His Eyes,My Destiny

Chapter 16: Thorns and Shadows

Darius

I watched from the high ridge, cloaked in the shadow magic passed down through my bloodline. Alina’s light called to me — still raw, still unclaimed. Not by choice.

By war.

She bore both marks now, and neither House had a clue how to handle her. But I did. Because I was raised in exile with one truth carved into me:

If she bears two fates, she will break them both.

And that… is how the First Alpha rises.

I didn’t come to watch her. I came to warn her.

And to tell her the truth Jaxon and the Elders were hiding.

⸻

Alina

I felt him before I saw him — a whisper through the trees, a scent like frost and forgotten things. Darius stepped from the shadows like he belonged there, his violet eyes fixed on mine.

“You shouldn’t be here,” I breathed.

“Neither should you.” His voice was calm. Too calm.

I glanced at the mansion behind me, where Jaxon and the Elders argued about my next “containment ritual.” I was a relic to them. A living threat.

Darius tilted his head. “They’re planning to bind your power. Tonight.”

“What?”

He stepped closer. “Jaxon knows. He’s letting them do it.”

I felt the air suck from my lungs. “You’re lying.”

But my bond with Jaxon… shuddered.

And for the first time, I couldn’t tell if the ache in my chest was love — or betrayal.

One truth can unmake a bond. And Alina’s about to learn that fate never comes without blood.