What’s in the box?

Aria’s POV

I stood there, frozen.

There, under Darren’s bed, half-hidden in the shadows, was a small wooden box. The lid had slipped open just enough for me to see what was inside.

Vials. Dark liquid. Powdered herbs. And a letter with strange symbols scratched across it.

My chest tightened, what was he doing with all that? How come I didn’t see it in my past life?

This obviously wasn’t any medicine. There were analgesics herbs. So he intentionally stabbed himself and took these herbs in order to ease the pain while he tried to deceive me?

The nerves of this man!

Darren groaned beside me, clutching his stomach, his voice breaking like he was on death’s door. “Aria… don’t leave me… I did this because I can’t live without you…”

But I wasn’t looking at him anymore. I was staring at that box.

Eros followed my gaze, his sharp eyes narrowing. In one smooth move, he grabbed it and pulled it out into the open.

The room went still.

“What is this?” Ronan demanded, his voice low and dangerous.

Darren’s eyes darted to the box, then back to me. His face twisted in a mix of fear and desperation. “I—I don’t know what that is,” he croaked, sweat beading on his forehead. 

“It’s not mine. I haven’t even seen it before” he said, and that was really funny as this was his room and the last I remembered, he lived alone. 

Ronan leaned closer, picking up one of the vials. He uncorked it, sniffed, then narrowed his eyes. “These are analgesics. Painkillers, very strong ones.”

My stomach dropped. Exactly as I thought.

Eros’s jaw tightened, his expression unreadable.

 “So you stab yourself, then stock your room with herbs to numb the pain?” He asked, his  voice was calm, but sharp enough to cut stone.

Darren shook his head frantically, wincing as if the motion made his wound worse. “No! I swear it, I don’t know anything about that box. Maybe someone planted them.” He turned to me, blood still dripping from his stabbed wound. 

“You know me, Aria, I’d never—” He let out a dramatic groan, collapsing back against the bed. “Aria… you have to believe me…” he cried, while I just stood there. Shocked, tiny tears tugging in my eyelids and I don’t know why.  

I didn’t move. I didn’t even blink. His words slid right past me because all I could see was that box. His tricks. His lies.

Eros stepped forward, towering over him. “Enough. You’re losing too much blood. Aria, let's get him to the pack’s herbalist.”

Ronan nodded and motioned for two betas, who hurried to Darren’s side. They lifted him carefully, though Darren still hissed and whimpered like every touch was killing him.

“Please… don’t let them take you away from me,” he rasped, “Please come with us, I’d rather die from bleeding in this room, than to go to the herbalist without you.” He wailed, his bloodstained hand reaching weakly in my direction.

But I didn’t take it. I just stood still, my blood cold.

As they carried him out, my chest burned with a single thought: he wasn’t dying. He was scheming. He wanted pity, wanted to paint himself as the victim, wanted me to doubt myself.

But not this time, not ever again.

My gaze shifted back to the table where the box sat open, its dark vials gleaming in the light. My father and the council were whispering among themselves, uncertainty written across their faces.

But me?

I was certain of one thing. Darren wasn’t just desperate, he was dangerous.

And I wouldn’t let him fool me again. 

Not ever. 

I followed them down the hall to the herbalist’s chamber, my steps quick and steady. Darren’s groans echoed off the stone walls, each one more dramatic than the last.

When we arrived, the herbalist already had her table cleared. The betas lowered him onto it, his face twisted in agony, his hands clutching at the wound like he was barely holding onto life.

“Hold him still,” the herbalist ordered. Her voice was sharp, calm, like a blade cutting through panic. She pressed cloths against the bleeding wound while reaching for her jars of herbs.

Darren cried out, loud and broken, like each touch was unbearable. “Aria—” he gasped, his hand twitching in my direction. “Don’t… leave me else—”