Chapter 8 - Her Warmeth

Darius’s POV

The bath had long gone cold yet I hadn’t noticed.

Steam had clung to the stone walls, curling like ghosts that refused to leave me, but my thoughts were louder than the water ever was.

Fael’s voice still lingered in my head.. his desperation, his arrogance and his certainty that blood gave him rights.

It didn’t.

Not here.

Not with them.

Especially not with her.

But my Sera was going back to Grimfang.

The thought settled heavy in my chest, it was a familiar weight that I had carried for six years without complaint.

I told myself the same thing I always did.

This is for our son.

I leaned forward, my forearms braced steadily on my knees as water rippled around me.

Grimfang had nearly destroyed her once. It had stripped her down to bone and left her bleeding alone in the rain.

And now it had dared to call her back.

For Aurelian.

For prophecy.

For sins that were never ever hers.

I exhaled slowly and stood, the water streaming down my skin as I reached for the towel. I wrapped it around my waist out of habit, not modesty, there was no one who entered my chambers unannounced.

Except..

I froze.

Seraphine calmly stood by the window.

The curtains were parted just enough to let moonlight spill in, silvering her hair and outlining her beautiful figure in soft defiance.

She hadn’t heard me yet. Or maybe she had and chose not to turn.

My heart stuttered for a minute too long.

In six years, she had crossed the threshold of my room only when urgency demanded it. Injury, Aurelian’s fever, council summons or something far urgent.

Never like this.

Never quiet.

“Sera?,” I said carefully.

She turned then, startled, her eyes widening before softening into something warmer and deeper.

Something that unraveled me.

“I..” she began, then stopped as her gaze dropped.

Quickly.

Too quickly.

Color bloomed across her cheeks as she realized..

“I’m.. I’m sorry,” she said, turning slightly away. “I didn’t realize you were.. I should have knocked first before I stepped in. I thought...”

I glanced down, then back at her.

“You’re fine?,” I said, though my voice came out rougher and more hoarse than I intended. “Is everything all right?”

She nodded as her eyes slowly trailed down my chest then up to my face.

“Yes uhm yes uh.. Aurelian’s asleep. Peacefully.” A pause. “He woke up for a while and then asked for you before he drifted off.”

That single sentence tightened something in my chest.

“I’ll.. I’ll check on him soon,” I said. “Did something happen though?”

She hesitated for a while, her fingers curling lightly around the stone ledge of the window.

“No,” she said. “I just… wanted a moment.”

“For what?”

She inhaled slowly. “Closure.. to breathe,” she said. “For tonight.”

I moved then, crossing the space between us without thinking. The room felt smaller with each step, charged with things neither of us had ever named aloud.

She sensed me and shifted, trying to angle her body away, her gaze now fixed firmly on the dark outside.

“Sera,” I said softly.

She swallowed. “I.. I shouldn’t be here,” she murmured.

“Then why are you?”

Her shoulders lifted in a quiet breath. “Because Grimfang is calling again,” she said. “And I needed to stand somewhere that reminds me I survived.”

My jaw clenched.

I studied her profile.. the strength in her posture, the cracks she never let show unless the night was quiet enough.

“Are you still bothered by what Fael said?” I asked.

She laughed softly. Not amused. “It would be a lie if I said I’m not.”

I turned fully toward her.

“He doesn’t get to define you neither does the elders.”

“I know,” she replied. “But knowing doesn’t really erase memory.”

Something in me snapped, not violently, not loudly but enough that restraint slowly slipped its grip.

And I noticed, oh gods I noticed how her lips twitched and how she licked them in a way to mask her self.

I leaned in and slowly kissed her.

It was instinct.

Gods.. it was based on pure unrestrained instincts.

Six years of swallowed want and unspoken devotion condensed into a single, foolish moment.

Her lips were soft, warm and succulent to the point I almost felt my little one–

Still.. Her lips didn’t move against mine.

That was when reality crashed back in.

I pulled away instantly.

“I’m sorry,” I said, the word sharp with regret. “That was.. I shouldn’t have..”

She stared at me.

Stunned.

For a heartbeat, neither of us breathed, neither of us moved.

Damn, only the moon knew how much I wanted her, how badly I wanted to touch her to hold her..

‘Tell her how we feel, it’s been years, just say something’ My wolf Chiron growled in my head.

“Sera I’m..”

Then she looked away, clearing her throat.

“It’s… fine,” she said softly. Too softly. “Really.”

Silence pressed in between us.

Heavy, tension filled and a bit unforgiving.

She turned back towards the window, changing the subject with deliberate care.

“Will we still leave at dawn? Are your men ready?” she asked, her voice now firm.

“Yes,” I answered immediately. “If you really want to.”

“I do,” she said. Then, after a pause, “But it’s best we go alone and not take Aurelian, it’s best we hear the prophecy with our own ears. I don't trust that sly wolf and his bed warmer.”

I understood instantly. “Agreed.”

She nodded, relief flickering across her face.

“I should go,” she said, already stepping back.

“Ye.. Yes” I calmly replied.

She didn’t look at me again as she crossed the room.

The door closed quietly behind her.

I stood there long after.

Barefoot on cold stone.

Watching the place where she had been.

Want and need coiled low in my chest making my cock stirred in a dangerous, patient, aching way.

But I needed to focus.

Tomorrow, we would ride toward Grimfang.

Towards our past.. Towards ghosts.. Towards war..

But tonight..

Tonight, I let myself want her even if it was just this once.