Darius, trying to process his words. I shake my head, unable to believe what he’s saying, at what he’s telling me he did.
“I—” I what? What exactly am I trying to say here?
“I gave it to her after I came to you in your cell, after I did what I did to you.”
“But why?” Why would he do that? He didn’t believe me then, he didn’t believe my words.
“The moment I left your cell, I stopped at the entrance to the dungeon and I knew I couldn’t leave you there to rot. You were wounded after I whipped you, bleeding and in pain. I didn’t like seeing you like that.” His jaw clenches. “No matter how, at that time, you were a traitor, no matter if you were the cause of the rogures, no matter how you lied and killed. I just couldn’t leave you there,” he sighs and runs his finger over the wood. “Do you know how much it took within me to place that port stone on Anna? Hoping she would be able to get close to you to be able to get you out of there.” He shakes his head. “I’m an Elite, I uphold the law, I drag traitors back to the Highers or kill them to protect Vrohkaria. That’s my duty. By placing that stone with Anna, I turned my back on it.”
His fist clenches, but his eyes never leave mine. He looks… troubled, and I don’t like seeing this side of him, it makes me uncomfortable. A troubled Darius is not a good thing, yet I crave it.
He’s seen me vulnerable more times than anyone else, and with him showing me another chink in his armor, I take it all in and keep it close.
“I loathed what I was doing, trying to aid your escape. Yet the thought of you in that cell rotting away was something I could not let happen, even if I didn’t understand it fully at the time. So I gave Anna the stone.”
“And that’s why you told me to run,” I whisper, and he nods.
“I hate I was put in a position of choosing duty and you.” He shakes his head, a scowl on his face. “The Highers interrogated so many guards to find out how Anna got hold of the port stone after you escaped, and I sat by and watched, never once revealing what I did while others suffered. The worst thing is, I don’t regret it for a single second. I made a choice and I did it without hesitation.”
Warmth fills me that he’s the one that ultimately helped us escape, that he did choose me over his duty, even if he didn’t know I was innocent, even if he let others suffer. He chose me.
Finally me.
Does that make me a bad person for not caring that guards suffered?
“When you escaped, I thought I could track you easily. I have your scent, so it should be simple, all I had to do was get close. And I did once, briefly.” His eyes flick up to mine. “I knew it was you, covered in a cloak to hide yourself. It was weeks after you left Wolvorn Castle and you were at a village. I watched you walk around, looking at every little thing, yet also with hardened knowledge as you passed stalls full of wares. I could have captured you then, brought you back to the Highers…
“But you didn’t.”
“I didn’t. I just wanted you within my sights at that moment. Then you saw your poster and a male approached you. I saw you tense, and then my focus wasn’t on you anymore, but the male after he left you.” I remember that male talking to me about my poster, remembering the nervousness I felt. “He stalked off while I stalked him. He turned back around, looking at you closely, too closely for my liking. When he moved, so did I.” His eyes turn black briefly and my heart rate kicks up. “I came up behind him, placed my hand over his mouth and dragged him further behind all the stalls until I reached an alleyway. I didn’t hesitate to snap his neck. I killed him in cold blood, he never stood a chance. When I dumped his body in a nearby cellar, I tried to find you again, but you were nowhere, and I couldn’t pinpoint your scent as there were too many people around. But I found a girl.”
I breathe deep, listening with rapt attention at the story he’s telling me. I know exactly what he’s on about, where he saw me and my body tingles at knowing he was there, just watching me, protecting me. I didn’t even know.
“She held a bucket, and though she had been crying, she was smiling. Do you know what she told me?” he asks.
“Zahariss,” I whisper, and he lifts a brow, a smirk appearing on his face. “I told her that Zahariss will eat the bad men, I remember her.”
“Bloodthirsty little wolf,” he murmurs. “Even then I couldn’t turn you in. Even then I was protecting you, ignoring my duty as an Elite to protect all when I was saving a traitor and letting her go.” He sighs, running a hand up my thigh. “I did all of that before I knew the truth, so when I tell you I believe you, I do, little wolf. Of everything you have told me and everything you will tell me after. I will never doubt your words again, no more secrets.”
I place the wood and knife to the side as Darius watches me with curious eyes. My heart beats wildly in my chest as I move forward and slide into his lap. He releases a breath, his hands going to my hips to hold me in place. I think this is the first time I have willingly gone to him like this, touched him like this and I feel nervous, but it just feels right.
My hands slide up his muscular chest, feeling the definition there before I move them up his shoulder and then my hands are at the back of his head, my fingers tangling into his hair. Everything he’s told me whirls through my mind, and I can only think of saying one thing to him.
“Thank you.” My eyes bounce in between his.
“You don’t have to thank me, Rhea.”
“I do,” I tell him, hesitating for a moment before I lean forward and rub my nose with his. His eyes flash, and he rubs my nose back. I grip the back of his head tighter, feeling a swirling in my stomach and noticing the position we are in. I wiggle and lean back, never breaking eye contact.
“Careful, little wolf, you know it excites me,” he murmurs, and it causes a smile to spread across my face, a lightness filling me. He tilts his head, a hand coming up to run a thumb over my cheek. “Laeliah.” Beautiful. He traces my smile with his finger, then he scowls. “Don’t smile at anyone else like that.”
I laugh, a lightness filling me as I push at his chest. “You’re ridiculous.” I get up and move back to the bed as he frowns.
“I’m not joking, little wolf. You smile at someone like that and they won’t breathe for another second.” He stands and comes to sit next to me.
“Okay, Dar.” I pat his shoulder and his frown deepens. We sit in silence, his body pressed to the side of mine and I feel his silent strength wrapping around me. “So what now,” I ask, turning to look at Darius to see he’s already watching me. I shouldn’t be surprised, he always is.
“Now a lot has changed, little wolf,” he murmurs, his gaze fleeting over my features. That’s an understatement. So much has happened in so little time, it’s hard to catch my breath. “What’s done is done, nothing can change that now. We continue with what we have been doing.”
I nod. “I will get justice for them, and get my pack back. Get Kade back. There is no alternative for me.” I won’t survive it. I will never forgive myself if I don’t get them, if I don’t try. “They are my family.”
His eyes blaze and I know he understands. He lost his own to the rogures. “They are, and I will help you in any way I can.” He tucks a piece of wet hair behind my ear. “Now, this male.” There is still a slight edge to his voice, but it brings a small smile to my face.
Insufferable male, he just won’t let it go.
“He was the one who found abused beings. He would scout them and give them the option of moving to Eridian. The only thing he asked is that it was indefinite. You weren’t allowed to leave, it was too risky to be caught and then we would be found. He mostly gets Omegas to guide the ones being saved to The Deadlands and we would go there and then escort them to Eridian. We did only good, Darius,” I tell him. “Our pack may be small, but they have come along so well from how they were when they first came, especially the pups.” I shake my head, heart clenching at the thought of them being Gods knows where. “I promised I would protect them, I promised they were safe,” I growl out, my anger and taking over. I pin Darius with my glare. “I failed them and now I will rescue them.” I point to the note Darius dropped to the floor. “I trust Edward’s word. If he sends a letter with a location, we need to go.”
“It could be a trap,” he reasons. “It could be covered by those loyal to the Highers.”
“I don’t give a fuck, Darius. I will kill and slaughter and hunt them all. It’s been months, I can’t bear to think what they have gone through. I will go on my own if I have to.”
“Like fuck you are,” he scoffs, his eyes taking on a wild edge. “You’re not leaving my sight.” He tilts his head at me and I tilt mine back. “That may not be to your liking, but I couldn’t care less. That’s how things are and how things will go for the time being. I will put together a team and you do the same with yours. We will go together and search the area.”
“We will find something, Edward’s good with his word. He even told me you were coming to The Deadlands.”
“How did he know that?” His brows furrow, looking at me closely.
“Can I tell you another time?” He starts to open his mouth but I lift my hand and put it over his lips, silencing him. “This is not me keeping a secret from you. It’s just that this isn’t mine to tell, it’s for his safety. If this was my secret I would tell you.”
“Would you?” he asks behind my palm.
Would I? He told me his regrets. He’s told me he’s sorry and I believe him. He also helped us escape Wolvorn Castle, went and got something precious to me out of my cave and has been protecting me ever since, so why wouldn’t I? I look down to the middle of my forearm before I look back up at him. “Yeah, Darius. I would.”
His eyes hold mine, that connection zapping into place and he nods, nipping my hand and I remove it from his mouth. “Fine, little wolf, but you will have to tell me eventually.” I do. “I don’t like the idea that he knows you are here. How did he know that?”
“I have no idea how to be honest. Edward always knows. I think he has Ilium keeping track of me at times, but I know he has many Croneians.”
“If he can find you here, then others can. We may need to look for somewhere else to move to. But also.” He stands, cracking his neck as he stares down at me. “If he’s a father to you, why isn’t he here? Why hasn’t he come to see you?”
I get up and walk over to the bedroom door, Darius following behind me. “He’s important, and he has important dealings.”
“If you say so,” is all he says, and I get that he’s not happy with not knowing everything. I turn toward him, but then suddenly find myself eye-to-eye with his ass.
“Stop throwing me over your fucking shoulder, Darius,” I growl, my fingers digging into him.
He chuckles, biting the curve of my ass. “I don’t see why not,” he says, walking out the bedroom and down the hallway. “I like looking at your ass before breakfast.”
