The sun had barely touched the horizon, but Darius Silverthrone hadn't slept.
He stood shirtless at the edge of his balcony, the early morning breeze brushing over his skin like a whisper. Below, the capital stirred to life . Merchants opening stalls, guards changing shifts, children laughing in the distance.
None of it touched him.
Inside his chest, something growled and twisted, clawing from within. His wolf was pacing again, furious and restless, throwing itself against the mind cage Darius had forced it into since last night.
Rosaline.
The name echoed in his head like a song he didn't want to hear but couldn't silence.
His fists clenched against the stone railing, jaw set as he tried to steady his breathing.
"Shut up," he whispered hoarsely to the beast within.
But it wouldn't.
It had been silent for years, subdued under layers of discipline and control. But from the moment he'd laid eyes on her, something inside him had shifted .... no, shattered.
The first time she'd spoken his name, it had felt like the world held its breath. Her voice had softened edges he didn't know existed in him.
And when she cried…
Darius closed his eyes, dragging his fingers through his hair in frustration. Her tears played in his mind like a curse.
Her voice trembled when she asked if he was going to reject her. And then she ran. She ran from him .... her mate.
He gritted his teeth. "She shouldn't have come here."
But the thought rang hollow.
He knew the truth.
She hadn't come for him. She didn't know who he was. Fate had played its game… and he had crushed it.
He slammed his palm against the stone pillar, cracking the surface. "Damn it!"
His wolf howled in rage and heartbreak, the two emotions tangled together so tightly Darius didn't know where one began and the other ended.
Why did she have to be so… perfect?
Not just in the way she looked ..... though the memory of her soft lips, wide eyes, and delicate frame haunted him .... but in the way she had felt.
Her presence had unraveled everything. He hadn't wanted to kiss her, but the moment their eyes met in the square, the world had narrowed until she was the only thing that mattered.
He told himself it was impulse.
He lied.
There was something about her, something ancient and familiar. She smelled like pinewood, roses and moonlight, and when she looked at him with such confusion and hope ... damn it, he had wanted to give in.
But he couldn't.
He was a king. A ruler of wolves. Bound by power, duty, strategy.... Not fate.
"I can't need her," he muttered aloud.
But you do, his wolf growled inside him.
Darius sank down to sit against the wall, elbows on his knees, face buried in his hands. "She doesn't even know what she's asking me to do…"
To choose her was to surrender control ... to feel emotions that could compromise everything he built and believed in.
But to reject her…
He remembered the look in her eyes. Not hatred. Not anger. Just… pain.
And worse ... grace.
She still wished him well.
That was the part that made him ache the most. She didn't scream. She didn't beg. She let him go, even as she shattered in front of him.
A knock came at the door, then Marcus's voice.
"You didn't sleep, did you?"
"I said I didn't want to talk," Darius replied coldly.
Marcus opened the door anyway, stepping in and closing it behind him. "Yeah, you also said you weren't going to regret it. How's that going?"
Darius didn't respond.
Marcus sighed and leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed. "You look like hell."
"Thanks."
"Your wolf is growling. Loud. It's echoing through the pack link. We can all feel your unrest."
Darius looked up slowly, eyes glowing faintly gold. "He won't shut up."
"That's because you're trying to silence something that was never meant to be quiet. The bond exists for a reason, Darius."
"I know that," he snapped. "But I never asked for it."
"No one does," Marcus replied evenly. "It chooses you. Just like Rosaline didn't ask to be your mate. But she was willing to accept it."
Darius clenched his fists. "I didn't reject her out of cruelty."
"Then why?"
"you know why. When we were children, you saw what happened between my parents and they were fated mates.
"My father was in agony even untill he drew his last breath,Marcus ....am afraid... I'm afraid of what she'll do to me."
Marcus blinked.
Darius stood, pacing. "You don't understand. I've spent my whole life being trained, raised to rule without weakness. My emotions are not my allies, Marcus. They are liabilities. I can't afford to lose control."
Marcus stepped forward. "Then what do you call last night? Rejecting her didn't bring you control. It tore you apart."
Darius looked away, voice low. "I thought it would help."
"But it didn't."
"No," Darius whispered. "It made it worse."
They stood in silence, broken only by the chirping of birds beyond the windows.
"I feel terrible inside," Darius admitted, voice barely above a breath. "Like something inside me is breaking, and I can't stop it."
Marcus looked at his friend .... no, his king ... and saw something rare. Vulnerability.
"You're not weak, Darius," he said gently. "You're scared. And that's okay. But don't mistake fear for clarity."
"I hurt her," Darius said, eyes haunted. "She didn't deserve that."
"No," Marcus agreed. "She didn't."
"I don't know how to fix it."
"Then maybe don't try to fix it. Start by admitting what you feel."
Darius opened his mouth, then closed it.
"What do you feel, Darius?" Marcus asked again, stepping closer.
Darius's shoulders dropped. "I feel like I just lost the one thing that could have made me whole."
There it was .... the truth.
Marcus nodded. "Then what are you going to do about it?"
Darius didn't answer.
Marcus stepped back. "Because if you don't act soon, someone else might see what you refused to. And fate… fate doesn't wait forever."
You should thank the moon goddess that she ran before you uttered the forbidden words and rejected her properly... Else if the bond was broken last night...there's no mending that.
With that, Marcus left the room, the door clicking softly behind him.
Darius stood alone again, the weight of the morning pressing heavily on him. He looked once more toward the city .... somewhere out there, Rosaline was likely there, leaving?, hurting like him?, he didn't know.
Or maybe,
To walk away from him forever.
His hands trembled.
And for the first time in a long time, Darius Silverthrone wasn't sure if he had the strength to let her go.