Chapter 124 ...
Amarien's POV
Theron's fingers closed around my hand before I could even think to move.
"Stay here," he ordered.
His voice wasn't gentle anymore. It was husky and deep. Theron never sounds this way except when he's pissed.
His grip tightened just enough to make me understand he meant it.
"You must not move until I say so."
"Theron…" I began.
But he released me and stepped back.
And then he shifted.
I had seen wolves before. I had seen Daevir shift into the sleek, powerful beast lycan. But what unfolded before me was something else entirely.
His spine arched violently, shoulders widening, muscles tearing through, as dark fur burst from skin. His hands elongated into talons, claws curving like carved obsidian. Bones cracked. They snapped and reformed with brutal force.
His face stretched, jaw splitting into a monstrous muzzle lined with fangs too long, sharp, too ancient to belong to anything human.
This was no ordinary wolf.
This was a Lycan.
Far bigger than what I saw Daevir become.
His eyes, gods, his eyes burned silver and feral.
More terrifying than Daevir's wolf.
The ground trembled beneath his weight as he let out a roar that shattered the air.
The forest answered his roar with chaos. I heard the cry of battle in the distance.
Oh gods!
"Theron!" I screamed, but he barely acknowledged my cry.
In a single swoop, he burst into the woods.
Gone.
Vanished between trees like a nightmare.
And then the cries in the distance heighten.
Steel clashed. Wolves howled. Men screamed.
The sound of agony carried through the trees. Blood reeked in the air. Men cried to their deaths.
It tore at me.
"No. I can't let this go on." I started for the forest, but one of the maidens snatched my arm back.
"Lady Amarien, you must stay!" She whispered urgently, tears in her eyes.
I didn't even realize I had stepped forward.
Another scream echoed, closer this time.
I flinched.
"Please," another maiden begged. "Alpha Theron said…"
"I don't care what he said," I snapped.
My heart was racing too fast. My lungs burned like I'd already been running.
Daevir was here.
Daevir.
Leading the charge himself.
I didn't know what I felt, fear, anger, grief, longing, but it all twisted together until standing still felt impossible.
I knew that sound.
It lived in my memories. At night, I tried to forget.
My chest clenched.
I shoved the maidens' hands away.
"Let me go!"
They tried to hold me, but I pushed harder, slipping from their grasp and bolting into the trees.
Branches clawed at my dress as I ran. Lantern light faded behind me, replaced by smoke and the metallic scent of blood.
The blue moon night is meant to be sacred; the goddess blesses the land. War is cursed during this period.
Why won't these men give it up and STOP!
The sounds grew louder and closer.
The forest floor was torn apart, earth gouged by claws, tree trunks splintered, patches of grass soaked dark with blood.
I stumbled once but caught myself.
And then I reached the clearing.
I stopped. And saw it. I also lost my breath.
Bodies.
Everywhere.
Northern soldiers in crimson cloaks lay twisted among Southern warriors. Wolves scattered across the torn earth. Some were still. Some were groaning.
The scent of death hung in the air. I held my stomach, yet I felt dizzy. So dizzy I thought I would faint.
And then I lifted my eyes and saw them.
The figures stood facing one another.
Still and unmoving.
Theron was back in his human form. His chest bare, streaked with blood that wasn't entirely his own. His dark hair clung damply to his shoulders, eyes still glowing faintly with the remnants of the beast.
And opposite him…
Daevir.
Armor splintered. Cloak torn. Sword in hand, its blade stained dark. Eyes locked onto Theron with lethal promise.
The sight of him stole the air from my lungs.
It had been years.
Years of silence. Years of pretending I no longer remembered the shape of his face. Years of convincing myself that whatever we had was a weakness that pain had torn out of me.
And yet…
There he stood.
Daevir!
Even beneath torn armor and streaks of blood, he looked carved from the same ruthless beauty I remembered. Hard jaw. Broad shoulders. That commanding stillness that made entire courts fall silent.
But it was his eyes that undid me.
Amber. Bright and molten, even in the darkness of the ruined clearing.
They caught the moonlight and held it.
For a heartbeat, the war vanished. The bodies vanished. Theron vanished.
There was only the man I once loved.
My heart shook so violently it felt like it might split in two.
My gaze dropped before I could stop it.
My son.
He looked just like my son!
The thought rose unbidden.
Then I wondered if my baby had been given a chance at life. Will he look just like this man standing before me, ready to strike and kill another man?
Will my baby have those same amber eyes that once looked at me like I was the only star in his sky?
Or will he inherit the darkness of his father?
Would he have Daevir's long black hair? Would it fall across his brow the same way when he ran? Would his lips curve into that half-smile that used to undo me?
The image formed so vividly that it hurt.
A small boy with Daevir's eyes.
My baby!
The ache that bloomed in my chest was unbearable.
I hated it.
I hated that I remembered the day he was taken from me. My baby! My child!
My fingers trembled.
Without realizing it, I stepped backward.
My heel struck a fallen branch.
It snapped.
The sound was small.
But in a clearing charged with killing intent…
It might as well have been thunder.
Both men reacted instantly.
Theron's head snapped toward me.
And Daevir…
Daevir's gaze shifted. Slow and deliberately
To me.
For a suspended second, he didn't seem to recognize what he was seeing.
His amber eyes widened just slightly.
And then they locked onto mine.
The world fell away.
My heart wrenched so violently I nearly gasped.