Chapter 039

The sound of splintering wood filled the air before I even turned.

Darius’s snarl ripped through the room, low and feral.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Daemon straightened, his chest heaving, eyes still wild with heat.

The crash came before I could even process what was happening books shattering against the wall, the table jerking under me.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Darius’s voice thundered across the room, rough and dangerous. My entire body froze.

Daemon stiffened, his hand still gripping the edge of the table. For a heartbeat, no one moved. Then, slow as a storm gathering force, he straightened and turned toward his brother.

“Get. Out.” His words were gravel, low and animalistic.

Darius took a step forward, his eyes glowing that lethal golden hue. “You’ve lost your damned mind, Daemon.”

Rain. My name hovered on both their tongues but neither dared to say it. I tugged my gown up, my fingers trembling, the air so thick it burned my lungs.

“She’s mine too,” Daemon bit out, his voice sharp enough to cut through stone. “Don’t stand there pretending you don’t feel it, brother.”

Before I could breathe, Darius lunged. The sound of his fist meeting Daemon’s jaw echoed through the library. Daemon staggered back, the side of his mouth splitting open, blood glinting under the dim light.

He laughed, a dark, twisted laugh that sent a chill crawling down my spine. “You think you’re better than me, Darius? You think you don’t want her just as bad?”

Another hit. Then another.

The force of it sent a stack of books crashing to the floor. Shelves rattled. The table nearly tipped.

“Stop it!” I shouted, my voice breaking, but neither of them heard me or cared.

Daemon shoved Darius hard, his shoulder slamming into the wall, cracking it. “You don’t get to tell me what to do! Not about her!”

“She’s not a prize for you to take,” Darius growled, his voice raw. “You’re acting like a damned animal.”

“I am an animal,” Daemon spat, “and so are you. Don’t act like you’re not fighting the same urges every time you look at her.”

Their eyes clashed heat against ice. Brothers, bound by blood, divided by something stronger. Me.

“Stop it, both of you!” I screamed again, clutching the loose fabric of my dress to my chest. My voice sounded small, useless. “Please!”

Darius’s fist rose again, but he caught himself breathing hard, chest heaving, eyes darting toward me.

Daemon stood across the room, jaw bruised, blood running down his chin, staring at me like he couldn’t decide whether to hate me or kiss me.

Then, with a low growl, he turned and stormed out, the door slamming hard enough to shake the shelves.

Silence fell, heavy and suffocating.

Darius stood there for a long moment, his shoulders rising and falling, fists still clenched at his sides. When he finally turned to me, the fire in his eyes dimmed into something else, more like anger or maybe even disgust.

“Get dressed,” he said quietly, his voice strained. “And next time, Rain don’t try to get fucked in a dusty old library.”

I wanted to speak, to explain, but nothing came out. He turned and left before I could even move.

When the door closed, I sank to the floor, my knees giving out beneath me. My heart pounded in my ears, my lips still tingling, my skin still hot from Daemon’s touch.

And beneath it all, shame, confusion, and a truth I didn’t want to face.

Because no matter how hard I tried to deny it, a part of me wanted both of them. Draven included and I may not be able to choose.

I stood frozen, my breath coming in short, ragged bursts as Darius’s footsteps faded down the hall. The library looked like a storm had torn through it books scattered, the table pushed halfway across the room, the air still thick with anger and the faint, wild scent of them both.

Daemon was still there. Leaning against the far shelf, his chest rising and falling, blood streaked across his lower lip. His eyes, dark, bottomless were on me.

I couldn’t look at him.

My skin still burned where his hands had been. Every nerve in me remembered his touch, the rough whisper of his voice, the hunger in it. It made me sick. It made me ache.

I pulled the sleeves of my dress back over my shoulders with trembling hands. “I—” My voice cracked, and I swallowed hard, forcing the words out. “This was a mistake.”

He laughed softly, bitterly. “You and I both know that that is a big lie, even your body doesn’t agree.”

The words hit like a slap. Shame flooded me, hot and heavy, burning through my chest until I could hardly breathe.

“I’m not—” I choked, the words dying in my throat. I turned away, gathering what little pride I had left. “Stay away from me, Daemon. Please.”

For a moment, silence. Then his voice, softer this time. “You can lie to yourself all you want, little wolf. But you can’t lie to me.”

That was the last straw. I pushed past him, nearly stumbling as I reached the door. My heart was pounding so loud it drowned everything else out.

When the cold air of the corridor hit me, I finally breathed. My hands were shaking uncontrollably. My legs felt weak. I didn’t even know where I was running to, only that I needed to be far, far away from that room, from him, from what I had almost let happen.

The echo of their fight replayed in my mind, the sound of Darius’s voice, the violence, the heat it all tangled into one unbearable mess of guilt and confusion.

I shouldn’t have let it get that far. I shouldn’t have wanted any of it.

By the time I reached the end of the hall, I was trembling from head to toe. My chest ached, my throat tight.

I pressed my back against the wall, sliding down until I was sitting on the cold floor.

Tears blurred my vision before I even realized I was crying. Silent, desperate tears. Because no matter how hard I tried to bury it, one truth gnawed at me from the inside

I wasn’t just ashamed.

I was terrified of what would happen if any of them touched me again.

Because deep down, I knew I’d let them.