Claimed By The Mistborne Alpha-Chapter 57: Fade

"What?" I whispered, thinking I’d misheard him.

Darek stood with his eyes wide, barefoot on the cold stone floor, his expression unreadable. His shirt fit him like second skin and even though it was just plain and black and nothing like the Alpha gear he usually wore, he somehow exuded the authority no other Lycan had. "If I changed...," he said softer this time, "If I tried...would you give me another chance?"

I should have laughed and told him no immediately. Why would the great Alpha Commander change suddenly for someone like me?

"Chance for what, Darek? Because I’m with Valden now."

"So what? Just leave him. I’m your mate."

"Did you forget that you completed the bond by manipulation? I’m sure Valden will find a way to break this bond that we have as soon as he finds out."

Darek’s eyes lit up and a slow smile curved his lips.

"Don’t tell me, Maeve. He doesn’t know you’re completely mated to me yet?"

Heat burned under my skin and I looked away. "We didn’t get a chance to talk. I was already on my way over here before I could."

"That’s a shame," Darek murmured. "I would have loved to see his face when he finds out you’re mine in every way possible."

"Please stop talking like this is permanent. I’ll make sure this bond gets broken some way or another. You’ve already tried plenty of times to keep me bound to you. I’m sure I can find another way to get rid of you." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"That’s not possible unless one of us is dead."

"Wha–" My mouth dropped open, and then I composed myself. I should have seen it coming. "You’ll never change Darek. I know it. I don’t know how you became what you are right now, but there will never be a time when I trust you."

"Every time I breathe and every time my pulse spikes, your body reacts on its own. I don’t think you have a choice anymore about hating me, Maeve. You keep pretending it’s just disgust but deep down you know what it really is."

"You’re insane," I mumbled. "I should just kill you for what you did."

He smiled, slow and dangerous. "Then do it."

I blinked. "What?"

"Kill me," he said, spreading his arms wide, like he was offering himself. "Right here and right now. Even with the stone around you, you’re way more powerful than I am right now. So end it, Maeve. If that’s what you really want."

The air between us fizzled with the invisible thread that was binding us. I tried to summon it. The power and the fury, but the pull between us was too strong now. And my hands only shook.

"That’s what I thought," he said quietly. "When the Green Moon finally fades, you know what’s going to happen, don’t you?"

"When it fades?" I repeated, already dreading the answer. "What happens, Darek?"

He looked calm, too calm.

"Lycans are the strongest right after the mating ceremony. It’s when the powers of both the mates combine and thrive the most. Nothing can bring us down now. I recommend you stop pushing me away, Maeve. Because I don’t want you dead. Not even close. The war that’s coming, it’s not what you think. These people here, are the same kind of monsters you think reside in Parthenn. You need to rethink your decision to make me your villain."

"I don’t believe you."

"You will," he murmured. "Soon."

Before I could respond, a sound shattered just above us. Dust fell from the ceiling and shouts from outside echoed from somewhere in the tunnels. Someone was attacking us. And there was only one person who could be responsible for it.

"Right on time," Darek whispered.

"What did you do?"

He ignored me as he stared up at the ceiling. Then he looked at me with his striking eyes that I still couldn’t manage to look away from easily.

"I appreciate you not telling Valden about us yet. Because I have a feeling my plans wouldn’t have been very successful if you did. He wouldn’t have let you come here to see me right now."

With a sharp movement of his wrists, the heavy chains binding his arms fell down on the floor, snapped clean in half like a brittle wire.

I stumbled back, my body instantly on alert, alarm bells ringing. "No–"

"Don’t make this harder than it needs to be," he said, stepping closer. His voice was lower now, almost like he was pleading with me. "Come with me before they drag you into something you can’t win. You think Avelora and her rebels care about you? You’re just their weapon. But I–," his voice softened and his eyes looked at me with tenderness. "I may have treated you the same once. I agree I tried to use you for my own gains. But not anymore. You are my mate. I understand you more than you would ever know."

"Stay the hell away from me, Darek."

But before I could summon the power burning within me, the ceiling cracked, this time splitting open with a violent tremor. The ceiling was literally raining down on us.

I could hear the chaos outside. The Lycans posted outside the cellar were running and shouting as the fear gripped them as much as it did me. As the realisation dawned on them but by bit.

And before I knew it, Darek reached for me. His hands closed around my wrists just as the ground too gave beneath us until there was just dust and noise and a sort of blinding light.

When I opened my eyes again, there was nothing else except the forest. Tall trees with trunks as wide as four people obscuring any path that lay between them. And I was standing in the clearing in the forest where I had met Darek for the first time.

And his arms were around me, holding me tightly against his chest like he had no intention of letting go.