CHAPTER FIVE- FIRE AND FURY
1484 Words
Aria;
“Do not resist what is coming.”
The words throbbed inside me like a bruise, and my wolf prowled, restless, clawing at my ribs. My breath came fast. I was still in the clearing, dagger in my hand, but it felt like the ground had been ripped from beneath me..
Darius stood only a few steps away, silver burning in the shadows. He didn’t move, but every line of his body screamed with tension, like a predator about to strike. Not at me. For me.
My lips parted, but nothing came out. The truth pressed at my throat like a blade: mate.
Before I could speak, another voice cut sharp and cold across the clearing.
“Aria!”
Father.
I spun. His tall frame broke through the mist, flanked by two guards. Fury radiated from him like a storm, his dark eyes blazing as they landed on me and then on Darius.
The tension between them snapped, like the crack before lightning.
Father’s jaw clenched, his lip curling back to show teeth. “Veylor.” The name dripped with venom.
Darius didn’t flinch. His eyes stayed locked on me, ignoring Father entirely. That made it worse. My father’s rage pulsed like heat, his wolf’s growl rumbling so low it vibrated in my bones.
“Step away from my daughter,” Father snarled, his claws sliding free, sharp in the sunlight.
I tried to speak, to explain, though I didn’t know what I could possibly say. The words tangled in my throat. I felt Lysandra at my side, her hand brushing mine, grounding me. She whispered, “Don’t let him see your fear.”
But fear wasn’t what burned in me.
It was hunger. Longing. The pull that would not let me go.
“Aria,” Father barked, sharp as a whip. “Come here. Now.”
My feet stayed frozen. My wolf whined, ears pinned back, desperate to run the other way, toward Darius. My pulse roared in my ears.
Darius’ voice slid across the clearing, low and calm, but every syllable burned.
“She is not a child, Blackthorn. She chooses where she stands.”
Father’s fury exploded. He lunged forward, but one of the guards caught his arm, murmuring something urgent. Father’s chest heaved, his eyes locked on Darius with pure hatred. “You dare speak of choice, when your family has stolen everything from mine?”
Every muscle in me trembled. I wanted to shout that this wasn’t about bloodlines, it wasn’t about war, it was about the fire in my veins, the way my wolf clawed and cried for him. But my tongue stayed locked.
Darius finally looked at Father, his silver gaze flat, dangerous. “She is mine.”
The clearing went silent. My stomach dropped.
Father’s face twisted, shock flashing before fury roared back tenfold.
“You think you can claim her?” His voice shook with rage. “Over my dead body.”
The guards pulled him back, whispering warnings, reminding him of the treaty lines. He spat on the ground, eyes burning through me.
“We leave. Now.” His tone left no room for argument.
My chest ached, my wolf howling in protest, but my legs obeyed. Lysandra gripped my arm, pulling me with her as Father stalked into the mist.
I glanced back only once.
Darius still stood where I’d left him, his gaze locked on me. My wolf whimpered, desperate, and I forced the sound back.
Father didn’t notice. But Lysandra did. Her grip tightened, steady but worried.
Darius;
I should have ripped him apart. The thought still thundered through me as I watched Aria vanish into the mist at her father’s side.
My claws had ached for blood. For the chance to end the Alpha who’d stolen, killed, destroyed. But when I’d seen Aria’s eyes, wide, torn, trembling between me and him. Every ounce of fury turned into restraint.
If I spilled her father’s blood, I’d lose her forever.
Kael’s voice was steady at my side. “You let him walk away.”
“I had no choice.” My teeth ached, jaw locked so hard it threatened to crack. “Not with her there. Not when the bond pulls her so strongly.”
Kael studied me, his silence saying what words could not. That I was unraveling. That the bond was burning me alive.
And maybe it was.
I’d never felt such rage and such hunger at the same time. To watch her walk away..it felt like my chest had been split open.
The prophecy’s words still echoed. The bond cannot hide.
No. It couldn’t.
I swore then, quietly, as my wolf snarled and paced inside me. I would not let Alpha Blackthorn keep her locked in his grasp. One way or another, Aria would come to me.
Aria;
Father stormed ahead of us, his shoulders rigid, his steps heavy. He didn’t speak until we were nearly back at the pack house. Then he turned, eyes sharp enough to cut.
“What were you doing with him?” His voice sharp
My lips parted, but no sound came. Lysandra shifted beside me, ready to defend, but one glare from Father silenced her.
“Well?” His tone cracked like a whip.
My heart thudded so loud it felt like it might burst. I wanted to lie, to say I’d just stumbled across him by accident. But the truth..the truth pulsed inside me, hot and relentless.
My wolf whispered: Mate.
I bit my lip until I tasted blood, forcing the word back. “It was nothing. I didn’t know he was there.”
Father’s nostrils flared. He stepped closer, his towering frame casting me in shadow. His hand gripped my chin, tilting my face up to meet his glare. “He is the enemy. You will not go near him again. Do you understand?”
I nodded quickly, though my chest screamed in protest. My wolf clawed, furious, but I shoved her down.
Father studied me a moment longer, then released me with a growl. He stormed inside, barking orders at the guards.
Lysandra lingered at my side, her hand brushing mine in quiet comfort. She didn’t speak, but her eyes said enough: I know you’re lying.
That night, I dreamed of silver eyes, rough hands, and a voice that whispered my name like a vow.
Darius;
Two nights later, I found her again.
The border was quiet, moonlight dripping through branches, the air thick with silence. My instincts pulled me, as if the earth itself guided me to her. And there she was walking alone, her hood pulled low, every step hesitant but deliberate.
My chest tightened. She had come.
She froze when she saw me, her dagger slipping slightly in her grip. Her breath caught. Her wolf’s growl rumbled faintly, a desperate sound.
“You shouldn’t be here,” I said, voice low, though my body already ached for her.
“Neither should you,” she whispered back, but her feet didn’t move.
The silence stretched, filled only by the beat of our hearts, loud enough I swore the forest could hear.
I stepped closer. Just one step. Her lips parted, chest rising quick, her pulse fluttering in her throat.
“Why do you keep coming back?” she asked, but the words trembled.
“Because I can’t stay away.” My voice was rough, stripped bare. “And neither can you.”
Her hand tightened on the dagger, but she didn’t raise it. She should have ran. Instead, she stood frozen, breath sharp, eyes burning with the same hunger that clawed inside me.
I closed the distance, until the space between us was a whisper. Her scent filled me, wild and intoxicating. My hand lifted, slowly, giving her the chance to stop me. She didn’t.
Fingers brushed her jaw, soft at first, then firmer when she shivered under my touch. Her lips parted, her breath catching.
Her wolf howled inside her, echoing mine. The bond crackled, hot and electric, surging like fire through my veins.
I leaned closer, my lips brushing just shy of hers. Heat radiated between us, pulling tight, unbearable.
Her hand rose, trembling, pressing flat against my chest. My heart thundered against her palm.
For a moment, the world held still. No war. No fathers. No prophecy. Only us.
Then my hand slipped lower, fingers brushing the curve of her hip, sliding just beneath her cloak. Her breath hitched, sharp, her pulse racing.
Her lips quivered, and I could feel her body leaning, surrendering, ready
A twig snapped in the distance.
Aria froze, her eyes wide, pupils blown wide with hunger. My hand stilled, still resting against her skin, her heat searing through me.
The bond pulsed, hot and dangerous, on the edge of breaking wide open.
“Darius,” she whispered, breathless, pleading.
And I knew
The next step would ruin us both.
- Writer
