His Heart Beneath Her Hands
1470 Words
For one second, Luna didn’t understand.
It was as if the world had simply refused to make sense, like her mind had slipped a step behind reality and couldn’t catch up.
Darius stood before her, an arrow in his chest.
Then blood spread fast.
Warm, dark, impossible.
“Darius?” she whispered.
Her voice barely made it out.
He looked down. Then his knees buckled.
“Darius!”
She caught him and went down with him, one hand on his shoulder, the other bracing his weight as if she could hold him together by force alone.
Panic hit her.
Sharp. Immediate. Animal.
His face was pale. Eyes still gold, still too steady for someone bleeding out.
“Don’t touch the shaft,” he said.
“You have an arrow in your chest.”
“I noticed.”
“This is not the time for sarcasm.”
“It wasn’t.”
Behind them, the injured woman crawled, dragging herself through dirt and broken leaves.
“Poison,” she gasped. “It’s poisoned.”
Luna went cold.
Not fear this time—certainty.
Black veins spread near the wound, creeping like ink under skin.
“No,” she said. “You heal.”
“Not from this.”
“You don’t get to say that.”
Her voice cracked on the last word.
“Luna, listen.”
“No.”
“Get back to the estate.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“There may be more arrows.”
“Then move.”
“I can’t.”
That scared her more than the blood.
More than the arrow.
More than anything.
“Help!” she shouted.
Darius grabbed her wrist. “Too loud.”
Even weakened, his grip was firm.
Golden light flared under her skin, reacting to him, to the bond, to everything happening too fast.
She pressed her palm to his chest.
Pain hit instantly. The world vanished.
She felt everything—poison, his wolf, his fading heart, the strain of holding himself together out of sheer refusal to fall.
One thought rose through it all, not hers but his, burning through the bond like a brand:
Protect her.
“You stubborn i***t,” she whispered.
“I’m always worried about you,” he said.
A faint, strained attempt at normalcy.
“You’re the one dying.”
“I’ve had worse mornings.”
His eyes closed for a second longer this time.
The bond went silent.
“No.”
It came out broken.
She pressed harder, as if pressure alone could anchor him to life.
“You don’t get to leave me.”
Light surged between them, unstable and wild.
“I’m allowed to fail,” she cried. “So are you. But not die.”
The poison pushed back like a living thing.
She screamed but held on anyway, teeth clenched, hands shaking.
“Come back.”
She found him in darkness.
Not metaphorical—real, endless, swallowing.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he said.
“Bad decisions.”
Even here, her voice sounded like her.
“You need to leave.”
“Not without you.”
Behind him stood a black wolf.
Massive. Silent. Watching.
“You could die,” he said.
“So could you.”
“That is different.”
“It isn’t.”
“You don’t understand what you are.”
“I’m learning.”
“A man who thinks being needed makes him weak.”
He went still.
Something in him shifted, like a crack forming in stone.
She took his hand. “A man who protects everyone and no one protects him.”
The wolf stepped closer.
“Come with me.”
Light exploded.
Luna gasped awake.
Air slammed back into her lungs.
Darius arched violently, and the arrow shot out of his chest as if expelled by force itself.
Black blood poured for a moment, then slowed, then stopped as the wound began to close.
“Luna.”
His voice was rough, disbelieving.
“You took your time.”
“You came after me.”
“Of course.”
“You shouldn’t have.”
“Say that again and I’ll put it back.”
A rough laugh escaped him, strained but real.
“You’re still hurt.”
“The poison is leaving.”
“How?”
“I can feel your power.”
A pause.
“I did this?”
“Yes.”
His thumb brushed her jaw, grounding himself in her like she was the only stable thing left in the world.
“You heard me.”
“And my wolf.”
“He let you touch him.”
“No one has.”
Footsteps thundered through the trees.
“Alpha!”
Mason froze. “What happened?”
“Sniper,” Darius said.
Calm again, too quickly.
“You were hit.”
“I know.”
“And alive.”
“She refused the alternative.”
Evelyn was already moving, checking the injured woman. “She needs the clinic. Now.”
Mason looked at Luna. “Did you heal him?”
“I think so.”
A beat of silence.
“We are not in a relationship,” Luna said.
“No,” Darius agreed.
But neither of them moved away.
They returned.
The clinic was ready.
Healers moved quickly, tension thick in the air.
“Shirt off,” the healer said.
Darius obeyed without comment.
The wound was nearly closed already, as if reality itself was struggling to remember it had been there.
“This should have killed you,” she said.
“It almost did.”
“And you stopped it?” she asked Luna.
“I don’t know.”
“You do,” Darius said.
Quiet. Certain.
“You used the bond,” Mara said.
“Can it hurt her?” Darius asked immediately.
“Yes.”
His focus snapped to Luna so fast it was almost violent.
“If she took more, it could stop her heart.”
The room seemed to tighten.
He went still.
“You took that risk,” he said.
“You were dying.”
“You could have died with me.”
“But I didn’t.”
“That doesn’t make it okay.”
“No. You don’t get to be mad at me for saving you.”
“I’m not mad.”
“Then what?”
“I felt it reach for you.”
His control cracked at the edges.
“I had to feel it near you because of me.”
Luna softened despite herself.
“I’d rather die than drag you down.”
“And I’d rather decide that myself.”
“You only like choice when it suits you.”
“You were reckless.”
“Yes.”
“You could have died.”
“So could you.”
“Exactly.”
A beat.
“Then we agree.”
“You’re impossible.”
“You noticed.”
“I noticed the first night.”
“And still followed me.”
“Regret.”
“Good thing you’re long-lived.”
She touched his chest lightly. “May I?”
He nodded.
His heartbeat was steady now, stronger than it should have been.
“I thought I lost you.”
“You barely know me.”
“I know.”
“That should worry you.”
“It does.”
“When I was in the darkness, I heard you first.”
“You called me stubborn.”
“You are.”
A faint almost-smile.
“You touched my wolf.”
“He seemed nicer than you.”
“He chose you.”
“And you?”
“I’m trying not to.”
She pulled back slightly.
“Not because I don’t want you,” he said. “Because I won’t choose for you.”
“What if I choose you?”
His hand came up, brushing her cheek with unexpected gentleness.
“Not because you almost lost me.”
“Then why?”
“Because everything felt wrong without you.”
Silence settled between them, heavy and honest.
She stepped closer.
“Tell me to stop,” he whispered.
She kissed him.
No hesitation this time.
He kissed back immediately.
Heat surged through the bond like wildfire finding oxygen.
“That was a mistake,” he said against her lips.
“Why?”
“Now I know what you taste like.”
“And?”
“I want it again.”
A scream cut through the moment.
Sharp. Wrong.
Lydia sat up suddenly, eyes black as ink.
“Something’s wrong,” Mara said.
The air in the room shifted.
A deep voice came from Lydia, not hers.
“Thanks for opening the bond.”
Darius stepped in front of Luna instantly, shielding her without thinking.
“Now I can feel both of you.”
Every window shattered.
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