Chapter 10: The Choice
389 Words
Alina’s POV
His hand was outstretched.
Not Jaxon’s.
Darius’s.
And something ancient—something cold and forgotten—stirred in my blood when I looked at him.
Like I knew him.
Like some part of me had belonged to him… once.
“Come with me,” Darius said, voice velvet and steel. “And I’ll show you who you really are.”
I didn’t move.
Jaxon growled behind me, low and dangerous. “Step away from her.”
Darius ignored him. His obsidian eyes burned into mine. “You feel it, don’t you? The pull? The echo of something older than the Council, older than him.”
My heart slammed against my ribs.
I didn’t want to feel it.
Didn’t want to admit it.
But I did feel it.
Like a thread connecting me to Darius—thinner than the one I had with Jaxon… but there.
“Why me?” I whispered.
Darius’s smile faded. “Because your blood doesn’t belong to them. You were born to shatter the Council’s chains. You carry the First Alpha’s legacy—not just as his heir… but as his wrath.”
Jaxon stepped forward, eyes blazing gold.
“She’s not a weapon.”
“She’s not yours,” Darius snapped.
“Enough!” I shouted, the mark on my wrist glowing violently. The ground cracked. Trees bent back as wind and energy exploded from my skin.
Both alphas froze.
My chest heaved. My vision blurred. For a moment, the forest bowed to me.
I looked between them—one bound to me by fate, the other by something older.
And then I made my choice.
“I’m not going anywhere. Not with you,” I said to Darius.
His face darkened. Not with rage.
With… recognition.
“Then you’ve just made your first mistake.”
He vanished into mist.
Jaxon was at my side in an instant, but even as his arms closed around me, my mind was spinning.
Because what scared me most wasn’t Darius’s threat.
It was the fact that I hadn’t said “no” right away.
And somewhere deep inside me…
A second mark was beginning to burn.
That night, under a blood moon, a forgotten prophecy etched itself into the stone walls of the Council chamber:
“When two eyes claim her… destiny will burn.”
- Writer
