Serena placed her head on the door, sighing. This was just wonderful. After all her careful maneuvering, all her sidestepping and dodging, here she was, trapped in the one place she least wanted to be. With him.
Just then, his head shot up, and she acted on her first idea. The door rattled as she pounded on it as hard as she could.
"Hello?" she shouted, her voice echoing in the tight space. "Is anyone out there?"
Serena stopped for a second, putting her ear to the door. Only the whistle of the wind could be heard. She pounded on the door again, hoping this time someone would come rescue them.
Darius folded his hands and shook his head. It was no use, the storage room was below the main hospital, and no one would hear them. It was wiser to sit and wait. Someone would notice the Alpha and Ambassador had gone missing and come looking for them.
He frowned. She was so adamant about getting out of here, avoiding him.
"Serena," he called out softly.
Serena kept on pounding on the door and screaming for help. She turned around and slipped to the floor, sighing. Thɪs chapter is updatᴇd by noⅴelfire.net
"It is useless to yell," she murmured.
She looked up, eyes resting on Darius. He was leaning on one of the shelves with his head tilted ever so slightly. The conversation she wanted to avoid was going to happen.
Serena rubbed her arm and bit her lip. What would they even talk about? Darius would apologize and then everything would be okay, just a bit before he treated her like she was unworthy of his gaze.
Feyra whimpered inside her. Serena could feel her pacing, ears flat, tail low, and uneasy. She didn’t want this either. And on cue, Darius cleared his throat.
"I never imagined I would have a fated mate..." he began, brushing something off the sleeve of his shirt.
What did that even mean? Serena wondered in her head. It was not the apology tactic he always fell back on so she would listen.
She tilted her head slightly, eyes narrowing. He wasn’t using his usual script. There was hesitation in his voice, almost like he was feeling for the words in the dark.
"And well, being a rogue," Darius said, looking away.
He held back so much. There was much to tell her, but he was frightened, afraid of the unknown and the past repeating itself. Try as he could, he couldn’t deny the attraction he felt for her.
Burying those feelings only earned him sleepless nights, tossing and turning in his bed. He dreamt of her. Her laughter was music to his ears; her smile eased the burden of his day.
He rubbed his hands together once, then let them fall to his sides, palms open as if surrendering.
"I’m trying to say..." He met her eyes at last. "I’m deeply sorry, Serena."
Serena pressed her lips into a thin line. He had still circled back to the apology. This time, it felt just like words to her, nothing of substance. If something happened between them, then it would be that same cut-and-dry apology.
She weighed her options in her head. If she refused him, what good would that get her? She might anger him, or worse, he might feel the need to bog her down if his apology was accepted.
Accepting the apology would mean nothing. Everything would go back to normal. He would resume his Alpha duties, and Serena would try to stay out of the limelight, unless she was invited, like how she had been invited to the infirmary.
She did not stand to lose or gain anything if she just said those words, but she was still reluctant, and she blamed it on her wolf. The hesitance to let things be, it was not who Serena was.
She forced herself to look up, meeting his eyes. "Why would you think you wouldn’t get a fated mate?"
Darius hesitated. He truly believed she would have swallowed the apology, hook, line, and sinker- but she pressed on, questioning him. She did deserve some sort of explanation. He had done his best to keep her from knowing the pack truly.
He remembered severely warning Jack and Annamarie to swear they would not mention his parents or what it had been like under his father’s rule. Ironshade had reached such a neutral standpoint that he did not care to have people disrespect him. It had been worse before, and it still had the chance of worsening.
His throat bobbed as he swallowed, and he looked at her, really looked. A few wisps of hair had escaped her bun, curling by her temple, and a faint smudge of dust streaked the hem of her gown from when she’d slumped against the door.
If he was going to mix the truth and lies together, then so be it.
"My bloodline was exempted from having fated mates, long years ago," he explained. He trusted she would not go digging because this was a tale he had spun from nowhere.
He took a deep breath and continued. "But my father was different. My mother was his fated mate, and they ruled together."
Serena listened closely. A family being exempted from having fated mates was unheard of. But to begin with, fated mates were already uncommon amongst her kind.
She was not sure how to feel about Darius’ words. He had just admitted he was scared to acknowledge the bond. What a strange man he was, because he had run at the sight of her, and when he had come to visit her at Oakspire, he had wanted to sever the bond.
"I see..." Serena said slowly.
None of this was as simple as it sounded. A part of her, a quieter, trusting part, wondered if, in another life, she might have been willing to stand beside him. She could almost see it: herself in the halls of Ironshade, not as a guest, not as a stranger, but as something more.
She pressed her palm to her head, sighing. Serena was getting ahead of herself. She had to rein in her thoughts before she did something she would regret.
"I know you don’t have to accept my apology, but it’s..." Darius trailed off, unable to admit he was scared. But not scared for the reason that Serena thought he was, no.
She could very much be a key to everything Ironshade had built. The pack had weathered so much, but the last seven years were delicate.
There were times when Darius doubted himself, cried in silence, but he pushed forward. And here he was, begging for a woman’s favor. She wasn’t just any woman but someone he wanted to hold freely.
Serena bit her lip. The tension in the air was thick. Move on, they had all said. Feyra had whispered it. The Moonseeker had urged it. Cullen, with that sad, knowing look in his eyes, had told her the same.
"Are you afraid of me?" Darius asked.
She looked up, lips parting in surprise. He had asked her that question when he had taken her to visit the Moonseeker.
And she had given him a neutral answer. It was not from her heart. She drew in a sharp breath and closed her eyes. Innately, Serena was not afraid of Darius. She had thought he was bland and most cruel initially. Her thoughts drifted to the memory of the tour he had eagerly wanted to take her on.
His smile had not left her mind, the way his voice softened when he talked about the areas and history of the pack. That Darius was not scary, neither was he bland. That tour was never completed. That version of him lingered in her mind.
Her mind walked through the memories, the threatening words he used to rein her into line. Could she blame him? Still, it hurt and had offended Serena. She accommodated a lot, but her patience had begun to wear thin.
"I am not afraid of you," she said softly, lifting her eyes. "But I am afraid of what you can become."
Darius’ brows furrowed. Did she see him as a monster? Someone who would turn on her at a moment’s notice? He was insulted at the implication. He shoved his hands into his pockets, and silence hung between them.
They did not know each other, in the real sense of things. He found himself wondering- what had her life looked like before Ironshade? She had survived the wilds, had fought, scraped, endured things he could only imagine.
Rogues were savage creatures, punished and exiled as a result of some sin. But Serena had said she was born in the wild, so how could he call her a savage creature, lump her in with those who had caused unspeakable pain to his pack?
Darius sighed and walked closer to the woman, who reacted by drawing her knees closer to her chest. He sat next to her and looked at the shelves stacked with glass jars upon glass jars.
"I will not hurt you," he said after a few seconds.
Serena nodded, looking at her hands. "I know," she said quietly.
Darius wrestled with himself internally before giving in to his impulses. He slipped his hand under Serena’s and squeezed it gently.
She turned to meet his gaze, and her shoulders relaxed as she turned away. Slowly, she let her head fall on his shoulder and closed her eyes.
"I accept your apology."