Chapter 12: The First Morning Together-part 2
1339 Words
By 6pm the statement was out.
By 6:05 the internet exploded.
Lena did not watch. She was in the room, sitting on the floor by the window, drawing shapes in the condensation.
Darius came in with dinner. Actual dinner. Not room service. He had cooked it.
“You cook,” she said.
“I do a lot of things,” he said. Pasta. Garlic bread. It smelled real.
They ate at the small table by the window. No phones. No tablet.
“How are you,” Darius asked.
“Tired.”
“Of me.”
“Of everything.”
He nodded. “Fair.”
After dinner he did not go to the couch. He sat on the floor too. A few feet away.
“The Elders called again,” he said. “They want to meet you. Properly. Without the cameras.”
“When.”
“Next week. If you’re up to it.”
“I’m not.”
“I know.” He picked at the carpet. “Lena.”
“Hmm.”
“The text earlier. The one I took your phone for.”
Her stomach dropped. “What did it say.”
“That the baby won’t survive the month. That packs don’t accept half-breeds. That you should leave now before someone makes you.”
Lena closed her eyes. “And you didn’t tell me.”
“I didn’t want you to see it.”
“I have a right to see it.”
“I know.” He sounded tired. “I’m trying to figure out where the line is. Between protecting you and lying to you.”
Lena looked at him. Really looked. He looked wrecked.
“You’re bad at this,” she said.
“I know.”
“But you’re trying.”
“Yeah.”
She scooted a little closer. Not much. “Darius.”
“Yeah.”
“When you said our child in the statement. Did you mean it.”
He was quiet for a long time. “I don’t know how to be a father,” he said finally. “My father was an asshole. My mother left. I run a company and a pack and I’m good at that. I’m not good at this.”
“But you want to try.”
“I have to try.” He met her eyes. “It’s ours.”
Ours.
The word hit her different this time.
She nodded. “Okay.”
“Okay,” he said.
They sat there until the city lights came on.
At 10, Darius stood. “Bed.”
“Whose bed.”
“Both of them. Pick.”
Lena got up. She walked to the big bed. The one in the middle. She pulled back the covers.
Darius watched her. “You sure.”
“For protection,” she said. And got in.
He did not get in. He went to the couch. But he left the door to the bathroom open. And the light on low.
“So you can find me,” he said.
Lena pulled the blanket up. Cedar and winter.
Her phone was gone but her mind was loud.
She thought about the statement. Our child.
She thought about the text. She thought about Jace being exiled tonight.
Sleep came slow.
At 3am she woke up to noise. Not in the room. In the hall.
Voices. Low. Angry.
She sat up. Darius was already at the door. Shirtless. Gun in his hand.
“Stay here,” he said.
“What is it.”
“Pack business.”
He went out. Closed the door behind him.
Lena waited. Two minutes. Five.
Then she got up. She could not just lie there.
She opened the door a crack.
Down the hall, near the elevator, were three men. Wolves. She recognized one. Elder Vark.
“You can’t keep her locked up here,” Vark was saying. “She’s a liability.”
“She’s in my home,” Darius said. Calm. Too calm. “In my room. Under my protection. You touch her, you answer to me.”
“She’s human.”
“She’s carrying my heir.”
“She’s a mistake.”
Darius moved so fast Lena did not see it. One second he was talking. The next his hand was around Vark’s throat and Vark was against the wall.
“Don’t,” Darius said. Soft. “Ever. Call her that again.”
Vark’s eyes went wide. “You would kill me. Over her.”
“I would kill anyone. Over her.”
He let go. Vark dropped, coughing.
“Get out,” Darius said. “All of you. Before I decide exile isn’t enough.”
They left. Fast.
Darius stood there for a second. Breathing hard. Then he turned and saw Lena in the doorway.
He walked to her. Checked her face. Her hands.
“You okay,” he asked.
“I’m okay.”
“Go back to bed.”
“Darius.”
“What.”
“Come with me.”
He blinked. “What.”
“To bed. The big one. Please. I don’t want to be alone.”
For a second he looked like he would say no. Then he nodded.
They did not talk. He lay on top of the covers. Fully clothed. A few inches between them.
Lena stared at the ceiling. “Thank you. For what you said. To Vark.”
“Don’t thank me.”
“Why not.”
“Because I meant it.”
Silence.
After a while Lena whispered, “Darius.”
“Hmm.”
“If they come for me. If they really try.”
“I won’t let them.”
“How do you know.”
“Because you’re mine to protect.”
Mine.
Not the contract. Not the heir. Her.
Lena turned on her side. Darius was already looking at her.
“Get some sleep, Carter,” he said.
“You too, Wolfe.”
He almost smiled.
They did not touch. But they slept.
---
Morning came fast.
Lena woke to sunlight and the smell of coffee. Darius was already up. In the kitchen. Making breakfast.
He looked over his shoulder when she came out. Hair messy. Sweater too big.
“You slept,” he said.
“A little.”
“Good.” He poured her tea. “We have a problem.”
“Of course we do.”
“The Dren family requested a meeting. Neutral ground. They say they want to discuss the future of the pack.”
Lena took the tea. “Translation.”
“They want to see if I’m weak.”
“And are you.”
Darius set his mug down. “No.”
He walked to her. Stopped close. Not touching.
“Lena. When I said ours last night. I meant it. Not just the baby. This. Us. Figuring it out.”
Lena’s chest hurt. “That’s a lot, Darius.”
“I know.” He ran a hand through his hair. “You don’t have to answer now. But I need you to know.”
She looked at him. Tired Alpha. Bad at feelings. Trying anyway.
“Okay,” she said. “I know.”
His shoulders dropped, like he had been holding his breath.
Beta knocked. “Car is ready, Mr. Wolfe.”
Darius nodded. Then he looked at Lena.
“Come with me. To the meeting. Not to talk. Just to be there.”
Lena hesitated. Then she stood.
“Okay.”
“Okay,” he said again. Like it mattered.
They walked to the elevator together.
Before the doors closed, Darius pressed a button. The doors stopped.
He reached out and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.
“You don’t have to be scared,” he said. “Not with me.”
The doors closed.
Down 80 floors, the city was waiting.
The pack was waiting.
The Dren family was waiting.
Lena put her hand on her stomach.
And for the first time, she did not feel like she was doing this alone.
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