Chapter 12: The confession
265 Words
I didn’t run.
Darius’s teeth were still at my neck. Waiting.
“Say it,” he breathed. “Say you choose me.”
“I hate you,” I whispered.
“Liar.” His voice broke.
I closed my eyes. “I hate that I still want you.”
He exhaled like he’d been holding his breath for years.
Then he pulled back. No bite. No mark.
“You don’t have to decide tonight,” he said. “But I’m not letting you run anymore.”
He shifted back to human. Offered me his hand.
I stared at it.
Three years ago he let me go.
Today he was staying.
I took his hand.
We walked back to the packhouse in silence. His thumb kept brushing my knuckles.
At my door he stopped. “Rae?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry. For all of it. For choosing fear over you.”
I nodded. “I know.”
“And Rae?”
“What?”
“I’m choosing you. Every day. From now on.”
He left before I could answer.
Inside my room, I touched my neck.
No mark.
But my wolf was purring. That night I didn’t sleep.
I lay on my cot and listened to the packhouse.
His footsteps passed my door once. Twice.
He didn’t knock.
I told myself I was relieved.
My wolf told me I was a fool.
In the dark, I whispered to no one, “I choose you too.”
No one heard. Except her.
And for the first time in three years, she was quiet. Content.
- Writer
