Chapter 36
Chapter 36
His Salvation
POV Darius :
The moon was dying.Fading like smoke across the sky, one sliver at a time. I sat on the edge of the watchtower, elbows braced on my knees, boots scraping against cold stone, just… watching.Watching as the stars bled out and the world turned gray with the promise of morning.I hadn’t slept. Couldn’t. Not after seeing Alice so vulnerable and scared.Alice’s scream still echoed in my head. The knife. The crack of her mirror. That rush of raw power in her eyes—wild, untrained, terrifyingly beautiful.
She was slipping, and I could feel it. Like she was standing on the edge of something bottomless, one wrong breath away from vanishing.And it terrified me. The idea of losing Alice and finding someone else in her place did not bode well with me.Especially if it was Kael's ex whom he murdered for whatever reason. But what hurt me the most was the fact that I couldn’t do a damn thing about it.“You’re going to break something sitting up there like that.”Luca’s voice cut through the quiet like a dull blade. It almost startled me but being an alpha, being ambushed was near impossible. But then I had to heighten my awareness. I didn’t turn.
He climbed up beside me anyway, tossing me a glance like he already knew I wouldn’t like what came next.“She’s not a prize,” he said. “Don’t become what they think of you, Darius.”I frowned. “And what exactly do they think of me?”He didn’t hesitate. “That you’re waiting for Kael to fail so you can swoop in and take what’s his.”I turned sharply. “She’s not his.”Luca sighed. “You say that, but your eyes tell a different story.”For fuck sake. Here I was trying to keep my mind in order and this healer comes to tell me things that annoyed me.“Then maybe stop looking in them,” I snapped.We sat in silence for a beat. The wind picked up, tugging at the edge of my coat. My jaw clenched so hard it ached.“She’s changing,” Luca said finally. “And not just into Selene. Into something new. Something none of us might not be ready for.”“I don’t care who she becomes,” I muttered. “I’ll still choose her.”
“That’s the problem,” he murmured. “You always will.”He pushed to his feet and left me there, with the fading moon and too many thoughts. The sky bled pink at the edges. Time was slipping.So was she. Am I going to really lose her?By the time I reached the border cliffs, she was already there—standing with her back to me, wrapped in a thin shawl, hair tangled by wind, staring into the woods like they might hold her answers.She didn’t turn when I approached.
“You know, you always come to the same spot when you’re trying to disappear,” I said.She smiled faintly. “And yet somehow, you always find me.”I stepped beside her, close enough that our arms brushed. The trees stretched long and quiet beneath us, but something felt… off. Like the land itself was holding its breath.“I brought you something,” I said, pulling the chain from my pocket.A small silver pendant dangled from it, shaped like a crescent moon wrapped in thorns.She blinked at it. “It’s beautiful.”“It’s old,” I said. “Belonged to my mother before she died. She believed it carried pieces of the soul. I’ve kept it all these years, waiting for the right person to wear it.”Alice looked up, surprised.
I lifted the chain over her head, settling it gently against her skin. My fingers lingered at the base of her neck longer than they should’ve.Evere since our night together, I couldn't get enough of her. I just wanted to be close to her.She didn’t stop me.
She didn’t pull away.She stepped closer.I felt it before I saw it—the pull, the moment her breath caught, the tension snapping tight between us.She looked up, eyes full of war and want.I leaned in.But just before I could taste her lips—his voice cut through the air like a whip.
“Alice.”
Kael.
I turned sharply as he emerged from the woods behind us, jaw locked, eyes burning with something between rage and heartbreak.Of course. Of course he followed her.Alice stiffened beside me. Her hand dropped from mine. “Kael—”“What is this?” he asked, voice low and sharp.“She came here on her own,” I said. “I didn’t force anything.”
He stalked forward, fists clenched. “You gave her the pendant.”“Yes,” I said simply. “Because I know what she needs.”“And you think it’s you?”“I think it’s her choice.”He stepped in close. “You don’t know what you’re playing with.”“And you don’t own her,” I growled.
We were seconds from blood. One push, one wrong word, and I’d throw the first punch.Alice stepped between us, palms out. “Stop.”Neither of us moved.“You think this is about you two?” she snapped. “You’re both too busy proving something to see what’s actually happening!”And that’s when it happened.A howl tore through the trees—broken, strained, and desperate.All three of us turned as a figure burst from the shadows, stumbling across the border and collapsing at our feet.Blood soaked his fur.
A scout.Kael dropped to his knees, already shifting him back with a clear command.The wolf coughed violently, blood spilling from his mouth. His eyes locked on Alice.“They’re in the forest,” he gasped. “They’ve started the ritual.”
“What ritual?” I asked, crouching beside him.He grabbed my wrist, weak but determined.“They’re here… they’re trying to finish what Selene started.”Alice knelt, voice shaking. “Who is?”His lips trembled. “The Lunari Sect. They want to awaken her fully. They need your blood… and the knife.”Then he passed out.