EP:9
1118 Words
HOPE'S POV.
As soon as the door shut behind them,
Damon motioned to the guards. “Take position.”
The two guards spread out—one near the entrance, the other beside the window. They wanted to make sure he didn’t have any way to escape even if he tried.
Then Damon turned toward me.
His eyes burned with fury.
“This is your fault,” he snapped. “All of it. Your recklessness. Your stubbornness. You've never listened to anyone beside yourself. While I'm working with the interest of this pack at heart, all you do is mess it up one way or another. You’re so desperate to prove something after the rejection—that you’ll put the entire pack in danger just to make yourself feel better, just to feel important. What is the matter with you, Hope? Are you really that desperate to get my attention? Is this how you would have led the kingdom beside me? By making reckless decisions and endangering us all?! Is this the kind of mate and queen you would have made if I had chosen you, Hope?”
My wolf pushed against my skin, wanting to snap at him, but I stayed still. I fought to remain calm, because I knew what he was looking for, and I refused to give it to him.
Then I looked back at him.
“Thank the Goddess you didn’t choose me then… because a king with your pride and cowardice would have never survived standing beside a woman like me, prince Damon. And just so we’re clear, only one of us made a decision with the interest of this pack at heart tonight, and it sure as hell wasn’t you.”
His nostrils flared. His jaw tightened.
But I didn’t give him the chance to speak again.
I turned to the others. “We’re done here. Let’s go.”
I turned and walked to the door, the team following behind me.
“Hope!” Damon barked behind me. “Don’t you dare walk out on me! Get back here right now!”
I kept walking.
His voice grew louder, harsher.
“Hope, I swear!.....”
I didn’t stop.
I didn’t look back.
I pushed the door open and stepped out into the storm.
“You know, I seriously still can’t believe Wolvesden’s Delta is currently lying unconscious in our healers’ den,” Vera whispered as we walked.
She didn’t comment on what just happened in there—none of them did. And I liked it that way.
The rain hammered the roofs and flooded the paths, but the four of them walked beside me—silent, tense, still processing everything.
After a long moment, Vera pushed her wet hair off her face and spoke again. “I still can’t wrap my head around it,” she muttered. “Delta Kian. The Delta Kian. In our healer’s den. Alive. Breathing. Unconscious. In the same territory as us. I mean, what is this? A joke? A very sick and cruel one, obviously.”
Aiden let out a low whistle. “And to think this is the same guy who—according to rumor—once ended a border raid by himself.” He glanced at me, then back at the ground. “Not with a team. Not with backup. Just… walked into the fight and cleaned the field. Interesting, isn’t it? I wonder what really happened to make him end up here in the state we found him. Something tells me that story is deep.”
Eros scoffed, but the sound came out uneasy. “Border raid? That’s nothing. I heard he snapped a warrior's neck once without even shifting.” His eyes darkened slightly. “And the warrior was fully shifted from what I heard.”
Vera’s jaw dropped. “That can’t be real.”
“Oh, it’s real,” Aiden said. “Night Claw warriors told us that story themselves during the Summit two years ago. They said he didn’t even raise his voice. Just stepped forward, grabbed the wolf, and—” He snapped his fingers. “Like breaking a twig. How the poor warrior managed to survive that is still a mystery. Heard he fed through a pipe for months. No one knows the full story about what really happened.”
The rain thundered harder, almost drowning his words.
I didn’t even know what to say to any of these. None of us knew Kian. None of us had met him—only rumors. But none of these rumors were doing anything to help my nerves right now.
Out of all the nine packs under Lunar Dome, Night Claw Pack was the most ruthless of them all. They were the most feared; their warriors were practically trained from childhood. Hearing people like that marvel at another warrior who isn’t even from their pack says a lot. Probably a lot more than I wanted to know.
Eros shoved his hands in his pockets. “My favorite rumor? He once marched into a rogue camp alone, all by himself, and came back alive.” He shook his head. “That’s not natural even for an alpha, not to talk of a delta.”
Vera frowned. “They say his wolf is… different. Maybe that’s why he’s so… unnatural.”
Liam nodded. “I met this Night Claw warrior once—a big one, mean as hell. He said fighting beside Delta Kian was like fighting beside a storm. You couldn’t see where he’d hit next, but you knew it was coming.” He swallowed, and his voice dropped. “He said if you ever find yourself on the wrong side of his claws, you say your final prayer. That’s it. No two ways about it.”
Eros let out a low, humorless laugh. “Even the ruthless ones fear him. That says everything.”
They fell quiet after that. The rain filled the silence.
I kept walking, the mud sucking at my boots.
Vera finally broke the quiet. “Hope… you do realize we just saved the most dangerous wolf outside the royal bloodline, right?”
Aiden rubbed the back of his neck. “The kind of male who makes seasoned warriors swallow their pride and look away. Well done, guys. We really did it this time.”
Eros exhaled slowly. “The kind of male who doesn’t need a title to be feared.”
Vera glanced at me. “Why do I get the feeling this is going to get very complicated?”
I didn’t answer.
Because deep down, beneath the storm, beneath the pounding rain and their nervous whispers—
I had a feeling she was right.
Very, very right.
- Writer
