Lorelei POV

"How long have you been standing behind me?" I asked, turning to look at him.

He was leaning casually against one of the bookshelves, wearing the cockiest grin I had ever seen.

"About five minutes," he replied smoothly before pushing himself off the shelf and taking the empty chair across from me. "You have terrible situational awareness."

I let out a quiet scoff and crossed my arms over my chest.

Of course I did.

Without my wolf, my senses were no better than an ordinary human’s. I could barely notice anything unless it was right in front of me.

Still, my annoyance didn’t last long.

The longer I looked at him, the more I noticed something was... off.

Not in a bad way, exactly, but Darius was always impeccably put together. His clothes were always neat, his hair perfectly styled, and he somehow managed to look polished no matter the situation.

Now, there were faint dark circles beneath his eyes, and his usually immaculate hair was slightly messy, as though he had been running his fingers through it all day.

He looked exhausted.

"Where have you been?" I asked without thinking.

It had been almost a month since I’d last seen him, right before I collapsed.

Now he was suddenly sitting in front of me as though no time had passed at all, even though he looked like he’d barely had a proper night’s sleep.

His grin softened ever so slightly as he studied my face.

Then the corner of his lips curled upward again.

He leaned forward, resting his elbow on the table and propping his chin against his palm as he tilted his head.

"Did you miss me?"

The question caught me completely off guard.

I let out a small scoff, trying to sound more casual than I felt.

"Aside from Skye, you’re the only person I’m close to around here," I admitted but then my voice grew quieter as I added. "You also said we’re friends, so... of course I missed you."

His grin widened instantly, and the corners of his eyes crinkled with obvious amusement.

Under that unwavering stare, warmth crept up my neck and spread across my cheeks until my face felt unbearably hot.

Unable to hold his gaze any longer, I quickly looked away and pretended to focus on the open book lying in front of me.

"You’ve gained a lot more weight since the last time I saw you," he said so suddenly that my head snapped back up.

My eyes widened in horror.

"Is that a bad thing?" I asked, a sudden wave of self-consciousness washing over me.

Darius chuckled softly in response. Leaning across the table, he reached out and gently cupped my face. Before I could protest, he used his thumb and forefinger to playfully pinch my slightly chubbier cheeks.

"If it were a bad thing," he murmured, his voice laced with amusement, "I wouldn’t be able to do this."

"Hey!" I protested, swatting his hands away.

My cheeks burned as I rubbed them, but my reaction only made him laugh harder, the rich sound echoing through the quiet library.

"I’m joking, I’m joking," he said, finally pulling his hands back and raising them in mock surrender.

His laughter gradually faded, and his expression softened as he looked at me.

"But seriously, you look healthy. You look good."

"Thank you," I replied softly, genuine warmth spreading through my chest at his words.

Because he was right.

The constant fog in my head had started to lift, and for the first time in years, I actually felt lighter. Stronger. I had more energy than I could remember having in a long time.

Still, my curiosity hadn’t gone away.

I let out a quiet sigh and leaned forward slightly.

"Where have you been?" I asked again.

This time, the playful light in his eyes disappeared, replaced by something much more serious.

He glanced toward the library door before looking back at me.

"There have been ongoing threats beyond the border," he said, lowering his voice. "I probably shouldn’t even be telling you this since it’s highly confidential pack business. But seeing as you don’t have any friends to gossip with, I don’t think it’ll be a problem."

I raised an eyebrow at the jab and the corner of his mouth twitched into a brief smirk before his expression turned serious again.

"An Alpha from a neighboring territory, along with a few members of our own council, have been plotting to assassinate the Alpha King," he explained quietly.

Hearing that, my eyes widened in shock, and a loud gasp escaped my lips before I could stop it.

"What about the Alpha? Is he okay?" I asked almost instinctively and Darius’s brow twitched.

Something unreadable flickered across his face, but it disappeared.

"Yeah, he’s fine," Darius replied, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. "There’s a reason he’s the Alpha King. He’s handled far worse than this."

He let out a quiet sigh before continuing.

"Besides, this was still in the planning stages. We managed to shut it down quietly before it could escalate. That’s why no one else on this estate knows anything about it. We had to deal with it from the shadows."

"Ah..."

I wasn’t sure what to say after that.

I didn’t know much about politics or power struggles like this. Rogue Alphas, secret plots, and council members conspiring against their own Alpha King belonged to a world that felt completely separate from the one I’d grown up in.

"I’m glad you’re okay," I said instead, offering him a small smile and Darius’s playful grin returned almost immediately.

His gaze drifted from my face to the open book resting on the table between us, taking in the neat notes I’d been carefully writing.

"I see you’re studying," he observed, lightly tapping his fingers against the edge of the table.

"Yeah," I replied, glancing down at the pages with a small sense of pride. "Mrs. Whitmore gave me some homework."

"Homework?" He raised an eyebrow. "She’s really making you work for it, huh?"

"She said I’m making good progress," I countered, instinctively defending my tutor. "She just wants to keep challenging me."

Darius leaned forward, his eyes scanning the dense text spread across the open pages.

"World history?"

"Geography, actually," I corrected gently. "I’m supposed to memorize the neighboring territories and their ruling families."

"Oh..." He leaned back with an exaggerated sigh. "That sounds tough. I guess this would be the absolute worst time to ask you something."

"Ask what?" I questioned, my brows knitting together as I looked at him curiously.

He let out a slow breath and ran a hand through his hair, as though he was trying to figure out how to bring it up.

"Well... there’s this upcoming charity event," he began. "The Alpha and I are expected to attend. Since it’s a smaller, more private gathering..." He paused before looking directly at me. "I was hoping you’d come with me."

My heart flipped violently inside my chest.

Leave the estate?

Just the thought of stepping beyond these walls for the first time in so long filled me with excitement.

And if I still planned to escape this place one day, this would also give me a chance to familiarize myself with the roads and the areas surrounding the pack.

The only problem was the terrifying man who ruled this estate.

"Is the Alpha okay with that?" I asked cautiously, my voice dropping as my eyes instinctively flicked toward the library door, half expecting Kaelen to appear the moment his name was spoken. "Does he know?"

"I don’t think he’d mind," Darius replied smoothly.

Even so, I didn’t miss the way his gaze briefly shifted toward the corner of the room before returning to me, so quickly that I might have overlooked it if I hadn’t been watching him so closely.

"So," he said, leaning forward with an expectant smile, "what do you say?"

The fear of Kaelen was still there.

But my desperate craving for freedom, fresh air, and a change of scenery was even stronger.

This time, I didn’t hesitate.

I nodded eagerly.

"Yes, of course"