Chapter 124 For her, I kneel
DARIAN
My heart feels like it’s being ripped out of my chest.
I can still hear her voice echoing in my head; “I love you.”
The sound of it breaks something inside me, something I didn’t know could still break.
She’s on her knees before him, the silver edge of his sword still raised, and I can’t move fast enough. The guards dig their claws into my arms, but I barely feel it. My blood roars in my ears. I can’t let this happen. I won’t.
“Let her go!” I snarl, shoving one of them off. My voice comes out rough, distorted. Too close to the wolf. My pulse hammers against my skull, and I feel the burn, the shift, crawling just beneath my skin.
My father doesn’t even look at me. His gaze is locked on her, his sword gleaming in the torchlight. “She is a danger to the pack,” he says, his tone like ice. “She must die, Darian.”
“She’s not a danger!” I roar. The sound shakes the walls, my voice cracking with the force of it. “You’re blinded by your damn prophecies and lies! You don’t see anything else!”
“She’s a curse,” he snaps, eyes flashing. “A curse that must be ended before it consumes everything we’ve built.”
I’m tired of hearing and saying the exact same thing because at this point, I don’t think it means anything to him anymore. Nothing I say will change his mind.
But I can’t watch him kill the woman I love.
My breathing turns ragged. Rage surges like lightning through my veins. I feel my bones shifting beneath my skin, the wolf clawing its way out power, raw and ancient, surging to the surface. The guards back away, fear flickering across their faces.
I don’t fight it this time. I let the power come.
Claws rip through my hands, my vision sharpens, the world narrowing into a tunnel of scent and sound and fury. My voice deepens into a growl as I tear free from their grasp. Metal clatters to the floor. One guard flies backward, slamming into the wall with a sickening crack.
The others try to hold me, but it’s useless.
I shove them off like they weigh nothing.
The ground shakes beneath my steps as I storm forward, every instinct screaming one thing: protect her.
But then, movement. Too fast.
My father lunges, faster than I expect even from him, and before I can react he’s behind her, his arm locking around her throat. The sword glints again, pressed against her skin.
I freeze.
I can’t breathe.
“One more step,” he says, voice low, lethal, “and that’s it.”
The blade digs in just enough to draw a thin line of blood. Iris gasps, her hands trembling as she grips his arm. I feel my control slipping, a snarl rising unbidden, feral and broken.
“Don’t,” I rasp. “Please, Father. Don’t.”
He doesn’t move. His heartbeat is steady, too steady. Mine is chaos. “I told you,” he says coldly, “this ends tonight. If you defy me again, you’ll watch her die before your eyes.”
I take a slow, shaking breath. My body trembles with the effort of holding back the shift. The wolf wants blood, it doesn’t understand negotiation, or mercy. But Iris’s life is a single breath away from ending.
I force the wolf down. Inch by inch, I wrestle it back under control. My claws recede, my vision blurs for a moment, and I’m just… me again. Broken. Helpless.
My father’s eyes narrow. “Good,” he murmurs. “Now stay where you are.”
“Even if I don’t come closer,” I whisper, voice cracking, “you’re going to kill her anyway.”
He hesitates, just slightly, and I take that chance, the smallest opening in his armor.
“Please,” I say, stepping forward a fraction. The guards around me tense, but I ignore them. “You’ve already taken everything from me. Don’t take her too.”
“This is not about you,” he says sharply. “This is about the survival of our kind. About duty.”
“No,” I say, my voice rising. “This is about control. About you refusing to admit that you’re wrong.”
I point at Iris, my hands shaking. “She’s not your enemy. She’s mine to protect. She’s-” My voice breaks. “She’s the only reason I haven’t become what you always feared I would.”
His expression flickers, the faintest hint of conflict, but then it hardens again. “You will understand when you rule.”
“I won’t rule,” I snap.
The room goes still.
Even Iris lifts her head weakly, eyes wide. The words tumble out before I can stop them, but they’re true, every one of them.
“I won’t be your heir,” I say again, louder this time. “I won’t inherit your throne, or your title, or your curse of cruelty. You want loyalty? You want peace?” I drop to my knees. “Then take me. Exile me. Strip me of my birthright.”
A collective gasp ripples through the room.
My father’s hand twitches. The blade lowers a fraction. “What did you say?”
I meet his eyes. “You heard me. I’ll give up everything. The heirship. The line. The throne. All of it. Just let her live.”
The crowd murmurs, the sound swelling like a wave. The guards exchange uneasy glances. Even the councilors seated along the far wall lean forward, whispering furiously among themselves.
My father stares at me, disbelief hardening into anger. “You would throw away centuries of bloodline for a human girl?”
“For her, yes.” My voice is steady now. My decision has already been made. “Because she’s worth more than your power. More than your damned throne.”
He steps closer to me, dragging Iris with him, his expression unreadable. “Do you even know what you’re asking?”
“Yes,” I say simply. “I know exactly what it means. I’ll be exiled, cast out, branded a traitor. I don’t care.”
I look at Iris, her face pale, blood at her throat, but her eyes fierce even in fear. “I just want her to live.”
The King studies me, his jaw tightening. “You would kneel before your pack and renounce your destiny?”
“Yes.” I drop lower, my hands pressing to the cold stone floor. My head bows. “If that’s what it takes to save her, then yes.”
The silence that follows feels endless.
Every breath in the hall stills. Every heart stops.
I can hear the whispering now, words spilling from lips across the room. “He’s giving it up.” “The prince?” “He can’t mean that.” “For her?” “Impossible.”
I lift my gaze, locking eyes with my father. “I’m not asking as your son,” I say softly. “I’m begging as someone who’s already lost too much. Don’t make me watch her die.”
For a second, I think I see something shift in him. Doubt, maybe. Pain. But it vanishes as quickly as it came.
He steps back, the sword still held tight against her throat. “You have no idea what you’re doing,” he says quietly.
“Maybe not,” I admit. “But I know what I won’t do. I won’t stand here and let you destroy her.”
The tension in the room coils so tightly it’s hard to breathe. The weight of every eye presses down on us. Iris trembles, tears glistening on her cheeks, but she doesn’t look away.
I lift my head higher, voice steady and strong. “Exile me. Strip me of my title. But let her live.”
The sword lowers an inch more.
The murmurs grow louder, building into chaos. The guards shift uncertainly. The councilors rise from their seats, shock etched across their faces.
I stay on my knees, waiting. Hoping. Bleeding inside.
Murmurs and gasps tearing through the room like a bomb has been dropped.