Alpha Darius Half Witch

Chapter 5

Darius's POV

I sat down on the bench in my room, my eyes fixed on the spot where Luna had unleashed her powers from the glass window. The memory of her energy, her strength, still lingered in the air. I could feel it like a hum of electricity crawling over my skin and it only fueled p excitement.

Beta Elias stood beside me, his gaze fixed on me with an intensity that bordered on discomfort. I didn’t need to look at him to know what expression he wore; I could feel his stare heavy on the side of my face. I knew that look, that unspoken question. He wanted to say something cautious, something sensible but as always, he held himself back.

I didn’t need to hear it anyway. I already knew what he was thinking. "Darius, are you sure about this? Are you sure she’s worth the risk?" Exactly the thought swirling inside that carefully composed head of his.

But I was sure. I was certain Luna was the key to unlocking our pack’s true potential. And I would stop at nothing to harness her power.

“Say it, Beta,” I said, not looking at him. My tone carried both challenge and boredom. “Say what’s on your mind.”

Beta Elias Storm was one of the most skilled people I knew at hiding his emotions, erasing them from his face so thoroughly that most wolves mistook him for cold. But I knew him too well. His emotions weren’t gone they were buried, layered, tucked beneath years of discipline. I could read most of them if I looked closely enough.

The silence that followed was oppressive, heavy with unspoken words. If silence had a weight, this one pressed on my shoulders like wet sand. But I knew Beta wouldn’t speak against me. Not now, not ever. He was loyal, bound to me by ties of blood, oath, and duty.

Still, that didn’t stop him from worrying. That was his flaw: his loyalty came with a conscience attached.

He remained silent, his eyes fixed on me with a mixture of concern and resignation. A flicker of defiance too, though he tried hard to mask it. I ignored it, my mind already focused on the next step, the next move in my plan to claim Luna’s powers for myself.

“Speak, Beta,” I urged, my eyes still fixed on the spot where Luna’s power had cracked the air like a whip.

Beta exhaled slowly, the sound controlled and even. “I don’t understand, Darius,” he said finally, his voice low and measured. “You knew the prisoner wasn’t going to die. So why bring him in the first place?”

His tone wasn’t accusatory, but it carried the weight of someone begging for clarity.

I smiled a slow, calculating smile that stretched across my lips without reaching my eyes. “Emotions, Beta. They’re the key to unlocking Luna’s true potential. The more emotional she gets, the stronger she becomes.”

Beta’s expression tightened, skepticism creeping into his voice. “And you knew she’d get emotional if she thought she was going to kill someone?”

I nodded. “Exactly. And it wasn’t just that. I knew she’d be emotional because I told her she was going to be a killer, that she’d have to embrace her darkness. It’s one of the reasons she couldn’t tame her power. She’s still learning to control her emotions, to harness them.”

Beta shifted slightly, crossing his arms. “You’re manipulating her.”

“Aren’t leaders supposed to?” I countered, looking at him for the first time. “I’m guiding her into becoming what she’s meant to be.”

His jaw tightened. “There’s a thin line between guiding someone and pushing them off a cliff.”

“Luna isn’t fragile,” I said dismissively. “She survived things that would’ve broken half our pack. She’ll survive this.”

Beta’s eyes narrowed. “And what other reasons?” he pressed.

I leaned back, steepling my fingers together as my mind drifted through every detail I’d observed about Luna. “Her fear of losing control… her fear of hurting others… it all fuels her power. And then there’s her desire for belonging, for acceptance after her old pack threw her away.”

I paused, studying the flicker of understanding that passed through Beta’s eyes.

“I knew she longed for acceptance,” I continued. “And no I’m not using it against her. I’ll use it in her favor. After all, I’ve accepted her. Our pack accepted her. She’s so desperate for it that she’ll do anything to achieve it, which is still one of the reasons she can’t control her powers.”

Beta turned fully to me. His expression was grim, edged with frustration. “You’re playing with fire, Darius.”

“I’ve always played with fire,” I replied calmly.

He shook his head slightly. “You think you can control her like that? Her power is unpredictable, unstable. One wrong push, one wrong emotional trigger she could tear half the pack grounds apart.”

“Then she’ll learn not to,” I said simply.

Beta’s voice dropped lower. “You talk like she’s a weapon, not a person.”

I tilted my head. “She’s both.”

His brows furrowed, but he didn’t argue. Not openly. Beta Elias was loyal, but he wasn’t blind. He saw the danger just as sharply as he saw my intention. And he didn’t like either.

“You’re not afraid she’ll turn against you?” he asked quietly.

“No,” I said without hesitation. “She won’t.”

“And how can you be so sure?”

“Because she needs us,” I answered. “She needs me. And deep down… she knows that.”

Beta studied me long enough that I could feel the shift in the room like the air thickened with the weight of his unspoken warnings.

Finally, he sighed loudly, rubbing a hand across his face. “Sometimes I wonder if you see the girl at all or if you only see what she can become.”

“I see everything,” I said. “The girl. The power. The threat. The opportunity. And I’m not blind to any of it.”

Beta looked away. “And if she loses control again?”

“Then I’ll be there,” I said. “And I’ll handle it.”

He laughed once with a short, humorless sound. “You keep saying that her power isn’t enough to level a mountain.”

I stood slowly, moving toward the window where the glass still carried faint cracks from Luna’s outburst. I touched the surface lightly. The coldness seeped into my fingertips.

“It’s because of that power,” I murmured, “that I won’t stop. Not until she unlocks everything she’s capable of.”

Beta stepped behind me. “And what happens when she finally does?”

I smiled at my reflection in the fractured glass.

“Then the world will remember the name of our pack,” I said softly. “And Luna… will remember who helped her rise.”

Beta exhaled, long and weary. “You’re playing with fire,” he repeated.

“Maybe,” I said. “But fire answers to those who know how to wield it.”

And despite Beta’s concerns, despite the danger, despite the chaos that Luna carried in her veins like molten gold… I knew I was right.

I would shape her power.

Or burn with it.

Either way, I wasn’t letting go.