Chapter 7: Confrontation with Darian
Third person POV
After spending the whole day pondering, trying to resist her fate, she went to check on her mom.
The moon hung high above the hospital roof, casting long silver shadows across the cold tiles of her mom’s room. The sterile scent of antiseptic had long since faded into the background, replaced by the deeper ache in Coletta's chest—the one that pulsed in rhythm with her wolf’s awakening. Ever since her encounter with Damien, the bond buzzed beneath her skin, low and persistent, like a song she couldn’t unhear.
But she wasn’t ready. Not for another mate. Not for another heartbreak.
She pressed her hands to her chest, trying to push the sensation away. “Not now,” she whispered. “Not again.”
Her wolf whimpered in protest, urging her to seek out the Alpha who had stirred her instincts to life. But Coletta wasn’t going to be ruled by fate, not when fate had led her to be cast out and broken before.
She sat beside her mother’s hospital bed, her thumb gently stroking the back of the pale, lifeless hand lying limp in her own hand. Machines beeped quietly, their steady rhythm the only reassurance that her mother still clung to life. A bouquet of lavender and white lilies sat on the nightstand, already wilting.
“Mama,” she murmured. “I wish you could hear me.”
Her voice cracked. The hospital room felt too quiet, too vast. Tears welled in her eyes, threatening to spill.
“I met someone,” she admitted, her voice low. “Another Alpha. But I won’t be fooled again. I won't lose myself this time.”
She leaned closer, brushing a kiss to her mother’s temple. “You protected me all my life. Let me do the same for you now.”
She felt overwhelmed and decided to walk out in the hospital garden for some fresh air.
\---
She didn’t expect to ran into Darian when in the garden. He stood under the dim glow of a streetlamp, his shoulders slumped, hands buried deep in the pockets of his coat.
‘What is he doing here? How did he find me? Is he stalking me? Why did he appear in a human town at this hour?’ she shuddered at the plethora of her thoughts.
“Coletta,” he called softly when he saw her.
She stopped mid-step, eyes narrowing. “What do you want?”
“Just a moment,” he pleaded. “Please.”
Against her better judgment, she let him speak.
“I made a mistake,” he said. “The biggest mistake of my life. My father—he twisted everything. He told me if I claimed you, he’d have you killed. I thought I was protecting you.”
Her breath hitched, but she didn’t let it show.
“You think that justifies what you did?” she asked, her voice low and sharp. “You threw me away like I was nothing.”
“I thought I was doing the right thing,” he said, anguished. “But I was wrong.”
She stepped forward, every inch of her radiating quiet power. “You didn’t protect me. You abandoned me. You let your fear make the choice for you.”
He reached for her, but she stepped back.
“I don’t need your guilt, Darian. And I don’t need you.” Her eyes flashed with resolve. “You had your chance. You threw me to the wolves. Now I run with kings.”
She walked away, not looking back.
The echo of Darian’s voice still clung to her like morning mist. Even after she'd turned her back on him, walked away from his hollow apology and desperate eyes, her heart was not as indifferent as she’d hoped.
Why now?
Why did he only look at her like that when the damage was already done?
She sat by the hospital window, watching a pale shaft of light stretch across the floor tiles. The room smelled of antiseptic and fading flowers. Her mother lay still, silent, machines breathing for her. Each beep of the monitor was a cruel reminder that life was moving on, while her world remained paused.
Coletta’s fingers curled tighter around the armrest.
“I should hate him,” she whispered. “I do hate him.”
But hatred wasn’t a clean thing. It didn’t erase the tremor in her voice or the sting in her chest. It tangled with grief, regret, confusion.
Darian was supposed to be her world once. Her first for everything.
Now he was a shadow of what could have been. And Damien…
A name, a presence, a scent that stirred her wolf in ways she didn’t understand. That should’ve terrified her—but it didn’t.
The pain was still fresh, but so was the opportunity Damien had offered.
She looked at her mother again, her beautiful, bruised face.
“I’ll do whatever it takes,” she murmured. “For you. Even if it means walking into the lion’s den.”
\---
Later that night, alone in her apartment, she pulled Damien’s contract from the drawer. The fine parchment shimmered faintly in the lamplight. With a focus now, she read the terms again. She made up her mind.
This wasn’t about fate. It was about her mother, about a better future. That’s what she told herself.
The next day, Damien sent a convoy to escort them both to the Lycan Kingdom. Her mother was transferred with utmost care to a private medical wing within the royal hospital. Coletta rode in the back of the dark luxury limousine-like ambulance, watching the world blur past. Her hand held her mother’s tightly.
She expected coldness when they arrived at the palace. Instead, Damien was there, waiting on the steps like a king welcoming his queen. His eyes softened the moment he saw her.
\---
High above, Melissa watched from the balcony, her nails digging into the marble railing.
That girl. That nobody. Why is she more important than me, the Duke's daughter?
Her lips curled.
She wouldn’t give up easily. Damien might be infatuated with that girl, just a nobody, but Melissa still had claws. And she wasn’t going to relent so easily.