Chapter 13

“Zara,” Darius called, looking more surprised than I had expected him to be about something like this. “I don’t think you understand what you’re talking about.”

I chuckled without mirth. “I do know what I’m talking about, Darius. You know this is going to work. Your brother will figure out that I chose you over him, and he’ll take a step back. Maybe not for a long time, but enough for us to figure out why this is happening in the first place.”

“You just got attacked. You’re not in a right place right now. You just want to take it all out on Aeron, and I understand your frustration. It’s just—”

“I’m not you, Darius. I’m not here making decisions just because I’m scorned and I hope it’ll upset your brother. I want this to be over. I’m in the middle of everything, just in case you didn’t realize.”

He sighed in defeat and nodded.

“But just in case you still want to think about it before going any further, we can talk about it tomorrow. How’s that?”

“Fine.” I shrugged, knowing that tomorrow wouldn’t change anything. If he had to mark and mate with me to get his brother off my back, I would allow it. It was more shocking that he didn’t react with disgust at the thought of mating with a rogue as I had expected.

I went to bed that night after taking a long shower, looking up at the ceiling and realizing that this used to be Darius’s room, and he had never spent the night there ever since I started to sleep in there.

~

“How’d you sleep?” I asked the next morning when I set my eyes on Darius. He was having breakfast at the dining table and had sent for me, which was shocking as every meal I had was sent up to the room.

“As good as someone whose pack was so easily breached last night,” he replied.

“It wasn’t just last night,” I mentioned after a moment of silence. A part of me thought it would be best if I didn’t say a thing about it, but he was already looking at me and waiting for an explanation.

“When we attacked…” I cleared my throat, suddenly unable to make eye contact with him. “It was quite easy to break through the guards at the border. I’m not saying they’re doing a bad job, I’m just saying the security at your border isn’t strong enough for someone who wants to avoid attacks.”

We sat in silence, and I started to regret telling him about it.

“Forget that I said that. I just… I wasn’t thinking straight. Why would I bring up the fact that we attacked you—”

“That’s far from what I’m thinking about,” he said, putting an end to my painful ramble. “You might be right. I’ve been too busy thinking about other things that I haven’t realized how easy it is for these people to come into my pack like they own it.”

I nodded slowly, staring at the other end of the dining room as I ate a piece of bread.

Another round of silence passed, and I could almost feel the tension giving my shoulder a strong grip and whispering things in my ear that killed my confidence.

“Are we just not going to address the elephant in the room?” I finally asked after gaining enough courage.

“I don’t think it’s the time to talk about that, Zara,” he said, looking around as if cautious that someone could hear us.

“Do you seriously think your pack members would be upset about who their alpha mates with, especially if the person is their fated mate?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him. There had to be something he was hiding from me.

“Not everyone knows you’re my mate, Zara. I would like to keep it that way for a while. You’re still a rogue, and that’s not something I’ll forget in the blink of an eye. It’s not something my people will be too happy to know as well, especially with your role in the attack.”

I nodded in understanding, even though it hurt like hell to hear him say those words. He was factual and straight to the point with it.

“So, you’re not going to… I mean, I’m not going to force you—”

“I didn’t say I wasn’t going to. After all, I brought the idea up first. I’m the one who told you I wouldn’t force things. I just want to make sure you know what you’re doing.”

“I know what I’m doing, Darius. I’m not a child,” I reminded him.

The hint of worry he had on his face seemed to disappear, making me return to the breakfast with almost all of my attention.

“Tonight, then.”

I raised my head to make sure I heard him well. “Are you…”

“I should be the one asking if you’re sure, but you seem to be. Tonight. After that, I’ll set up word to reach him in secret so he finds out. What he does after he finds out will determine if he’s going to back away or not.”

His words made me realize that this wasn’t assurance. This wasn’t foolproof for keeping Aeron away. There was also a chance that after hearing that Darius has mated with me, he could call for a war.

“This isn’t exactly going to keep him away, is it? It’s not extremely sure?” I asked Darius to confirm my doubts.

“I would love to say it’s going to keep him away, but I know my brother. He might not go down without a fight. He’ll probably even think I forced you into it,” he explained.

I sighed, shaking my head. There was no going back in this. Even if we weren’t sure, we couldn’t just give up on it. I needed to have Aeron off my back.

“Tonight,” I muttered, more to myself than to Darius.

Later that night, I felt sick to my stomach with all the nerves. I wasn’t even sure how it was supposed to work. Was I supposed to go meet him? I paced back and forth in the bedroom with every passing minute feeling like a rock weighing heavier and heavier on me.

When I heard a knock, I knew who it was before I opened the door. His scent was fresher, more intense this time. It was as if my senses knew what would happen next.

There wasn’t much to say to each other as we stood face to face with each other when I opened the door. There were only heated looks, and I knew what they meant.

Before I could ask him if he was ready, he cupped my cheeks in his palms and kissed me until I forgot the fact that he hated rogues.