Chapter 46 Mo
Mo
Later that night, once Sophie is asleep, I walk down one of the trails I used to run as a kid. The one that leads to the lake. My head is spinning with everything. Sophie’s alive. The head alpha is dead. This place, which was once a prison, is becoming something new.
I stop at the shoreline and skip rocks across the surface. One, two, three jumps before it sinks.
“You’re improving.”
I turn. Darius is standing a few feet away. I haven’t seen much of him since the fight. He’s been keeping his distance, giving me space with Sophie, but his eyes have followed me everywhere.
“Silas has been teaching me,” I say.
He nods, picks up a flat stone of his own, and sends it skipping five times before it disappears.
“Show-off,” I mutter, and the corner of his mouth twitches.
We stand in silence for a while, watching the ripples spread across the water. The lake stills once again, mirroring the stars overhead. The air smells like pine and freshly turned earth and crisp, clean water. Like memories I’d forgotten I had.
“Sophie’s getting stronger,” I say.
“I’ve noticed.”
“She wants to stay here. Help rebuild the pack.”
Darius doesn’t look surprised. “And you?”
The question hangs between us. I pick up another rock, turn it over in my hands, feeling its weight.
“I don’t know yet,” I admit. “Part of me wants to burn this whole place to the ground and never look back. But another part…”
“Wants to build something better,” he finishes.
I nod, wrapping my arms around myself against the night chill. “She’s all I have, Darius. I can’t leave her again.”
“You have more than just Sophie.” He pauses. “You know that.”
I look up at him. He’s close enough that I can feel the heat coming off him, and I inhale the smell of pine and earth that’s become so familiar.
“Why didn’t you come during my heat?” The question slips out before I can stop it.
His jaw tightens. “You know why.”
“Tell me, anyway.”
He takes a breath. “Because I wanted you to choose me when you were yourself. Not when your body was making the choice for you.”
My ribcage feels as if it’s shrinking, squeezing my lungs until I can’t draw a full breath.
“And if I choose you now?”
His eyes darken. “Blue…”
“I forgave you,” I say, stepping closer. “I meant it.”
“I took your freedom,” he says, voice rough. “I chained you to a bed, and you almost died.”
“Yes,” I start, “And then you rebuilt your parents’ old cabin for me and filled it with rocks you knew I would like. You set me free.” I reach up and touch his face, my fingers tracing the scar on his cheek from the fight. “And then you came for me when I needed you.”
He catches my wrist, his thumb pressing against my pulse. “I will always come for you.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m yours, Blue. Have been since the moment you tried to brain me with a rock.”
A laugh escapes me, unexpected and real. “I still might.”
“I’ll take my chances.”
His hand slides up my arm, leaving a trail of heat on my skin.
“I need you to understand something,” he says, his voice low. “Whatever you decide, about staying here, going back to the compound, anything, I’ll respect it. If you want to rebuild this pack with your sister, I’ll help you. If you want to come back with us, there will always be a place for you.”
“And if I want both?” I ask. “If I want to help Sophie rebuild this place and still have a home with you?”
His thumb traces my bottom lip. “Then we figure it out.”
I nod.
“Can I ask you something?” he says.
“You just did.”
“Fair. Can I ask you another thing?”
“You’re really on a roll tonight.”
His lip twitches. “Why rocks?”
“What?”
“You collect them. You talk to them. You line them up and give them names.” He’s not mocking. He’s genuinely asking. “Why?”
I look out at the lake, considering.
“Because rocks are honest. They don’t lie. They don’t change. You pick up a rock, and it is what it is. Solid. Dependable.” I shrug. “Unlike people.”
“Unlike people.” He nods slowly. “After the coup, I learned to lead through action. Commands. Control. Because words are… slippery. Unreliable.”
“Like rocks versus people.”
“Yeah.” He looks at me. “So I’m not going to make you promises with words. I’m going to show you. With actions. Every day. Until you believe it.”
“Believe what?”
“That I’m your rock. Solid. Dependable. Permanent.” His voice drops. “That I’ll never cage you again.”
My throat tightens. “Darius—”
“You don’t have to say anything. I just needed you to know.” He turns to leave.
“Darius.”
He stops.
I take another step closer, closing the distance between us. “There is one thing I’m sure about.”
“What’s that?”
“This.”
I rise on my toes, slide my hand to the back of his neck, and press my lips against his. For one long moment, Darius freezes, his body rigid against mine. Then something gives, and his arms wrap around me, pulling me against his chest as he kisses me back.
I’m not gentle, and neither is he. Nothing about Darius has ever been gentle. His mouth claims mine with the same intensity he brings to everything. Fierce. Determined. His hand tangles in my hair, tilting my head back as he deepens the kiss, and I can feel it in my whole body.
This alpha, who had to become an executioner at sixteen. Who’s carried the weight of two broken packs on his shoulders for a decade. I press closer, fist his shirt in my hand, try to pull him down with me onto the soft grass by the shore.
He stops.
One of his hands comes up and cups my face, and he pulls back just enough that I can see his eyes in the moonlight. They’re dark. Hungry. Barely controlled. And completely certain.
“Not here,” he says. His voice is wrecked. “Not like this.”
“I don’t want to wait, Darius. I want you like this,” I say, putting as much heat into my words as I am feeling.
My words unleash something feral in my alpha, and he grabs my hips and lifts me off the ground.
I wrap my legs around his waist, and we are all over each other.
Darius grips my ass, and I grind myself against his erection, moaning into his mouth.
My scent sweetens as slick soaks my panties, and I fist my hand in his hair.
“I need you, Darius. I need my fated mate.”
Darius drops to his knees, holding me tight against his body, and lowers us down onto the grass.
He peels off his jacket and tucks it under my head, and his scent completely surrounds me.
My head is swimming, and my body is greedy.
I reach for his waistband and begin tugging his pants down, but he puts his hand on mine, stilling it.
I look at him questioningly, and he reaches for my pants instead.
“Let me earn this,” he explains, and he gently slides them down.
I raise an eyebrow at him before I realize what he means.
Before I can say another word, his mouth is on me, lapping slow, lazy licks up my centre and flicking across my clit.
My head falls back in ecstasy as the heat of his tongue replaces the cold winter air.
He laps up my slick like a male possessed, plunging his tongue into me for more.
I reach for the back of his head and grip his hair, pushing him deeper.
When he adds his fingers to the mix, I’m already panting and flushed, but I want us to come together.
“Darius,” I beg. “Please. You’ve earned me. I need you now. I want to feel your cock inside me.”
I release my death grip on his hair, and he wastes no time ripping off his clothes.
My mouth pops open at the sight of this gorgeous naked male in front of me. He’s staring at me like I’m the only thing in the world right now, and I don’t know how I didn’t see it sooner.
I love this male, and if the look in his eyes is anything to go by right now, he loves me too.
I reach for him, and he leans in over my body, bracing himself around me. What started as desperate and frenzied has suddenly become something so much sweeter. He places a hand on my cheek as he lines up with my entrance and enters me slowly.
My body stretches over each delicious inch of him, and it feels like a long-awaited homecoming. He presses his forehead to mine, and as he begins to move, I can feel our breathing sync up.
I never expected him to be so tender with me, but it only adds to the moment. I lock my arms around his neck as he picks up the pace with long, deep strokes, filling me to the brim.
His swollen knot brushes against my over-sensitive clit with every thrust until I’m right on the edge of an orgasm.
“Knot me, Darius,” I whisper against his lips, and with the next thrust, he presses inside me.
The sudden fullness breaks me apart. My body shatters around him.
I pull his body flush against mine as the orgasm takes control of my body, squeezing his knot with the force of my pleasure.
He howls into the night as he comes undone, filling me up completely.