Chapter 121 I choose her
DARIAN
The Haven sprawls before me like a fortress, its stone walls and wrought-iron gates gleaming in the fading sunlight. My car tires crunch over the gravel as I slam the brakes, adrenaline screaming through my veins. Daisy’s hand grips mine in the passenger seat, and Kelvin’s jaw is set, silent but tense. I don’t need words, my eyes are fixed on the only thing that matters: getting inside, getting to Iris, and tearing this nightmare apart.
We storm through the gates, leaving the car behind, moving fast, each step pounding with purpose. The Haven has always been a place of secrets, of rules that bend and twist to suit the powerful. Today, I don’t care about rules. Today, I am the law.
The main house looms before us. I barrel through the front door, ignoring the startled guards. I can feel them watching me, calculating, but none of them moves to stop me. They know. They know I am not a man to be stopped when I’m angry.
I race up the stairs, heart hammering, hands clenched. I know where he is, my father. Always in his study, always plotting, always cold. My hand slams against the door. It swings open before I even knock, as if the house itself expects me.
“Darian,” my father says calmly, looking up from his desk. His fingers drumming lightly on the wood. “I’ve been expecting you.”
Expecting me? Expecting me to rage, to yell, to scream at the injustice of his choices? Fine. I step fully into the room, chest heaving, every nerve on fire.
“How dare you!” I roar, voice shaking with fury. “How dare you agree to this… to this idiotic, reckless, stupid offer?!”
My father leans back in his chair, eyes cold, unflinching. “Darian, control yourself. This is necessary. Iris must die.”
I laugh, low and bitter, voice trembling with anger. “Necessary? Necessary?! You mean convenient! You mean you’ve decided a girl’s life is expendable for some prophecy you’ve already convinced yourself will happen!”
He tilts his head, as calm as ever. “It is not a question of convenience. It is a question of survival. Of the pack. The prophecy…” His gaze sharpens. “…cannot be ignored. Iris’ death is the only way to ensure it ends.”
I feel my blood boil hotter than lava. “No!” I scream, voice echoing through the study. “You’re wrong! You can’t guarantee that! Killing her won’t solve anything. Not certainty, not fate, not prophecy! You’re gambling with her life on assumptions!”
My fists clench. My vision narrows. I see him then, the old man, Iris’ grandfather, seated in the corner of the room. The traitor. The manipulator. The reason my heart is in my throat. He smirks slightly, like he knows the storm I am about to unleash.
I don’t think. I move. Fast. Every ounce of control I’ve ever learned, every ounce of training, thrown out the window. I grab him by the collar, lifting him off the ground. His face turns pale, lips twisting as he gurgles. My grip tightens, and I can see the life leave his eyes in shock and fear. And somehow, I’m still not satisfied. I tighten my grip even more.
“Let him go, Darian.” My father’s voice cuts through my rage like ice. His hand is suddenly on my arm, pulling me back, trying to loosen my hold. “You will do no such thing here!”
I shake him off, fury fueling my every movement. “You! You let her be endangered! You let this man, this traitor, use her as leverage, as if she’s nothing!” I shout, my voice ragged, my chest heaving. “I want her! Where is she?!”
My father’s eyes are cold, controlled. “You will get out of my study, Darian. Now. Before you do something you cannot undo.”
I laugh, low and bitter, voice shaking with rage and disbelief. “Do you really think I will leave? Do you really think I will step aside while she suffers? No. I will turn every table, break every rule, tear down every obstacle in my way until I find her. Until I have her back, and you will not stop me.”
He rises slightly, hands raised in mock calm, and for a second I see the man I once respected, cold, calculating, and ruthless. “Darian, listen to me.”
“No!” I roar, cutting him off. My voice is raw, filled with the weight of everything I cannot allow. “You listen to me! I will find her. And if it’s the last thing I do, I will bring her back. You can try to stop me, but you will fail. Every plan, every scheme, every little hand you play in the shadows, I will expose it. I will smash it. I will smash you.”
“You don’t understand!” my father hisses, leaning over his desk, voice dropping low. “You cannot! She is part of something far bigger than you, bigger than this family! Fate, prophecy, pack survival! You cannot prioritize her life over everything else!”
I laugh again, dark and bitter. “I understand perfectly. I understand that you are willing to sacrifice her, manipulate her, and gamble with her life because you think it’s necessary. Well, guess what? I refuse to accept that. I refuse to bow to your idea of fate. You do not get to decide what happens to her!”
I stop suddenly, vision zeroed in on the grandfather again. He glares back, trying to appear unshaken, but there’s fear there now, tangible, real. I feel a surge of satisfaction and rage intertwined, and I realize I don’t care who sees it.
“Iris!” I scream, voice breaking. “Where is she?! Tell me now!”
My father slams a hand on the desk, making the papers jump. “Enough, Darian! You are in my study. You will not speak to me like that. You will not…”
“Enough?!” I shout back, voice echoing, raw and dangerous.
Daisy steps closer, voice trembling but resolute. “Darian, we have to move now. She’s in danger and every second counts. We can’t waste time talking.”
I glance at her, at Kelvin, then back at my father. I can feel the weight of every decision pressing on me, the rage, the betrayal, the urgency. My chest heaves, my hands clench, and I realize there is no compromise, no negotiation. Only action.
“You hear me?” I bark at my father, voice low, dark, and dangerous. “I will find her. You cannot stop me. I swear it on my life, on everything I am, I will not stop until she is safe. And if anyone stands in my way…” My fists shake with barely contained fury. “They will regret it. They will regret every second of their lives.”
My father glares, lips tight, jaw clenched. “Then go, Darian. Leave my study. And see if you can find her before it’s too late.”
I take one last look at him, seething, then pivot toward the door. My mind is a storm of plans, instincts, and burning determination. Daisy and Kelvin fall into step beside me, and I feel the weight of responsibility settle even deeper, sharpening my focus.
I push open the door. Haven corridors stretch out like a labyrinth of danger and uncertainty. Every shadow, every corner, every creaking floorboard could hide an enemy or the one person I am desperate to save.
And I don’t care.
I will find her.
No one, not father, not her traitor grandfather and not even fate itself will stop me from getting Iris back.
Every second counts, and I will make sure every step I take brings me closer to her.