Chapter 105

LYKA

“You know I always talk about the former Luna. It is your turn to be worried about her now. Because with that mark on your neck, the day of your doom is near.”

Morgan’s warning sliced through the air like a blade.

My hand trembled instinctively as it moved to my neck, fingers brushing the hidden mark beneath my clothes. My body reacted before my mind could. Fear was immediate, raw, and humiliatingly real. The worst part was that I did not even need her threat.

I already knew. I knew I was standing on dangerous ground. I knew loving Derrick came with shadows. I knew something dark still lingered around him, no matter how much he believed it was over.

That was what made Morgan’s words sting so deeply.

She was mocking a fear I already carried.

“That is so messed up,” I muttered under my breath, then forced a smile onto my lips.

“I don’t think this is the best time to be warning anyone right now,” I said lightly, stepping closer to pat her shoulder as though we were dear friends. “You know... considering you should be packing.” Morgan’s face darkened with fury.

“If you are this arrogant, then do not blame me for being wicked,” Zuri snapped from beside her.

I turned slowly to face her, already tired of her shrill interruptions.

“I am not a patient person, Zuri,” I whispered close to her ear, my voice soft enough to chill. “So do not get on my nerves.”

Then I stepped back and smiled sweetly.

The shock on her face was almost amusing. She looked as if she had expected me to cower. Poor thing.

I did not spare either of them another glance as I walked away.

Still, despite my bold steps and lifted chin, my thoughts were in chaos.

I knew what I had stepped into was far more complicated than I first believed. This pack was filled with lies, old grudges, secrets, and people who smiled with poison hidden behind their teeth.

But that did not mean I would retreat. No. If I was going to survive here, then I would become stronger than every person trying to break me.

I would rise in this pack. I would learn who had spread false stories about what happened in my own pack.

And when I found them, I would deal with them one by one.

I marched into my room and slammed the door shut behind me. The sound echoed loudly.

For a moment, I leaned against the wood and shut my eyes.

I could not shake the truth clawing at me. I was in danger.

Derrick was like a grenade with a cracked pin... powerful, unstable, and capable of destroying everything around him if triggered. And the cruelest part? I was not sure he even knew it.

“I have to do something,” I murmured, pacing the room. “Anything that could... ” A knock interrupted me.

I froze. Then I heard his voice through the door. "Are you in there?”

I exhaled sharply. Of course it was him. Without answering, I opened the door.

Derrick stood there, looking maddeningly handsome and annoyingly calm. The moment he saw me, a smile spread across his face.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, folding my arms and glaring at him.

Instead of replying, he stepped forward, wrapped an arm around my waist, and pulled me gently toward him. My glare nearly faltered.

“I know it is late,” he said softly, “but I wanted to thank you properly.” I blinked.

“For staying with me,” he continued, his eyes holding mine. “For not abandoning me when I was losing control... when I was becoming something ugly. I know it could not have been easy.” My chest tightened.

“And,” he added, voice lower now, “I want to apologize.”

That threw me completely. Gratitude, I understood. Apology? That was suspicious. I narrowed my eyes.

“What are you apologizing for?” I asked slowly. “Do not tell me you got Zuri pregnant.”

He stared at me for half a second. Then he laughed. A deep, helpless laugh that made the corners of his eyes crease.

“You know,” he said, still chuckling, “moments like this always remind me that you are strangely human.” I gasped dramatically.

“So you thought I was a goat before?”

“I thought you were trouble.”

“That is fair.”

I sniffed and straightened. “But I am not debating species with you. I am a werewolf, not a human. Now continue your mysterious speech.” His smile softened.

“Since the darkness in me is gone,” he said, “I think it is only right that I ask you for something.” My brows lifted.

The seriousness in his tone made my pulse jump.

“What?” He looked straight into my eyes.

“Marry me.” I forgot how to breathe. Then, as if that was not enough, he added calmly:

“And let’s have a baby.”

My jaw nearly hit the floor.

I stared at him, wondering if he had hit his head on the way here.

“What?”

“I am serious.”

“No, you are insane.” He laughed under his breath. My mind spun wildly. Marriage? A baby?

This man truly woke up and chose violence.

“I... I do not think we should rush things,” I said carefully, offering him a strained half-smile.

His expression shifted immediately.

“What do you mean?” he asked. “I thought you would be the one happiest to hear that.”

The irritating part was that he was not entirely wrong.

If life were simple... if darkness did not lurk in his shadow... if the pack were not a battlefield...

Then yes. I would have wanted that more than anything.

“Yes,” I admitted quietly. “But you are not ready yet.” He frowned.

“We are not ready yet.”

His confusion deepened. “But why?”

Because I am terrified. Because I do not trust what sleeps inside you.

Because I want forever with you, and I do not know if forever will kill me. But I could not say any of that.

So I stepped closer and rested a hand against his chest.

“Because you just got your life back,” I said gently. “Because your pack is in chaos. Because half the women outside want to poison me, and the other half are gossiping already.” His lips twitched.

“And because,” I continued, “marriage is not something I want born from panic.”

His gaze sharpened.

“This is not panic.”

“No?”

“No,” he said firmly. “It is certainty.”

The way he said it made my heart betray me.

Still, I shook my head.

“You need peace first. Stability. Time.”

“I need you.” That was unfair.

I glared at him for weaponizing honesty.

He only smirked.

“You fight dirty.”

“I fight to win.”

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose.

“Listen to me, Derrick. I am not saying no.”

Hope flickered across his face so quickly it almost hurt to see.

“I am saying... not yet.”

He was silent for a long moment.

Then he cupped my cheek with surprising tenderness. “You are serious.”

“For once in my life.” He exhaled slowly.

“And the baby?”

I slapped his shoulder. “Focus!”

He laughed again, catching my wrist and kissing the inside of it. My stomach flipped traitorously.

“You have no idea,” he murmured, “how hard it is for me to be patient where you are concerned.”

“Then suffer quietly.”

“I would rather kiss you.”

Before I could respond, he pulled me into him and kissed me. Slowly. Deeply.

The kind of kiss that said too much and still left more unsaid.

When he finally pulled away, my knees felt suspiciously weak.

“This discussion is not over,” he said.

“It is tonight.”

“I will ask again.”

“And I may throw you out the window.”

“I would climb back in.”

“That is creepy.”

“That is devotion.”

I rolled my eyes, though my lips betrayed me with a smile.

He brushed his thumb across my cheek once more. “Sleep, Lyka.”

“You too.” He stepped toward the door, then paused.

“One more thing.”

I groaned. “What now?”

“When we do get married... I want three children.” I threw a pillow at him.

He dodged it easily and laughed as he slipped out the door. Silence returned.

I stood in the center of the room, heart racing, cheeks warm, mind spinning.

Then slowly, my hand rose to the mark on my neck. Marriage. A future. Children.

Things that sounded beautiful. Things that felt impossible. I closed my eyes.

“Oh, Derrick,” I whispered into the quiet room. “If only it were that simple.”