DARIAN
“Even if one of them is the man I’ve spent most of my life wanting to drag before the AlphaCouncil in chains.”
She winces at that, but doesn’t interrupt.
“Iris,” I say, softer now. “I’m not just risking my duty for you. I’m risking my family’s name. Everything we’ve built. But…” I exhale, shaking my head. “If this prophecy is true, then your existence has already shaken the future. And if I’m going to fall… I want to fall knowing I made the choice myself. Not because someone else dictated it.”
She doesn’t respond immediately, just stares at me like she’s seeing me for the first time.
Like I’m not just a prince. Or a threat. Or some cursed prophecy.
Just… me.
And then she speaks, her voice trembling slightly. “You’re really going to leave me here?”
“I’m not abandoning you,” I
