The Morning After Forever II
1750 Words
Morning came quietly to Blackwood.
No frozen sun.
No ancient voice under the floors.
No crown trying to decide who anyone should become.
Just morning.
Light slipped through the broken windows and spilled across the damaged entrance hall. Snow had drifted in through the shattered frames. Warriors moved through the manor carrying timber, blankets, tools, and steaming cups of coffee.
Blackwood looked wounded.
But alive.
Luna stood on the balcony outside Darius’s room, watching the estate wake up.
She hadn’t slept.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Lucian disappearing through the doorway.
She still felt Darius’s grief beside her, even though he was inside.
Quiet.
Carefully contained.
Too carefully.
The balcony door opened.
Darius stepped out into the cold wearing dark trousers and an unbuttoned shirt.
His hair was still damp from the shower.
Luna looked at him.
“You should put on a coat.”
“You’re standing barefoot in the snow.”
She glanced down.
Her toes were already half-buried in white.
“That’s different.”
“How?”
“I noticed first.”
Darius came closer.
He didn’t immediately pull her into him, even though she could tell he wanted to.
Instead, he held out his hand.
“May I?”
Luna smiled.
“Yes.”
He pulled her against his chest.
Warm. Solid.
She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her cheek over his heart.
For a while, neither of them spoke.
The bond between them had changed after Devotion entered the space between their hands.
It didn’t feel stronger.
Strength was never the issue.
It felt clearer.
Darius couldn’t hide behind calm anymore without Luna noticing the effort. Luna couldn’t bury fear under determination without him feeling where it lived.
He pressed a kiss to her hair.
“You’re worried.”
“So are you.”
“That wasn’t a denial.”
“Neither was yours.”
His arms tightened.
Not trapping.
Just holding.
Luna looked up.
“Do you regret letting Lucian leave?”
Darius’s jaw flexed.
“Yes.”
She waited.
He exhaled.
“And no.”
“Complicated.”
“I don’t like complicated.”
“You love me.”
“That proves nothing.”
She smiled.
His thumb brushed her lower lip.
The warmth in his gaze shifted.
Not danger.
Desire.
Simple. Human. After too many nights shaped by ancient power.
Luna leaned in.
“Are you going to kiss me?”
“I was considering it.”
“You’ve been considering it for too long.”
“You were asking serious questions.”
“I can ask them later.”
Darius lowered his head.
The first kiss was soft.
A quiet test of the moment.
Luna rose onto her toes and pulled him closer by the open edges of his shirt.
His control slipped.
The second kiss was deeper.
Warmer.
Darius’s hands slid along her back and settled at her waist. He lifted her onto the stone railing before stopping.
His forehead rested against hers.
“Luna.”
“My name first.”
“Always.”
His breathing was rough.
“Are you sure?”
She met his eyes.
“Yes.”
He kissed her again.
The cold disappeared.
So did the broken manor, the unanswered questions, and the fear of what Lucian and Eren might become beyond Blackwood.
There was only Darius.
His mouth on hers.
His hands careful even when desire made them shake.
The bond opened between them, but neither ancient power entered it.
No Choice.
No Command.
Just two people who survived another night and wanted each other in the morning.
Luna pulled back just enough to breathe.
“You’re still thinking.”
“I’m always thinking.”
“That sounds exhausting.”
“It is.”
“Stop.”
Darius raised an eyebrow.
“Was that an order?”
“A request.”
He kissed the corner of her mouth.
“Accepted.”
For a few minutes, he obeyed very badly.
Luna laughed against his lips.
The sound seemed to catch him off guard.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re laughing.”
“You’re terrible at not thinking.”
“I’m thinking about very specific things.”
Heat rose in Luna’s face.
“That was almost charming.”
“Almost?”
“You need practice.”
Darius lifted her from the railing and carried her toward the open balcony door.
Luna hooked her legs around his waist.
“Where are we going?”
“Somewhere warmer.”
“You finally noticed the snow?”
“I noticed you were shivering.”
“I wasn’t.”
“You were.”
“I was distracted.”
His mouth curved.
“So was I.”
A knock hit the bedroom door.
Darius stopped.
Luna closed her eyes.
“No.”
Another knock.
Mason’s voice came through the wood.
“I know you’re awake.”
Darius looked at the door like he wanted to set it on fire.
Luna buried her face against his neck to stop laughing.
Mason knocked again.
“The northern wall is arguing with Isolde.”
Darius lowered Luna carefully.
“The wall?”
“She wants to rebuild it with Aurelis stone. The estate keeps throwing the blocks back at her.”
Luna stepped away and fixed her clothes.
Darius stared at her.
“What?”
“You’re leaving.”
“Our home is fighting construction workers.”
“It can wait.”
Mason called through the door, “It has already broken two carts.”
Luna kissed Darius once.
Quickly.
“Later.”
His hand caught her waist before she could step away.
“That is an irresponsible promise.”
“It’s not a promise.”
His gaze warmed.
“Luna.”
She smiled.
“It’s a choice I plan on making.”
Darius kissed her again.
“Later.”
They found Isolde standing in the courtyard surrounded by broken silver stones.
The northern wall had rejected every one.
Mason leaned on a shovel.
“I told her Blackwood is temperamental.”
Isolde glared at the manor.
“Buildings do not have temperaments.”
A loose roof tile dropped beside her feet.
Mason looked pleased.
“Apparently this one does.”
Darius stepped into the courtyard.
“Why are you rebuilding my wall without asking?”
Isolde turned.
“House Aurelis damaged the windows.”
“The wall was damaged before you arrived.”
“We are still offering assistance.”
“You started before getting an answer.”
Isolde’s mouth tightened.
Luna folded her arms.
“She has a point.”
Darius looked at her.
“I know.”
“You sound disappointed.”
“I was enjoying being right.”
Isolde exhaled.
“May we help repair Blackwood?”
Darius glanced at Luna.
She nodded.
“Yes,” he said.
The manor stopped throwing stones.
Mason stared at the wall.
“I’m starting to feel underappreciated.”
Evelyn arrived carrying two cups.
“You’re appreciated exactly enough.”
She handed one to him.
Mason smiled.
“That sounded like love.”
“It was coffee.”
“Close enough.”
Evelyn looked toward Luna and Darius.
Her silver mark was quieter now, just a faint line around her wrist.
“Kael is awake.”
Darius’s expression sharpened.
“How is he?”
“Confused. Angry. Insisting he can leave the clinic.”
“So better,” Mason said.
Evelyn ignored him.
“He wants to speak with both of you.”
Kael stood by the clinic window when they entered.
Ronan was nearby, pretending to study a medical chart upside down.
Kael looked at Darius.
“The connection is gone.”
Darius stopped across from him.
“Completely?”
“I can’t hear your bond anymore.”
Luna felt relief.
Kael noticed.
“So you’re happy.”
“I’m relieved for all three of us.”
His expression softened a little.
“Good answer.”
Darius studied him.
“What do you remember?”
“Everything the Hollow King showed me.”
Kael touched the fading scar on his chest.
“And everything I let it see.”
“You didn’t let it,” Luna said.
“Some of it, I did.”
Ronan lowered the chart.
Kael continued.
“It was lonely. I understood that.”
“Understanding isn’t permission,” Luna said.
“I know.”
A faint smile touched his mouth.
“You’ve said that enough.”
Darius stepped closer.
“What do you want now?”
Kael blinked.
“What?”
“No crown. No Hollow King. No one deciding your name.”
Darius held his gaze.
“What do you want?”
Kael looked at Ronan.
Then Luna.
Then Darius.
“I want to stay.”
The answer came quietly.
Ronan’s shoulders dropped.
Kael added, “Not forever.”
Darius nodded.
“No one asked for forever.”
“I want to learn Blackwood. My family.”
His voice roughened.
“Who I am when nothing is inside me.”
Darius held out his hand.
Kael stared at it.
Then took it.
“You may stay,” Darius said.
Kael’s grip tightened.
“As what?”
Darius glanced at Ronan.
Ronan answered first.
“My brother.”
Kael looked at him.
Luna smiled.
Darius added, “And mine, if you want.”
Emotion moved across Kael’s face.
“I do.”
The three men stood there in silence, none of them really sure what came next.
Luna broke it.
“Someone should hug.”
All three looked at her like she’d lost her mind.
Ronan stepped back.
“Absolutely not.”
Kael nodded fast.
“I agree.”
Darius folded his arms.
“This family has boundaries.”
Luna laughed.
“Cowards.”
Darius walked over and wrapped an arm around her waist.
“I hugged you this morning.”
Kael grimaced.
“I’m glad I can’t feel that anymore.”
Ronan dropped the chart.
“I’m leaving.”
For the first time, Kael laughed without anything else echoing it.
Real.
Uneven.
His.
Outside, hammers struck stone.
Voices moved through Blackwood’s halls.
The estate kept rebuilding.
Far beyond its walls, Lucian and Eren walked toward something uncertain.
But inside Blackwood, Luna leaned into Darius and listened to her family figuring out how to stay.
Not forever.
Not because destiny said so.
Just for today.
And when Darius looked down at her, the question was already there in his eyes.
Luna answered softly.
“Again.”
He smiled.
“Again.”
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