A RENEWED MINDSET

A RENEWED MINDSET
Darius

“We have found where he might be hiding Alpha” Mathias said head bowed.

I nodded my head “good work Matthias, but make sure that we are absolutely certain. I want this to be quick clean and fucking ruthless” I said.

“Yes Alpha” he said and left.

I had been obsessing over this.

Well that was everyone else’s opinion but I begged to differ.

My brain was just going over every different scenario, accessing them in order to ensure that we come out victorious.

There was no single room for mistakes, they did not understand…. We were waging a war and not some fucking Moon-athorn contest, one single mistake could fuck us all over.

“How are you Darius?” Marlene stepped in.

I did not look up from the stack of documents that were in front of me “I am fine Marlene, just looking at the war plans” I said.

“You have done that a million times already Darius” she said

“And I will do them a million more times if that was what it was going to take!” I snapped.

What was it with everyone around me and their inability to leave me the fuck alone?

Marlene folded her arms stubbornly “take a look at yourself Darius…. You have not had a bath in ages, you barely eat anything…. How is anyone expected to trust you to lead a war if you haven’t even taken care of yourself properly yet?” she asked

“I am fine Marlene… please I am a little busy here if you don’t mind” I said.

She scoffed “you are fucking impossible Darius, and Ayla-”

I lost it.

I stood up abruptly and tossed the documents from my table to the ground.

“Stop fucking saying her name!” my chest was heaving heavily with how angry I was “everyone should stop saying this is what Ayla would have wanted like she is fucking dead! I am doing all of this to get her back” I said.

“Well getting killed in the process is kind of stupid don’t you think… If Ayla gets back and ears that you died of malnutrition what do you think she will say?” Marlene asked.

I glared at her “well suddenly everyone is an Ayla expert isn’t it?” I asked “look Marlene Ayla is my mate and so I’d like to think that I am the one that knows her best… And besides whatever we had together ended a long time ago Marlene so stop acting like you know me”

I hated those words the second that I said them.

They were completely unnecessary and just cruel… it was just that I was hurt, I had been hurt for weeks now and I was trying to make myself feel better but I just ended up making things so much worse.

Marlene glared at me “That is not fucking fair Darius”

“I know-”

“You and I both know that we are way past that…. And I will have you know that before we were anything, we were friends and I would be damned if I let my friend get hurt when I can do something about it” she said.

I let my head fall “I don’t even know why I said that… I am so fucking sorry” I said.

She nodded her head and placed a soft hand on my shoulder “I understand Darius, I can do the same thing” she said.

I smiled “yeah, that sounds like you” I said.

“Shut the fuck up Darius” she said and I chuckled.

“But seriously, you need a shower and shave and after that you are having a proper meal” she said “you need to be in the best frame of mind for what is to come” she said.

I hugged her “thank you Marlene seriously” I said.

She smiled at me “yeah anytime”

Well I must thank Marlene, because damn this shower was amazing.

After so long of literally rotting, it felt so nice to be clean again…. I had a renewed mindset already.

She was right, Ayla was fine and so it would make no sense to be dead by the time she found me…. I mean that would literally defeat the whole point.

After I was done putting on clean clothes, I moved to go to the kitchen but-

“Greetings Alpha Darius”

I jerked “holy fucking goddess!” I turned to see who it was

“Celestine, I dome remember summoning you” I said and then my face scrunched up with worry “is Freddy alright?”

She nodded “the boy is fine” she said.

I relaxed “Then what is the matter?”

“Time is running out, Darius” she said suddenly.

I tensed. “What do you mean?”

“The coven is weakening,” she replied. “Thorne’s black magic… it’s growing. It’s not just Ayla in danger anymore. If he continues, he’ll unbalance everything — even us witches” she said. “I never wanted to get involved in this fight but even my people are in danger”

I frowned. “You can’t do anything about it?” I asked.

She shook her head. “We are bound by ancient laws. Our magic should never be intertwined with black magic and so my hands are tied. I cannot fight him directly… but I can help you.”

She reached into her cloak and pulled out a glowing crystal. “Use this when you want to fight him… This will protect all of you from the effect of Thrones black magic, but it is only going to slow him down when he finds out, he will destroy it” she said.

She looked seriously at me “you have to win this war Darius”

“And if we don’t win?”

I asked, I don’t know if I was just a sucker for bad news, and that is why I was still insisting on asking such a question.

There should be no other option apart from us winning.

She looked at me with fear in her eyes. “Then we all die, Darius. Every last one of us.”

And just like that, she vanished into the wind, leaving only the soft thrum of magic behind.

On second thought, I am too hungry for all of this.