Chapter 23 Zola’s Visit
Dahlia’s POV
The morning air felt unusually heavy, as though the entire palace could sense the tension lingering between Dagnoth and me. I hadn’t seen him since the incident. He hadn’t spoken a single word to me after the statement “until I call for you?”
It played in my head over and over, each time slicing deeper than the last. I couldn’t tell if it was guilt or fear that kept me up through the night.
I was trying to braid Lily’s hair when a knock came at my door.
“Good morning,” the Gamma’s calm voice sounded through the wood. “You have a visitor. She’s waiting in the meeting room.”
My brows furrowed. “A visitor?”
“Yes, my lady. Says her name is Zola.”
At the mention of that name, a weight lifted from my chest. “Tell her I’ll be right there.”
I gave Lily’s cheek a soft kiss and told Liam to watch over his sister. My heart raced as I made my way down the long corridor, past the maids who all bowed and whispered behind my back. They had seen what happened that night at the banquet. They had seen Kael. They had seen Dagnoth’s fury.
I pushed open the door to the meeting room, and before I could even breathe, a familiar whirlwind of attitude and emotion rushed toward me.
“There you are!” Zola’s voice filled the room. “What in the goddess’s name happened, Dahlia?”
Before I could answer, she threw her arms around me. Her grip was tight and grounding. I didn’t realize I’d been trembling until she pulled back to study my face.
“You look pale,” she said, eyes darting to my arm. “Did that bastard hurt you?”
“No… it’s not as bad as it looked.”
Zola crossed her arms, her tone sharp. “Not as bad? Dahlia, Kael pinned you against a wall like you were his property! And the Lycan King—”
“Zola,” I whispered quickly, glancing toward the door. “Please don’t raise your voice here.”
But she wasn’t having it. “I don’t care who hears! He had no right to touch you. None.”
Her anger was comforting in a strange way, It was fierce, loyal, and familiar. The way she always was when she felt someone had wronged me.
I gestured for her to sit. “Please. Sit. You’ll make me more nervous.”
She huffed but took the seat across from me, still glaring at the walls as though Kael might materialize just so she could punch him.
“So,” she said, folding her legs. “Tell me everything. What really happened that night?”
I took a deep breath. “It was at the meeting. I… I didn’t expect to see him there. Kael. When I excused myself to the restroom, he followed me. He said horrible things, that Dagnoth was just using me, that I was a fool for thinking I mattered.”
Zola’s jaw tightened. “And then?”
“And then he grabbed me. I tried to get away, but he pinned me to the wall.”
Her fingers clenched into fists. “I swear, if I ever see that pompous Alpha, I’ll tear his wolf apart myself.”
A faint smile tugged at my lips. “You’d probably enjoy that.”
She tilted her head, a smirk breaking through her fury. “Maybe I would.” Then her tone softened. “And Dagnoth? What did he do after?”
I swallowed. “He walked in. I don’t know what came over him, he attacked Kael like a storm. I thought he was going to kill him.”
Zola leaned forward. “And you?”
“He asked if I was hurt. For a moment, it felt like… like he cared.”
“But?” she pressed.
“But then everything changed. He asked me if the pups were Kael’s.”
Zola’s eyes widened slightly. “Oh.”
“Yeah.” I let out a shaky sigh. “I didn't give him an answer."
“And?”
“He didn’t say a word. He just left.”
The silence that followed was thick enough to suffocate. Zola leaned back, her gaze softening.
I looked down at my hands. “What if he calls off the contract? What if he sends me away?”
“Then you’ll survive,” she said firmly. “Like you always have. You’ll keep living, Dahlia. With or without a king’s approval.”
Her words were meant to comfort, but instead, they twisted something inside me. Because the truth was... I didn’t want to live without him anymore.
“I don’t want to just stay because of the pups,” I admitted quietly. “That’s the part that scares me.”
Zola tilted her head, studying me carefully. “What do you mean?”
“I mean…” My voice broke. “I’m starting to feel something for him. Something I shouldn’t. He’s cold, distant, and unpredictable, but when he looks at me, I can’t breathe. And when he doesn’t, it hurts.”
Zola’s expression softened completely. “Oh, Dahlia…”
I gave a weak laugh. “I hate it. I hate that I want him to choose me not out of duty, not out of pity, but because he actually wants to.”
She reached across the table, resting her hand over mine. “Then stop hating it. You can’t control who your heart pulls toward. Even if it’s the Lycan King himself.”
“I shouldn’t feel this way,” I whispered. "He isn't even my mate."
“Maybe fate’s rewriting the rules,” she said softly. “Maybe that’s why he can’t stay away.”
I looked up, startled. “What do you mean?”
Zola’s lips curled into a knowing smile. “Oh, come on, Dahlia. You really think a man like Dagnoth defends you publicly, drags you to meetings, and risks his reputation because he doesn’t feel something?”
Her words made my pulse quicken. “He barely talks to me.”
“Exactly,” she said. “He’s terrified of what he’s feeling.”
I leaned back, staring at the crackling fire beside us. “I don’t know, Zola. Sometimes I think I see something in his eyes… but then it’s gone before I can be sure.”
“Men like him,” she said, standing and crossing to the window, “don’t always speak with words. They show it in how they protect you and in how they look at you when they think you’re not watching.”
Her voice dropped. “Don’t let your fear make you blind, Dahlia. You’ve survived too much to walk away from something real.”
Her words sank into me slowly, heavy and deep.
Maybe she was right. Maybe part of me had been waiting all this time for someone to look at me, really look at me, the way Dagnoth did that night when he tore Kael off me.
“I just wish I knew what he was thinking,” I murmured.
Zola smiled sadly. “You’ll find out soon enough. But until then… promise me you’ll keep your head high, no matter what decision he makes.”
“I promise.”
She pulled me into a hug, the warmth of her scent wrapping around me like home. “Good. Because whether you like it or not, Dahlia… your story with him isn’t over.”
And deep down, as I sat there in the flickering light of the fire, I knew she was right.
It wasn’t over.
Not even close.