Chapter 24

Darian's POV

Something inside him snaps.

He surges forward before his brain can catch up, stopping abruptly when he spots them.

It's Belle alright, but she's with...a royal guard. One that he's seen a few times in passing.

And she's smiling. Not the small restrained smile she gives him, this one is easy, lighter.

His wolf stirs vigrously in anger, and despite trying to hold it back, it surfaces.

His irisis turn red. Pheromones spiking, filling the hallway in the blink of an eye.

Belle's head automatically snaps up, eyes wide when she finds Darian marching toward them with wild, red eyes. But the fear in her eyes does nothing to quench the burning jealousy flooding his veins like hot molten lava.

He reaches them in a few strides, chest heaving;

"What.." his voice is a growl as it cuts through the space, "...is this?"

The guard instantly stiffens, unable to bow

Instead clawing at his throat as if he's been burned, the Prince's pheromones causing him to cough loudly,

Belle looks between them, horrified. Her eyes falls back on the prince, irisis pleading. "Please... please let him go,"

The way she says it, it almost makes Darian control slip, but hr masks it just as quickly, gaze still cold.

He walks even closer now, their faces mirroring the same surprise as to why Belle isn't visibly being affected by his pheromones any longer.

They both know it has something to do with the night they shared.

"You didn't answer my question..!' He continues, each word is laced with pure unfiltered jealously.

The guard is still chocking in the thickness of his scent, barely able to stand upright, knees almost buckling...he has to hold the wall for support, head lowered in fear.

"My..my prince," he manages out, "I was only trying to.. "

"I'm not talking to you!" Darian cuts him off, not even looking at him, red burning eyes still pinned on her.

On Isabella.

Belle swallowed, fingers curling at her sides. She wanted to do something to help the guard, anything, but she's scared to anger the Prince further,

"I'm sorry." She is all she manages to croak, voice almost cracking. "He was just helping me..."

"With what?" He takes another step closer, close enough that she can feel his heat of his body now.

The guard beside him starts to cough even harder now, falling to his knees, unable to stand the pressure any longer.

Finally, Darian let's his gaze drift toward the pitiful man, he doesn't look amused; "Leave!" His voice is lower now, but somehow it sounds even more threatening.

The guard doesn't hesitate for one more second. He scrambles up, practically stumbling away down the corridor, desperate to escape the suffocation of the Prince's scent.

Darian's doesn't even glance at the retreating frame, gaze returned on her.

He's breathing too hard now, drowning his lungs in her maddening scent with every inhale.

The silence stretches between them for a few seconds that feel like hours, before he finally cuts through the tension by wrapping his hand around her wrist, firm and hard, pulling her behind him.

"Come.." he says raspily, not giving her a chance to reply before he starts pulling her down the corridor, grip bordering on slightly painful.

But somehow, she's not panicked.

Like she knows deep down, the Prince won't hurt her no matter how angry he gets.

His strides are too fast, Belle almost stumbling once as she tries to keep up, but eventually the Prince stops abruptly in front of one of the artifacts room.

He pushes it open, pulls the both of them inside, slamming it behind them with a loud thud.

The space is dim, lined with ancient relics and glass cases, the prince's pheromones dispelling the strong dust in the air.

Darian only finally releases her wrist once they're in the room, only to cage her the next second with his hand; one planting her firmly against the wall, boxing her in, while the other grips her waist, pulling them flush together

He glares at her, eyes blazing with fire, scent heavy in the space between them. "You think this is a game?" His voice s gravelly, "You think I'm playing with you?"

He drags over her beautiful face like he's searching for something. What it is, he doesn't even know; "Do you know what I can do to you?!" He says in a raspy voice, chest rising and falling too hard.

"For standing there like that. Smiling with another man...."

His fist hits the wall beside her, anger making the veins on his hand pop, and Belle gasps at the sound, curling until herself in fear and shame. Shame that the Prince's anger made her feel... things.

Darian looks over her again. He'd claimed her over and over, was that not enough?

Maybe a second time would prove his point?

He growls low, the sound echoing in the room before he flips her over, stumbling slightly as he moves to press her firmly against the wall.

'You are mine!" He hisses into her ear, hand sliding up to tilt her head just enough to reveal her bare neck.

His gaze drops to it instantly. Wolf fixated. Obsessed.

He leans down, fangs grazing down her neck, pressing into the skin until she let out a loud gasp. Not quite piercing, but hard enough to prove a point

"Do you need my mark on your neck?" He pulls back, voice alluring but dark, "Hmmm? Will that stop you from giving other men room?"

Belle bites her lips hard, hating the way her body arches into his touch. She should be angry, yell, try to push him away, tell him he doesn't own her just because of one night together...but she just.... can't. Not when she hasn't stopped thinking of the way he took her that day....

Her silence makes Darian exhales sharply, eyes flickering shut like he's fighting something internal. And when he opens them again, the red has dimmed slightly.

His wolf is still in control, but it's calmer now, now that he has her in his arms.

The words tumble out before he can stop them; "I missed you" he presses a kiss into her hair with surprising softness that Belle leans into. "You have no idea how crazy you drive me!"

The intensity with which those words spewed from his lips makes her legs tighten instinctively, and She whimpers, grinding against the obvious hardness.

Her face flushes pink, the shame climbing up her spine like tiny needles as the next words roll off her tongue;

But she can't deny how much she wants him any longer..

"Please..touch me again!" She sounds breathless, chest rising and falling from the tension between them.

Darian doesn't need to be told twice.

He pulls back just enough to remove his trousers in one swift motion, the sound of his buttons loud in the space between them.

His hand movers to her dress next, bunching the material up her waist, stepping behind her. Then he pulls her hips back slightly, positing behind the the entrance, and then he pushes in.

The stretch burns slightly, but it's the delicious kind. Wetness dripping around him as he thrusts, pressing her face against the wall to muffle the high pitched moans.

His grip is tight, "you are mine!" punctuated with a harsh thrust, "only mine!" another thrust.

A whimper slips free, head tipping back against the Prince's shoulder, Thighs quivering from the intensity. But she can't get enough! No one has ever runied her like this before.

All her previous experiences are like warm water to ice on a hot summer afternoon, the feeling of being utterly claimed and owned, him holding nothing back.. it makes her want to go mad!

His grunts are no less intense. And somehow, Belle knowing that she's the reason for him loosing control, the sounds, his praise praise, it pushes her over the edge.

The wolf still isn't soothed....

Dorian is unrelenting, wolf claiming her over and over and over again until her knees buckle...Darian can't get enough of the way she feels; the tight, wetness.

His wolf detests the thought of sharing her with anyone else! It needs to ruin her for anyone else.

And when the heat finally settles, the Alpha Prince can't help the thought that slowly slides in.

Once...maybe a mistake,

Twice? Now he's in trouble.

Big trouble.

What's worse is, for the first time since his rut...his wolf is finally, entirely settled.