung to my skin as we approached the border. Isabelle, still bruised and battered from Mia’s interrogation, shuffled in front of me. Her hands were trembling slightly, and though she kept her gaze fixed ahead, I could tell she was trying to suppress the fear bubbling beneath the surface. But that didn’t matter anymore. We were close.Dalian and Mia flanked her, their eyes scanning the horizon, ever alert. The men I’d brought with me were scattered around the perimeter, watching for any movement, any sign that Rowan's pack had caught wind of our approach."Don't do anything stupid, Isabelle," I warned. "Take down the ward quietly."She nodded shakily before she raised her hands, muttering under her breath. The air around her seemed to warp, a subtle flicker of light shimmering in the distance. I felt the hum of magic in my skin. It felt like something shifting beneath the surface, a barrier dissolving, like a dam giving way to the rushing force
DARIUS POV Mia was right. I was a selfish bastard. I didn't want to face my pain, I didn't want to acknowledge it so I remained in my wolf form where all I could think of was kill. And kill I did. I haunted animals like it was nothing. And any unfortunate human who happens to come across me went down too. I didn't feel guilty about it. I wanted the world to feel my pain. But then sense returned to me when Mia had dared question my love for Ravenna. There was no questioning it, there shouldn't be any doubt. I loved Ravenna more than I loved myself, more than I loved to live. I would have traded my place for her in a blink if I was offered the chance. I would lay my heart in her palms if she asked for it. I would burn the world down for her if that's what she desires. But I needed to save her first before I could prove my love for her. The ward surrounding Rowan's territory was strong. We had tried without success to find a weak point in it and break through it. There wasn't any
RAVENNA POV For the second time in less than a year I found myself in a cell, but this one was cleaner and had more light than the last one. Small mercies. When I woke up, a part of me wished I hadn't. I had felt hollow, my body weighed down by exhaustion, my mind clouded with pain. The poison had worn off, but it felt like something inside me had died with it. My insides hadn't felt right, my head had felt too heavy. I had nearly choked on my vomit until I managed to get up and dragged my body to the bucket at the corner and vomited what should be in the body. I had almost vomited my organs and I had to force them back down. After that I had dragged my body back to the thin mattress. Then the shaking began.I didn't feel cold or anything but I had shook so hard that I feared my bones might snap. I had wanted to scream, to fight, but the silence of the cell had crushed any thoughts of rebellion. I didn't know how but I had managed to fall asleep with the shaking. When I had wok
MIA POV I sat at the edge of the cliff, wiping tears off my eyes. But fresh tears kept replacing them. I couldn't stop crying no matter how hard I tried to stop. My face was puffed up, my eyes were so swollen I could barely see through it, my throat felt like sandpaper. My heart felt like there was a knife in it, twisting everything I breathed. We couldn't find Ravenna. Not even a single trace, not even a wisp of her smell. Nothing! It's like she vanished from existence, and she took a piece of me with her.Even though Ravenna had found her mate and I knew mine was probably out there, she felt like the other piece of my soul. The other half of me. I grew up as an only child. My mother died during childbirth and my father refused to remarry. So I grew up alone, but back then I had Darius and Lucian, along with the pack. Darius and Lucian were fine but I never had that sliding connection with them. But then Ravenna came and I felt it all. I felt more than just siblings' connection
DARIUS POV The poison burned like ice in my veins, draining every ounce of strength I had left. My body trembled under the weight of it, but I refused to go down. I had to protect her. I had to—Another figure lunged at me, their syringe aimed for my neck. I fought with everything I had left, swinging out wildly, but my limbs felt like lead. I caught the man by the wrist and threw him across the battlefield, but before I could recover, two more were on me. They moved with brutal efficiency, and before I could react, their needles found their mark."No..." I gasped, my voice barely a whisper, as the poison spread faster now, flooding through me like a wave of frost.I fought harder, I couldn’t let them take me down, but the world blurred at the edges. My body was slowing, my movements sluggish, like I was moving underwater. I felt like I was sinking into it, and no matter how much I fought, my strength was draining too fast.I wanted to scream for Ravenna but I couldn't. My tongue f