Rise of the broken Luna

Chapter 002

The Storm Inside

Darius’s POV

I have fought battles. Having front line experience, I am leading my troop with accuracy and ferocity. Nothing, at least nothing should, could knock me down. But here I stood in the huge hall seeing the woman I had exiled years earlier, and my existence collapsed.

ELara went back. And not only as well as also.

Her comments choked me even with my best efforts to preserve control. Her eyes cold and her voice strong, she had declared, "He's your son."

I looked not away from the young man standing close to her—his black hair, his violet eyes. My Alpha instincts kicked in and helped me to stay in control before my pack; my heart raced in my chest but I forced myself to remain calm.

Nobody else in this room knew what this was for. They were naive to the anarchy bursting inside me; Elara's presence had sent this storm with her.

She muttered "Darius," her voice slicing across the tension once more. We should converse.

Trying to match her look, I blinked, but my head kept whirling. small child. Son kindly? In what ways would I have missed knowing?

With scarcely control over my voice, "Take him to a guest room." We will talk later.

Elara closed her eyes and a flutter of fury surfaced. NO. We are going to talk now.

This woman was not the same one I knew five years before. She was more aggressive and rougher. Her posture, the anger in her voice—all different—but the coldness in her eyes most bothered me.

Breathing, I looked about the space. I had to get her away from here's pack's inquisitive eyes. They cannot see my lack of control in this. "Fine," I said with a loud voice inside. I felt nothing but. trailed behind me.

I walked her down the corridor, our footsteps echoing to break the quiet. The walls closed in around me, and with each step her weight grew heavier. This was the woman I had turned down and the one I had been driven to leave—because I felt it would be better. She was back now, and there was nowhere I could flee from the aftermath.

Unlocking my own study, I waited for her to arrive. When she did, the room felt smaller and the air thicker. I turned to meet her after shutting the door behind us; the silence between us pulsed with unsung words.

"What is this, Elara? Though I knew the response already, I asked. "Why now?"

Her voice stayed unpunished. She said, simply, "Because it was time." "He is entitled to find the name of his father. And you, too—" She stopped, her throat seized by the words. You are worthy of the truth.

I clenched my palms, the uncertainty squirming inside me merging with frustration. Years ago, you could have assured me. You may have— "

You may have listened as well. She shot back, her eyes flashing. Darius, I was unwelcome here, you made it quite clear. You dismissed me. Your chosen mate, over here, detected Selene's falsehoods. In that age, what would have made you turn back?

Her words really impacted me, bringing back past hurts I had tried to overlook. She absolutely knew what I needed. I hadn't been in an environment appropriate for listening back in those days. Driven away since I thought it was the best decision for the pack—for me—I let doubt and fear control me.

I attempted to ground myself and took a long inhale. 'What then now?' My voice as asked is quieter. "What do you hope for from me?"

Elara's eyes softened momentarily but not much. Her voice crisp, she said, "I want you to know your son." And I want responses. What, Darius? Why did you find them reliable instead of me?

Her questions hung between us, more weight than I expected. How could I convey the truth when I was convinced I comprehended it fully myself?

"I was trying to protect the pack," I continued, the words slurred as they exited my mouth. "There was a lot on line at risk." Selene convinced me you were a threat, hiding something, that you were—

"I was hardly hiding at all!" Elara's voice trembled now with rage. You let her run your life. Your decisions were guided by your worry of my human side.

She wasn't misled. More involved, though, than just that. The prophecy, the one whispered in the furthest recesses of the pack, carried immense weight for me. It told of a Luna who would bring anarchy—a half-blooded disturbance of the pack's equilibrium. Using that prophecy against Elara, Selene had sown seeds of doubt in my mind, which I had let flourish.

Now standing here, though, I saw my mistake as I stared into Elara's eyes. The truth was right before me; I had been too blind to notice.

I said, the words bitter in my mouth, "I made a mistake". "I thought I was shielding the pack; I was wrong."

Elara's countenance remained austere, but I could see the flutter of hurt, betrayal, and something else in her eyes. Something I wouldn't dare name.

"We cannot change the past," she said, her voice softer suddenly. But I won't let Kael repeat the same blunders with me.

I gasped loudly, my guilt dragging down me. "I want to know him," I said. "I want to straighten this out."

Elara stared at me for some time, maybe searching for something—truth, maybe. She nodded then, a small, reluctant motion.

"We'll see," she said, her voice dubious. "You should know, though, that things have changed from years past. Darius, you turned aside a woman—not one I knew. I have grown.

That makes perfect sense to me. She had obviously strong posture and passion. Still, it is complicated facing my past no less.

We paused before I could say anything at a knock on the door. Rhys entered the room looking dejected.

"We have a problem," he said, staring fleetingly between Elara and me. Selene knows she is going back.

My tummy began to decrease. Selene would also surely know as well. She had eyes everywhere; if she knew Elara was here, things would get worse. substantially more horrible.

Elara's gaze focused. Let her be here. I am not afraid of her.

Still, I could see the strain in her shoulders and the way her hands stiffened at her sides. Rather than afraid, she was ready. And I knew the reason as well. Selene was dangerous, not only a rival with jealousy. She would not let Elara back into the pack without struggle either.

My voice low, I said, "I won't let her near you," as I headed for Elara. "I'll see Selene taken care of."

Elara burst into laughter. "You didn't manage her last time, Darius, very well. Why ought I to start to believe you could now?

Her comments hurt even if I couldn't disagree with them. I had fallen in love once Selene twisted me. But this would be different from last time. They were required, truly.

Rhys cleared his throat, clearly conscious of the tension between us. We have to be quick. If Selene is moving, we do not have much time.

I nodded, my thoughts swirling with various options. "Get the pack leaders together," I told Rhys. "We should be ready."

Heart pounding, I turned back to Elara as Rhys left the room. "Stay with Kael," I said quietly now. "I will guard both of you."

Elara did not answer straight away. She fixed me for a long time, her eyes once more penetrating mine. She nodded at last, but our distance remained one I could never be sure I could ever close.

As I watched her go, I thought everything was slipping out of my reach. The years-long storm that had been building was about to strike; this time I knew I would be strong enough to survive.

Later that evening, I was at my workplace staring out the window at the black, starry forest. My ideas whirled with the events of the day, and I couldn't get rid of the sense that something much darker was on its way. Elara's return started something I still find difficult.

From my musings, I turned to see Rhys stepping in following a soft door tap.

His voice strained, he said, "She's here." "Selene wants to talk to you.

I clenched my teeth, the tension building within me. She did, obviously. Selene would not keep quiet—not when her pack's control was under assault.

My voice was solid but within I felt anything but calm as I answered, "Bring her in."

Rhys nodded and pushed aside so Selene could enter the room. She moved with an elegance I had before found captivating, but now it just brought back the lies she had spun about me.

"Darius," she said, her voice as silk. "I am aware Elara is back.

I did not respond immediately. Instead, I glanced at her, searching her front for defects. Everything she had told me years ago had been twisted, meant to drive Elara out and confirm.