Chapter 38 38
Chapter 38 38
Darius’ POV
Her scent wrapped around me like a slow and dangerous poison. It was lavender softened with warm vanilla delicate yet intoxicating in a way that made restraint feel like punishment.
Even like this half conscious and completely undone Zara was impossible to ignore.
She was too tempting very soft in my arms and completely forbidden.
My jaw tightened as I forced myself to look away from her parted lips and from the way her fingers had just been tugging at my tie like she had every right to unravel me.
She didn’t know what she was doing and didn’t understand the line she was dancing on but I did and that was the problem because she's was far too young and close enough in age to my own daughter and that make this whole situation feel dangerously wrong.
Whatever had pushed her to drink herself into this state, it wasn’t something I was about to take advantage of so I had already pulled her away from one predator tonight and I refused to become another.
The sharp ring of my phone cut through the tension, and for once, I welcomed the interruption with a quiet exhale, I gently eased her back against the seat, she had passed out completely now and I created some space between us before answering the call.
“Yes?” My tone was clipped, distracted but when I saw the caller, I internally groaned.
“Is that how you answer your mother?” came the familiar, sharp voice on the other end.
I suppressed a sigh. “I’m in the middle of something,” I replied flatly.
“Aren’t you always?” she murmured, disappointment laced thick in her voice.
“Too busy to speak to the woman who gave you life.”
I dragged a hand down my face, already feeling the headache forming. “What do you want, Mother?”
She had always been like this always persistent, relentless and unwilling to let anything go until she got exactly what she wanted and It had only gotten worse after my father passed.
Grief had sharpened her edges and made her cling tighter to me now.
Even my sister Rose had spiraled a long ago lost, somewhere between addiction and the wrong company. My younger brother, Abel had left years back to build a life of his own, he went far away from the chaos in our lives. He checked in when he could, but he had his own world now.
Which meant my mother had me, only me to hold on to.
“I’m calling about tomorrow,” she said. “Family dinner and your grandparents are coming, along with your aunts and uncle so I expect you there.”
My lips pressed into a thin line, gamily gatherings were never simple rather they were battlefields disguised as dinners and always filled with old grudges, sharp tongues, and blame that never seemed to land where it should. “I remember,” I said after a pause. “I’ll be there.”
“You should bring Sapphire.”
Of course, she has to mention her again, I closed my eyes briefly. “Why would I do that?”
“Because she’s perfect for you,” my mother insisted without hesitation. “It’s time you stop with your one-night and meaningless distraction. Find something real and respectable, You have to remember you are an alpha and a leader moreover she would make a proper partner.”
Sapphire was my late wife’s sister, I never really liked her yet it is obvious that she is beautiful and very successful but being near her felt like staring at a ghost I wasn’t ready to face, she looks so much like my late wife.
“I’m not interested,” I said, my tone leaving no room for argument.
A soft sigh came through the line. “I just want you to be happy, Darius.”
“My happiness and romantic relationship isn’t up for discussion,” I replied coolly. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I ended the call before she could say anything else and silence filled the car again.
I turned my head and found Zara completely still, she was asleep.
Her head rested against the window, her breathing was slow and even, lashes casting soft shadows against her cheeks.
Whatever fire had been in her moments ago had burned out, leaving behind something far more dangerous, peaceful and vulnerability.
My gaze lingered longer than it should have.
“Alpha, we’ve arrived,” my driver voice called out from the front seat and I nodded once before stepping out of the car.
The night air hit me, cool and grounding, but it did nothing to quiet the tension still coiled inside me.
I moved to her side and opened the door just in time to catch her as her body tipped forward, she fit too easily into my arms and too perfectly.
She was light as a feather, warm and soft in a way that made something deep in my chest tighten.
She stirred faintly, her head turning instinctively until it rested against me and a quiet yet content sound slipped from her lips, it was barely there, but I heard it and enough to send a sharp, unwanted reaction through me and straight into my cock.
I stilled and my grip on her tightened just slightly as I exhaled through my nose, forcing control back into my body.
This was exactly why I needed distance, why I needed to remember who she was and who I was supposed to be because if I didn’t, If I let myself give in to even a fraction of this temptation, there would be no turning back.