جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 80

Chapter 72Darius povHe looked at me for a long time. Long enough that the silence started pressing against my eardrums. Long enough that my wolf started growling low and steady in my chest‚ agitated by the lack of answer‚ agitated by the calm in this man's eyes when everything inside me was on fire."Let me ask you something‚" Theo said finally. "If — hypothetically — a woman had been tortured for years by the man who was supposed to protect her. If that woman had been raped. Had her blood drained from her body over and over until she was barely alive. Had her child taken from her arms and been told she wasn't fit to be a mother. Had been left to bleed out on an operating table while the man she loved ordered for her death." He paused‚ letting every word land like a blade between my ribs. "If that woman somehow survived all of that... what exactly would you offer her?"I opened my mouth. Nothing came out."More pain?" Theo continued‚ his voice dropping lower‚ quieter‚ more dangerous

Chapter 74CELESTE'S POVHis mouth crushed mine and my brain went blank.I stopped thinking. I stopped fighting. My fingers fisted his shirt and I pulled him closer instead of pushing him away and a sound left my throat that I didn't recognize. He kissed me like he was angry and starving and desperate all at once‚ his tongue pushing past my lips while his hand tightened on my neck just enough to remind me who was in control.He pulled back and his eyes were gold. Full gold. His wolf was right there at the surface staring down at me."You tried to leave me‚" he said against my mouth. "You packed a bag and walked out of my house.""Darius—""No." His grip on my neck shifted to my jaw‚ tilting my face up. "You don't get to run from me. Not anymore‚ Celeste."He kissed me again before I could respond. Harder this time. His other arm wrapped around my waist and lifted me off the ground like I weighed nothing and my legs wrapped around him on instinct. He carried me down the hallway with hi

Chapter 76Darius POVI stayed on the floor long after she ran out.Her crying carried down the hallway and every sound she made was gutting me from the inside out. My wolf was clawing at my chest‚ howling in a way that had nothing to do with anger. Mate is hurting. We did this. We did this to her.I got up eventually and walked to her door. I didn't knock. I didn't demand anything. I just sat down on the floor beside it and leaned my head back against the wall."I'm here‚" I said. "I'm not leaving. You don't have to open the door and you don't have to talk to me. But I'm not going anywhere."She didn't respond. I could still hear her crying on the other side‚ muffled now as if she was trying to hold it in‚ and that was somehow worse than when she let it out.I sat there for what felt like an hour. Maybe longer. My back was stiff and the floor was cold and I didn't care about any of it because the only thing that mattered was behind that door.Then the lock clicked.The door opened ju

Chapter 78Darius POV"I'm not going to justify any of it‚" I said. My voice was wrecked and I didn't try to fix it. "There's nothing I can say that makes any of it okay. But you told me your side and I need you to hear mine. Not to excuse it. Just so you know what happened after."She didn't tell me to stop so I kept going."I found out it was you three hours after the extraction order." I wiped my face with the back of my hand but the tears kept coming. "A nurse came out of the operating room and she said your name on a chart and I didn't understand at first. I just stood there staring at her like she was speaking a different language. That was when I realised what I had done.”She was watching me now. "They told me you didn't make it. That the extraction took too much and your body gave out on the table." I pressed my palms against my thighs. "I drove to Theo's territory for the funeral. His entire pack was there and they knew what I did. They surrounded me the second I stepped ou

Chapter 80Celeste POVI woke up before him.The room was filled with early morning light and for a moment I forgot where I was and who was behind me. Then I felt the weight on the other side of the mattress and everything from last night came rushing back.I turned slowly‚ careful not to shift the bed too much.Darius was still on his side‚ curled in a way that seemed uncomfortable‚ as if he had been afraid to make himself too comfortable in a space that wasn't fully offered to him. One hand was stretched across the gap between us‚ his fingers reaching toward my side of the bed as if he had tried to touch me in his sleep but stopped himself before making contact.I looked at his face. The dark circles under his eyes were deep‚ almost bruised looking. Lines sat around his mouth and forehead that weren't there three years ago. His brow was furrowed even now‚ as if whatever he was dreaming about wasn't giving him any peace either. This was not the same Darius who had coldly ordered a bl