~Darien’s Point Of View~

...

THREE YEARS LATER

The air in the Alpha’s study smells of unsheathed steel. Outside, the sky over Duskwind is the color of a fresh bruise, purple and angry, reflecting the carnage that has stained the pack lands red.

Darien stands by the mahogany desk, his fingers trembling as he cinches the leather straps of his tactical chest plate. His movements are jagged, fueled by adrenaline and a cold, visceral terror he hasn’t felt since the day his brothers died.

Thirty-five.

The number loops in his mind like a funeral dirge. Thirty-five pack members, consisting of mothers, sentinels, and three children were found in the early hours of the morning, their throats opened professionally and bodies arranged in a mockery of a ritual.

"They are coming for the heart, Darien," Kairos, his wolf, growls.

His voice is usually the anchor of reason that keeps Darien’s temper in check. But today, even Kairos sounds like he’s pacing a cage of thorns.

"The Labyrinth didn’t just break them. It replaced them. We brought a plague home in silk ribbons, and now the nursery is in danger."

"I know," Darien whispers, his voice a ghost of itself.

The heavy doors suddenly burst open, and Heidi rushes in. Three years of leadership have changed her; she carries herself with a grace that commands the room, her silver crown replaced today by a simple leather headband to keep her hair from her eyes.

But the eyes—those wide eyes that Darien fell in love with—are wide with a desperate pleading.

"Darien, stop!" she cries, her voice echoing off the high ceilings.

She reaches him, her hands flying to his chest, trying to stall his movements as he reaches for his blade. "You cannot go out there like this. Not with the blood-fever in your eyes. We need a strategy. We need to wait for Val’s report."

Darien doesn’t look at her. He can’t. If he looks at her, he’ll see the guilt that is eating her alive, and he’ll break.

"Val is currently trying to keep the Western gate from being overrun, Heidi. There is no time for reports. There is only the hunt."

"The Moon Goddess spoke to me this morning," Heidi whispers.

She grips his forearms, her nails digging into the leather. "She said we must be careful. She said the shadows in Junie’s mind are not just memories—they are entities. If you rush into the forest now, you’re walking into a trap."

Darien finally snaps his gaze to hers. His eyes are no longer the warm brown she knows; they are a flickering amber, the mark of a wolf pushed to the edge of his sanity.

"The Moon Goddess?" He barks out an unbelievable laugh.

"Is this the same Moon Goddess who told you it was a ’blessing’ to open the Labyrinth three years ago? The same one who whispered that Junie was just a girl who needed a home? Because while you were listening to her, Junie was sharpening her teeth. She outsmarted us, Heidi. She spent three years acting the part of the traumatized survivor, making us feel pity, while she built an army under our very noses."

Heidi flinches as if he’d slapped her. The guilt in her scent is overwhelming—it smells of bitter almonds and salt. "I wanted to save them, Darien. They were our people. Junie was my friend. She was there for me when I had nothing!"

"And now she’s the one taking everything!" Darien bellows, his voice shifting into an Alpha-roar that makes the windows rattle in their frames.

"Steady," Kairos warns, though his own hackles are raised. "She is your mate, not your enemy. But she is blinded by the light she wants to see in others. You are the shadow that must protect that light."

Darien takes a shuddering breath, forcing the roar back down. He reaches out, grabbing Heidi’s shoulders and pulling her close until their foreheads touch.

"Heidi, listen to me. I love you. I love you more than the air in my lungs. And I love our son. Little Jarek is asleep in the nursery right now, protected by guards, but for how long? Thirty-five people died in their sleep last night. They bypassed the scent-wards. They knew the patrol routes."

He pulls back just enough to look into her shimmering eyes. "The pack is starting to talk, Heidi. They are scared, and when wolves are scared, they look for someone to blame. They are blaming you for bringing the ’Forgotten’ back. They are calling this the ’Queen’s Curse.’ I cannot let that happen. I will not let our son grow up in a pack that looks at his mother with resentment. I won’t let him grow up in the same toxic, paranoid environment I had to survive."

"Then let us go together!" Heidi pleads, her voice breaking. "Let me stand with you as your Alpha."

"No." Darien’s voice is final. "If we both go and this is a trap, Jarek is an orphan. If you go and you are forced to kill Junie, the guilt will destroy you. But if I go... I am just the King doing what is necessary. I am the sword. You stay here. You are the heart. You keep the people calm and you protect our boy."

"We are strong enough," Kairos adds with a low vibration in Darien’s skull. "The Labyrinth wolves are fast, but they are hollow. We are whole. We have something they will never have again: a reason to live that isn’t spite."

"Darien, please," Heidi whispers, tears finally spilling. "I have a bad feeling. This isn’t just about Junie. They brought something back from the depths—something the demons themselves were afraid of. You’re strong, but they aren’t just wolves anymore. They are something else."

"I am a Bellamy Alpha. I am strong enough to take them on alone if I have to, and I have the best warriors in the world behind me. I’m not just doing this for the pack, Heidi. I’m doing this for you. I’m going to end this threat so they can never look at you with anything but the respect you deserve. I’m going to fix your mistake so our son has a world worth inheriting."

He then leans in, pressing a hard, lingering kiss to her lips. It tastes of goodbye, though he refuses to acknowledge it. He pulls away, grabbing his helmet and the heavy cloak lined with the furs of the old world.

" I’m going to end this tonight, Heidi. For the pack. For you. For Jarek."

He turns and walks toward the door, his heavy boots thumping against the stone.

"Darien!" Heidi calls after him, her voice reaching a pitch of pure terror. "Don’t go!"

He doesn’t stop. He can’t. If he looks back one more time, he’ll see the future he’s terrified of losing, and his courage will fail him.

As he strides down the hallway, the walls seem to close in. The shadows flicker, and for a split second, he thinks he sees a pair of glowing, milky-white eyes watching him from the darkness of a corridor.

"The hunt begins," Kairos snarls.

Darien reaches the grand staircase and sees his warriors gathered below with grim faces. He raises his hand, the blade catching the dim light of the chandeliers.

"Tonight, we don’t just hunt wolves. We exorcise a cancer. Move out!" He decreed.

The roar that follows is deafening, but as Darien leads them out into the freezing night air, he can still hear the faint, muffled sound of Heidi sobbing in the study above.

She’ll understand when he’s back how he needed to do this... For his family. He can’t sit back and become the type of father his Father was—no.

Jarek deserves a courageous father... A father who actually protects him.