Chapter 102 Her anger
DARIAN
The cabin door slams behind me, and for a moment, the night air cuts through my chest sharper than any blade.
I don’t go far. Just a few steps off the porch, where the cold settles into my bones and the silence presses in from all sides. Trees loom tall and black around the clearing, and the stars hang overhead like distant, untouchable gods.
She hates me.
And worse, she has every reason to.
I drag a hand over my face, letting out a slow, steadying breath. My jaw aches from how tight I’ve been clenching it. My hands? Still trembling, even now.
Her voice, shouting, cracking, breaking, is still echoing in my head.
“I’m dying and you think that’s the most appropriate time to touch me like that?”
I should have never reached for her. I was just trying to calm her down, to steady her. But that was a wrong move at the time. Heck, I should have held her hands or her shoulders.
I slap my palm against my forehead.
And the slap? I deserved it. Every ounce of it.
Behind me, the faint sound of movement makes my ears twitch. I don’t have to turn around to know who it is.
“Don’t say anything,” I mutter.
“Wasn’t going to,” Adrian replies, footsteps crunching softly as he approaches. “But you looked like you were either going to scream or shift into something and wreck the cabin.”
I let out a humorless exhale. “Still might.”
He comes to stand beside me. Doesn’t say anything for a while. Just breathes the same bitter air, watching the trees like they might offer answers. They don’t.
Finally, he says, “She’s still awake.”
I nod. “I know.”
“She’s mad.”
“I know that too.”
He gives me a side glance. “You alright?”
I laugh under my breath. “She slapped me, Adrian.”
“Hard?”
“Hard enough that I saw stars.”
He whistles low. “Ouch.”
There’s silence again.
“She said I marked her without her permission,” I say quietly. “That she’s going to die because of me.”
“She’s scared.”
“She’s right.”
My throat tightens. I look down at my hands, calloused, bloodied, steady in battle, but useless in the face of her pain.
“I didn’t tell her what the bond meant,” I admit, voice rough. “Not really. I knew it was dangerous, but I thought… I thought maybe if I gave her time, if I didn’t pressure her, she’d choose me on her own.”
Adrian says nothing.
“I wanted it to be her choice,” I continue. “Not the wolf’s. Not the mark’s. I thought I was doing the right thing.”
“Maybe you were,” Adrian finally says.
“She’s dying.”
“And you’re breaking.”
I look at him, startled.
“You think this only hurts her?” he asks. “You’re falling apart too, Darian. You haven’t slept in days. You barely eat. Your hands shake. You’re marked too. This bondthing, it’s not one-sided.”
“I can take it,” I mutter.
“Can you?” His voice is gentle but firm. “Because from where I’m standing, it looks like it’s eating you alive.”
I look away.
The truth is, I feel it. The pain. The pull. Every time she cries, something inside me frays. Every time she screams, I feel like my own ribcage might shatter. The bond doesn’t just tie us together, it ties our pain, our fear, our fucking souls.
“I didn’t mean to hurt her,” I say.
“I know.”
“She doesn’t believe that.”
“Then tell her again.”
“She told me to leave.”
Adrian shrugs. “She also didn’t mean that.”
I let the silence settle again.
“She was shaking,” I whisper. “Not just from anger. From the mark. From her body breaking down. I could feel it. Her heartbeat is off. The wolf’s trying to break free.”
“Then talk to her. Not as the prince. Not as her mate. Just as you. She trusted you once.”
I exhale slowly. “She trusted me with everything. And now…”
“She slapped you. Not stabbed you. That’s something.”
A soft laugh escapes me. Adrian cracks a grin.
“Look,” he adds, tone softening. “You messed up. Maybe you thought you were protecting her. But people like Iris? They don’t want protection. They want the truth. Even when it hurts.”
I nod, the weight of it all pressing harder against my chest.
“I just…” I trail off. “I wanted her to love me. Not because of a mark. Not because the moon said so. But because she chose me.”
“She might still,” Adrian says. “But first, you have to give her the space to be mad. Let her rage. Let her burn. If she comes back to you after that… then you’ll know.”
I stare at the trees. My pulse is still too fast. My thoughts, tangled and dark. But for the first time since I left her room, something inside me settles, just a little.
“She’s worth all of it,” I murmur.
“Then earn her.”
Adrian claps me on the shoulder and turns to head back toward the cabin.
I don’t follow him. Not yet.
Instead, I stay in the cold, letting the air clear my head. Letting the ache live in my chest where it belongs.
She’s not wrong to hate me.
But I’m not wrong for loving her either.
And when she’s ready, if she’s ready, I’ll be there.
Not to force.
Not to beg.
But to fight for whatever chance we still have.