Chapter 5

Acceptance

Aria's pov

The second I ran out of the hall, the sector blurred around me. My breath came in ragged gasps, each one more labored than the last. My heart pounded violently in my chest, from both exertion and searing pain. Every step felt like a battle, every inhale a struggle. The mate bond had snapped, and it felt like my very soul had been ripped aside. The bond that once tethered me to Alpha Kael had been severed, leaving me raw and broken.

I stumbled blindly through the forest , my body shaking with sobs.

“How could he do this to me? How could they do this to me? My sister—my own flesh and blood—had been selected as his Luna, at the same time as I had been rejected and humiliated in front of the complete pack. The bitterness from my heart tasted bitter on my tongue, and my mind spiraled with resentment.

For so long, I had tolerated being treated as lesser, even though I didn't deserve it. But now, the accumulated weight of rejection, betrayal, and endless torment crushed me, threatening to extinguish the last remnants of my spirit.

But in that crushing pain, something else ignited within me—anger.

No, it turned into more than anger. It changed into fury. Rage that had been simmering beneath the surface for far too long.

Kael would pay for this. My sister would pay. They all might pay for this.

They all would regret the day they ever crossed me.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps behind me. Someone had been following me. My senses, still heightened from the intense emotional strain, picked up the steady thud of shoes on the forest ground. I didn't bother turning around. I knew exactly who it was.

“Aria.”

Darius's voice was calm and calculated, but there was something else hidden in his tone- satisfaction, perhaps? He must have known what had happened. He had seen it all, or at least heard it. News traveled fast within the pack, even to those on the outside.

I slowed to a stop but didn't turn to face him. My chest heaved as I tried to steady my breathing. "What do you want, Darius?" I asked, my voice firm but laced with a hint of exhaustion.

"You know what I want," Darius said, his voice low and even. "I'm offering you a way out. A chance to get what you deserve." His words hung in the air, laden with an unspoken promise, or perhaps a threat.

I clenched my fists, feeling my claws extending involuntarily. My wolf, Vixen, nevertheless on aspect, her feelings mirroring my own.

“I can’t leave,” I whispered, although the words lacked conviction.

“Why wait any longer?” His voice became mild, yet firm. “What’s left for you right here? A pack that doesn’t care about you? A mate who rejected you in front of all and sundry?”

I winced at the reminder, my body trembling as the memory replayed in my mind. The public rejection. The humiliation. The bond being severed as Kael’s bloodless voice echoed in my ears.

“I... I don’t know,” I admitted, my voice slightly audible.

Darius moved closer, his presence commanding and extreme. He stopped simply at the back of me, and I may want to feel the warm temperature radiating from him, however there has also been a darkish energy that seemed to pulse from his very middle.

“You do realize,” he said softly. “Deep down, you don’t belong here anymore. They’ve cast you aside. You’ve constantly been an outcast on your own terms. But that shouldn’t be your tale, Aria. You don’t have to stay the vulnerable little wolf they suppose you're.”

I swallowed hard, his words hitting me tougher than I wanted to admit. He was right. I had been vulnerable for too long, letting others dictate my worth. Letting my own family, my pack, even my mate control how I saw myself. It was time to take back control, to remember my own strength and value.

Darius turned around to face me, his dark eyes sparkling with something risky—something that both terrified and intrigued me.

“You have strength, Aria,” his voice was low and hypnotic. “More power than you recognise. You simply need someone to help you unlock it. You need someone to help manage it, your future. And if you permit me, I will help you.”

I lifted my gaze to meet him, my vision still blurred by tears, but for the first time, there was something else behind those tears. A spark. A flicker of determination, of defiance, of a fire that had been smoldering deep within me, waiting to be fanned into a flame.

“What do you need from me?” I asked, my voice shaky however laced with a developing determination.

Darius smiled, a slow, predatory grin. "I want you to be who you're meant to be. Stop hiding your true potential. Let me teach you, Aria. Show you how strong you can be. And when the time comes, you'll be the one standing on top. Not your sister. Not Kael. You."

The offer was tempting - too tempting. I knew there had to be more to it, but right now, with my world crumbling around me, it was hard to see past the blinding pain. Hard to think of anything besides revenge. And wasn't that what I wanted? To make them pay? To show them all that they had underestimated me? The desire for vengeance burned within me, clouding my judgment and making Darius's offer almost irresistible.

“What’s the catch?” I requested warily.

“There’s none,” Darius stated smoothly. “But when you step into this world, there’s no going back. You’ll be one of us. A rogue.”

The phrase hung inside the air like a curse, but for the first time, it didn’t fill me with dread. It stuffed me with possibility.

“What’s your answer, Aria?” Darius requested, his eyes boring into mine.

I hesitated for the simplest of a second, my heart pounding in my chest as I thought about the entirety I had misplaced—the entirety I have been denied.

Then, with a deep breath, I made my choice.

“I’ll be part of you,” I said, my voice constant and resolute.

Darius’s smile widened, his dark eyes glowing with approval.

“Welcome to the shadows, Aria.”