Chapter 4

♣DARIUS♣

My life had been nothing but a stagnant river, flowing endlessly without change—power, blood, and silence. I ruled the underground, bent entire families to their knees, but something was missing. No, someone. That emptiness was the reason I took her.

Sylvara of Swiftfang.

The forbidden flame I had watched from afar for far too long.

Even now, days after bringing her here, I sat in my office, watching her on the monitor like an addict taking his first drag of poison. She was pacing, storming the room I had caged her in, her red hair glowing like fire under the dim light. She thought she could outsmart me, find a way out. Foolish. I had already sealed every exit. She could rage, fight, break her nails on the walls—it wouldn’t matter. She was mine now.

“My little wolf…” I murmured, fingers drumming against the desk as her glare lit up the screen. She looked furious, like she wanted to claw her way out of the camera itself and tear me apart. I smiled. She was more alive in anger than any woman had ever been in pleasure.

But the indulgence was cut short by a knock.

“Enter.”

Lycus stepped inside, my second-in-command and the only man in this world I trusted enough to turn my back on. He bowed slightly, too formal—always a bad sign. Lycus’s silence was sharper than a blade.

“How was the trip?” I asked, flipping through papers as if I wasn’t already braced for the storm. “The deal closed?”

“Yes,” he said, his voice calm, but his eyes glinted. “Handled a few problems along the way. But I returned to find a bigger one waiting.”

I lifted a brow. “Name it, and I’ll bury it.”

His jaw flexed. “Why is the niece of Don Fenrik under this roof?”

His words slammed heavier than his fist against my desk. He caught himself, forcing the fire back under control. “Boss,” he added, though it sounded more like an insult.

I leaned back, unhurried. “It just… happened that way.”

A lie, of course. I had planned this for months, years even, but patience had worn thin. She had been on the brink of being promised to another. That, I could not allow.

Lycus’s glare burned hotter. “Why her? Out of every woman who would crawl to your bed for scraps—why the red-haired devil herself?”

Because she wasn’t scrapped. She was fire, danger, purity wrapped in fury. Because her bloodline was poisonous, and I wanted it in my veins. Because I had loved her in silence far too long.

“Because she’s Sylvara Swiftfang,” I said simply, the name tasting like smoke on my tongue. “And she’s the only one I want.”

Lycus dragged a hand through his hair, biting back curses. “I thought you killed that schoolboy crush years ago. Instead, you’ve chained yourself to war with two rival packs at once.”

I smiled. He could call it madness, but obsession was my sharpest weapon.

“She’ll love me,” I said, my voice steel. “And if she doesn’t, I’ll give her back in seven months.”

Lycus laughed bitterly, the sound cut with disbelief. “Seven months? That girl will slit your throat in seven minutes. I’m not standing behind this, Darius. Not this time.”

I chuckled darkly, tilting my head. “What then, Lycus? Do you want me instead? If I let her go, will you warm my bed?”

He recoiled, disgust etched into his features. “Aish—don’t be disgusting. You’re not my type.”

I hurled a file at him. “Get the hell out.”

He moved to the door but lingered, studying me with suspicion that made my jaw twitch. “There’s something more you’re not telling me. Why her, really?”

My fingers curled into fists under the desk. If he knew the real reason, if he understood what tied me to Sylvara, it would tear this empire apart.

“Don’t overwork your little brain,” I said coldly.

He gave me the finger on his way out. Typical Lycus.

I turned back to my work, but my phone vibrated. A call. Lycus’s voice again, this time laced with menace.

“We caught the Rat brothers.”

My lips curled. Betrayers. Men who thought they could trade on my name for their own profit.

“Keep them breathing,” I ordered, rising from my seat. “I’ll deal with them myself.”

Because anyone who crossed Darius Ashfang didn’t just die—they became examples.

And soon, Sylvara would learn the same truth.