Bentley little, p.38
The Dark Rising: A Dark enemies to lovers Fantasy Romance (The Hidden of Vrohkaria Book Two), page 38
“And that’s why you told me to run,” I whisper, and he nods.
“I hate I was put in a position of choosing duty and you.” He shakes his head, a scowl on his face. “The Highers interrogated so many guards to find out how Anna got hold of the port stone after you escaped, and I sat by and watched, never once revealing what I did while others suffered. The worst thing is, I don’t regret it for a single second. I made a choice and I did it without hesitation.”
Warmth fills me that he’s the one that ultimately helped us escape, that he did choose me over his duty, even if he didn’t know I was innocent, even if he let others suffer. He chose me.
Finally me.
Does that make me a bad person for not caring that guards suffered?
“When you escaped, I thought I could track you easily. I have your scent, so it should be simple, all I had to do was get close. And I did once, briefly.” His eyes flick up to mine. “I knew it was you, covered in a cloak to hide yourself. It was weeks after you left Wolvorn Castle and you were at a village. I watched you walk around, looking at every little thing, yet also with hardened knowledge as you passed stalls full of wares. I could have captured you then, brought you back to the Highers…
“But you didn’t.”
“I didn’t. I just wanted you within my sights at that moment. Then you saw your poster and a male approached you. I saw you tense, and then my focus wasn’t on you anymore, but the male after he left you.” I remember that male talking to me about my poster, remembering the nervousness I felt. “He stalked off while I stalked him. He turned back around, looking at you closely, too closely for my liking. When he moved, so did I.” His eyes turn black briefly and my heart rate kicks up. “I came up behind him, placed my hand over his mouth and dragged him further behind all the stalls until I reached an alleyway. I didn’t hesitate to snap his neck. I killed him in cold blood, he never stood a chance. When I dumped his body in a nearby cellar, I tried to find you again, but you were nowhere, and I couldn’t pinpoint your scent as there were too many people around. But I found a girl.”
I breathe deep, listening with rapt attention at the story he’s telling me. I know exactly what he’s on about, where he saw me and my body tingles at knowing he was there, just watching me, protecting me. I didn’t even know.
“She held a bucket, and though she had been crying, she was smiling. Do you know what she told me?” he asks.
“Zahariss,” I whisper, and he lifts a brow, a smirk appearing on his face. “I told her that Zahariss will eat the bad men, I remember her.”
“Bloodthirsty little wolf,” he murmurs. “Even then I couldn’t turn you in. Even then I was protecting you, ignoring my duty as an Elite to protect all when I was saving a traitor and letting her go.” He sighs, running a hand up my thigh. “I did all of that before I knew the truth, so when I tell you I believe you, I do, little wolf. Of everything you have told me and everything you will tell me after. I will never doubt your words again, no more secrets.”
I place the wood and knife to the side as Darius watches me with curious eyes. My heart beats wildly in my chest as I move forward and slide into his lap. He releases a breath, his hands going to my hips to hold me in place. I think this is the first time I have willingly gone to him like this, touched him like this and I feel nervous, but it just feels right.
My hands slide up his muscular chest, feeling the definition there before I move them up his shoulder and then my hands are at the back of his head, my fingers tangling into his hair. Everything he’s told me whirls through my mind, and I can only think of saying one thing to him.
“Thank you.” My eyes bounce in between his.
“You don’t have to thank me, Rhea.”
“I do,” I tell him, hesitating for a moment before I lean forward and rub my nose with his. His eyes flash, and he rubs my nose back. I grip the back of his head tighter, feeling a swirling in my stomach and noticing the position we are in. I wiggle and lean back, never breaking eye contact.
“Careful, little wolf, you know it excites me,” he murmurs, and it causes a smile to spread across my face, a lightness filling me. He tilts his head, a hand coming up to run a thumb over my cheek. “Laeliah.” Beautiful. He traces my smile with his finger, then he scowls. “Don’t smile at anyone else like that.”
I laugh, a lightness filling me as I push at his chest. “You’re ridiculous.” I get up and move back to the bed as he frowns.
“I’m not joking, little wolf. You smile at someone like that and they won’t breathe for another second.” He stands and comes to sit next to me.
“Okay, Dar.” I pat his shoulder and his frown deepens. We sit in silence, his body pressed to the side of mine and I feel his silent strength wrapping around me. “So what now,” I ask, turning to look at Darius to see he’s already watching me. I shouldn’t be surprised, he always is.
“Now a lot has changed, little wolf,” he murmurs, his gaze fleeting over my features. That’s an understatement. So much has happened in so little time, it’s hard to catch my breath. “What’s done is done, nothing can change that now. We continue with what we have been doing.”
I nod. “I will get justice for them, and get my pack back. Get Kade back. There is no alternative for me.” I won’t survive it. I will never forgive myself if I don’t get them, if I don’t try. “They are my family.”
His eyes blaze and I know he understands. He lost his own to the rogures. “They are, and I will help you in any way I can.” He tucks a piece of wet hair behind my ear. “Now, this male.” There is still a slight edge to his voice, but it brings a small smile to my face.
Insufferable male, he just won’t let it go.
“He was the one who found abused beings. He would scout them and give them the option of moving to Eridian. The only thing he asked is that it was indefinite. You weren’t allowed to leave, it was too risky to be caught and then we would be found. He mostly gets Omegas to guide the ones being saved to The Deadlands and we would go there and then escort them to Eridian. We did only good, Darius,” I tell him. “Our pack may be small, but they have come along so well from how they were when they first came, especially the pups.” I shake my head, heart clenching at the thought of them being Gods knows where. “I promised I would protect them, I promised they were safe,” I growl out, my anger and taking over. I pin Darius with my glare. “I failed them and now I will rescue them.” I point to the note Darius dropped to the floor. “I trust Edward’s word. If he sends a letter with a location, we need to go.”
“It could be a trap,” he reasons. “It could be covered by those loyal to the Highers.”
“I don’t give a fuck, Darius. I will kill and slaughter and hunt them all. It’s been months, I can’t bear to think what they have gone through. I will go on my own if I have to.”
“Like fuck you are,” he scoffs, his eyes taking on a wild edge. “You’re not leaving my sight.” He tilts his head at me and I tilt mine back. “That may not be to your liking, but I couldn’t care less. That’s how things are and how things will go for the time being. I will put together a team and you do the same with yours. We will go together and search the area.”
“We will find something, Edward’s good with his word. He even told me you were coming to The Deadlands.”
“How did he know that?” His brows furrow, looking at me closely.
“Can I tell you another time?” He starts to open his mouth but I lift my hand and put it over his lips, silencing him. “This is not me keeping a secret from you. It’s just that this isn’t mine to tell, it’s for his safety. If this was my secret I would tell you.”
“Would you?” he asks behind my palm.
Would I? He told me his regrets. He’s told me he’s sorry and I believe him. He also helped us escape Wolvorn Castle, went and got something precious to me out of my cave and has been protecting me ever since, so why wouldn’t I? I look down to the middle of my forearm before I look back up at him. “Yeah, Darius. I would.”
His eyes hold mine, that connection zapping into place and he nods, nipping my hand and I remove it from his mouth. “Fine, little wolf, but you will have to tell me eventually.” I do. “I don’t like the idea that he knows you are here. How did he know that?”
“I have no idea how to be honest. Edward always knows. I think he has Ilium keeping track of me at times, but I know he has many Croneians.”
“If he can find you here, then others can. We may need to look for somewhere else to move to. But also.” He stands, cracking his neck as he stares down at me. “If he’s a father to you, why isn’t he here? Why hasn’t he come to see you?”
I get up and walk over to the bedroom door, Darius following behind me. “He’s important, and he has important dealings.”
“If you say so,” is all he says, and I get that he’s not happy with not knowing everything. I turn toward him, but then suddenly find myself eye-to-eye with his ass.
“Stop throwing me over your fucking shoulder, Darius,” I growl, my fingers digging into him.
He chuckles, biting the curve of my ass. “I don’t see why not,” he says, walking out the bedroom and down the hallway. “I like looking at your ass before breakfast.”
Forty
Rhea
A knock sounds on the door to the spare room that I have been coming to every now and then. It’s also the room where I hid the book with entries of what happened to me. I’m not sure where the book is now, and I haven’t asked Darius, not wanting to bring it up and sour things between us. I’m not sure where we both go from here, though he is pretty clear with what he wants, I on the other hand, am just taking it day by day.
I walk over to the door and open it when another knock comes. Josh stands on the other side, his hands in his pockets as he looks down to the floor.
“Can I come in?” he asks, voice soft. I sigh before standing to the side to let him in. Moving to the end of the bed, I sit with my legs crossed, hating the conversation we are about to have but know it’s a long time coming.
Seems a lot of things are being said out in the open lately.
He moves to the chair in the room near the small desk, grabbing it and sits down in front of me. Resting his arms on his knees, he’s silent, messing with the bun he has in his hair. It’s a move I know he only does when he’s unsettled.
“I’m sorry,” he whispers eventually. I pick the side of my fingernails, biting my lip. “I never should have asked you to remove your glamor. It was wrong. I have no excuse.”
I believe he’s sorry, I do. But. “You hurt me,” I tell him, and he sucks in a shaky breath, nodding. “It was something I never wanted others to see. You only saw it because you got me out of that basement, and I made sure to have it blocked from Kade’s memory when Edward did that for me.”
“I know, Milal. I should have never done that. I honestly don’t know what came over me.”
“It’s the mating bond, Josh,” I tell him, and he freezes, looking up at me. “You think I didn’t know?” His gray eyes turn wide, but sad, and I know it’s because he didn’t talk to me about it. “A bloodmate’s bond trumps all and everything. I can understand that. What you did still hurts, I feel betrayed. You used the fact that you saved me from a place I had no choice in being as a weapon to get what you wanted. Used the fact that I have always felt like I have owed you for that.”
His head drops, and he runs a hand over his face. “You never owed me. Never.” He shakes his head and clenches his fist on his knees. “I just, I was crawling out of my skin to get to her, and it felt like everyone was my enemy, standing in my way. You were collateral damage of that.” His jaw ticks. “I’m so fucking sorry, Rhea. I’m ashamed of myself for what I did. You are the sister I never had, and I cannot believe I did that to you. I wasn’t myself.”
He looks so dejected, and I know he won’t forgive himself for what he did. What he made me feel like I had to do. I hate this rift between us. We have had arguments over the years, sure, but we have never been this far apart before. I need him. He’s my brother, my chosen family, and I know he will carry this for as long as he lives.
“You can never do that to me again, Josh.”
“Never,” he says down the link, and I feel the hum of the blood link between us for the first time in what seems forever. It’s a welcome comfort, but also comes with pain at the empty spot that’s there from Kade.
It’s that thought that stops me. We can’t be like this with each other, we have lost so much already.
“I’m so happy you found her. I really am. You deserve to be happy, Josh.” I pause. “What Darius did outside Witches Rest…”
“I deserved it, it’s why I didn’t even defend myself,” he says quietly before tilting his head. “He said he will not hurt you again, you know.”
I start at his words. “Since when do you two talk,” I mutter.
He huffs. “Not much, and not often. After you told them about our lives when we arrived here and collapsed in the dining room, I went to the room you were put in to see how you were and we talked for a little while. Darius hadn’t left your side.”
My chest warms at his words, at the thought that Darius stayed by my side when I was deeply asleep. Thinking about it, when I did wake up, he always came to me everyday, stayed with me until he left at night for a while. But he always came back even though I wouldn’t talk to him. I wasn’t able to shove all my emotions down to function and I was letting my hurt spill out.
He never faltered though, and when his patience ran out with me, he helped me wake up from the slump I had found myself in. When I think about it, Darius has helped me a lot while I’ve been here.
Taking a steady breath, I lean forward and take Josh’s clenched fist in my hand. “I forgive you,” I murmur, just wanting things to be right between us. “So much has happened, I don’t want this distance between us. I want my brother.” He grabs me suddenly and yanks me to him, crushing me into a hug. My legs dangle on either side of him as I wrap my arms around his neck, holding him close. I’ve missed him.
“I’ll make it up to you, Rhea.” He squeezes me tighter. “I prom—“
The door to the bedroom slams open, and I jump, my head snapping up. Darius stills in the doorway, looking over me on Josh’s lap and his eyes turn murderous, hard and cruel as they move to Josh.
“Get, the fuck, off of her. Now,” he growls deep, his dominance spilling into the room. I scramble off Josh’s lap, wary of the last time Darius fought with Josh. I go to speak when he says. “Charles is on his way here. We need to move you and the others somewhere else.”
My blood turns cold.
“I’ll grab Sarah,” Josh says in a rush, leaving the room to do just that, but not without giving Darius a wide berth as his eyes track his every movement.
I look around the room, noticing some of the clothes that have been given to me thrown haphazardly around the room. I start to head for them, wanting to hide them just in case anyone comes in here when a hand grips me roughly by the back of my neck. I’m yanked into a hard chest. Lips graze my ear next, and I shiver, before hissing at the slight sting as Darius nips it, his anger filling the room.
“Leave it, someone will clean it up. As for what I just walked in on, little wolf,” he growls low, pressing himself into me so I can feel all of him. “I think we need to have a discussion about why you were sitting in the lap of another fucking male.” He moves his lips from my ear to my shoulder, biting down through the fabric of my t-shirt hard enough to make me whimper. “But that will have to come later, and it will come, Rhea.”
He spins us, his grip on my neck guiding me out the door and down the hallway. “He’s like a brother to me, Darius, you can’t—“
“Quiet. Not now.” It’s a command, his voice dripping with it and I know now isn’t the time to push him. I walk down the hall in silence, turning down the winding hallways until we reach the end of one.
Darius opens the door and shoves me inside, still pissed at what he saw in the other room. His scent wraps around me along with traces of mine, and I wonder why he brought me to his bedroom. I spin, about to ask him when I see him closing the door, him on the other side. I move toward it, grabbing the handle. I pull but the door doesn’t open.
“Darius,” I whisper hiss. Wondering what in the Gods he’s doing.
“I’ll come back when they are gone,” he tells me through the door, his voice slightly muffled.
“I’m not staying in here on my own, where are the others?” I ask, panic rising within me.
“Safe,” is all he says, and then I hear his footsteps retreating.
“Darius!” I shout, banging on the door but he doesn’t reply. “Bastard,” I growl, and then call on my power to break the fucker down. Mist like strands reach the door, trying to force it open but nothing happens. “That fucker.” My breathing picks up and I lean back against the door, my heart beating out of control. Runa whimpers inside of me.
Shit.
What if Charles does something? What if he hurts someone and then finds my pack here?
What if Darius has lied all along and sides with Charles and tells him?
No. No, we are past that.
Trust, I remind myself. We made a blood oath to secure that. To put my mind at ease that he wouldn’t intentionally do something to hurt me. I look down at his bite mark on my forearm, a reminder that he made an oath to me. It gives off a subtle violet glow, like it’s reminding me that he wouldn’t put me in danger. And after everything he’s said and revealed to me lately… no, he wouldn’t do that to me, I’m sure of it.
But that doesn’t include the rest of my pack.
You are mine, I have a responsibility to protect you from any threat that isn’t me. Your pack is an extension of you, so they will also be protected as long as you are.
