THE DARK ALPHA

The wind howled through the ruins, carrying the stale scent of old blood and scorched earth.

Cassian stood rigid, his muscles coiled like a trap ready to spring.

I didn’t need the bond to feel the rage simmering beneath his skin.

But my attention was locked on the man before us.

Darius.

He was as tall as Cassian, but where Cassian was fierce and wild, Darius was calculated, controlled.

His amber eyes gleamed, studying me with lazy curiosity, as if he already knew how this would end.

“Aren’t you going to introduce us, Cassian?” he asked, a smirk playing on his lips.

Cassian growled, shifting just enough to shield me.

“Stay away from her.”

Darius sighed, shaking his head. “So predictable. Always so possessive over what you can’t have.”

My eyes narrowed.

“I’m not a thing.”

Darius tilted his head, something dangerous flickering in his gaze.

“No, you’re something far better. You’re a gift of fate.”

His tone was so casual that it sent a chill down my spine.

“A gift?”

Darius smiled, like he knew a secret I didn’t. “You think your special blood is just a curse?” He took a step closer. “No, little one. You are the key to something much greater.”

Cassian held his ground, but his entire body radiated lethal warning.

“Say one more word, and I’ll rip your throat out.”

Darius ignored him, his gaze never leaving mine.

“You’ve felt it, haven’t you?” he mused. “The power growing in your blood. The voice in your mind, whispering secrets you don’t yet understand.”

My breath hitched.

Because he wasn’t wrong.

Ever since the Council had tried to take control of me, something inside me had shifted.

The power that simmered beneath my skin was no longer just mine.

It was something older, wilder, and unknown.

Darius smiled at my reaction.

“You can pretend it’s not there. But eventually, you will have to accept what you really are.”

“She already has,” Cassian cut in, his voice like a blade.

Darius raised an eyebrow. “Has she?” His amber eyes flicked back to me, gleaming with provocation. “Then why do I still feel her holding back?”

My heart pounded.

Because he was right.

Cassian said I was getting stronger. But something inside me still hesitated, something I was afraid to release.

And Darius knew it.

He took another step forward.

“If you truly let go, little one, no Council, no Alpha, no army would be able to contain you.”

Cassian growled, and the air around us shook with his fury.

Darius smiled. “Ah, Cassian. Always trying to keep hold of what you can’t control.”

Then he did something that changed everything.

He disappeared.

Not ran.

Not stepped back.

He simply vanished before our eyes.

Cassian spun instantly, shoving me behind him, his eyes scanning the shadows.

“What—” My voice cut off as something cold brushed past me.

The same wind from before.

But now, it was whispering my name.

Sienna.

A chill crawled down my spine.

Cassian’s grip on me tightened, anchoring me, but I felt Darius around us.

Then, like a ghost emerging from the darkness, he appeared behind us.

Cassian lunged, attacking fast, but Darius dodged effortlessly, vanishing and reappearing a few feet away.

“You’re slow, Cassian,” he taunted.

Cassian snarled, his red eyes flashing with raw fury.

But I wasn’t looking at Cassian.

I was looking at Darius.

Because now, I felt his presence the same way I felt Cassian’s.

My breath hitched.

He was right.

My power recognized his.

“How…?” My voice barely came out.

Darius smirked.

“Because I am what you could become, little one.”

Cassian moved, his patience snapping, his claws extending as his power burst into the air around us.

Darius vanished again, reappearing behind me.

This time, Cassian wasn’t fast enough.

Darius grabbed my wrist.

My vision exploded with light and shadow.

The ground disappeared.

I wasn’t in the ruins anymore.

I was somewhere else.

Inside Darius’s mind.

And what I saw made me gasp in horror.

Bodies piled high. A throne made of bones. Wolves kneeling before him, trembling, submissive.

And at the center of it all, Darius laughing, blood dripping from his fingers.

Pain ripped through me, yanking me out of the vision.

Cassian had pulled me back.

Darius staggered backward, his amber eyes gleaming with intrigue.

"Interesting," he murmured.

Cassian placed himself in front of me, his body vibrating with barely restrained fury.

“No more tricks,” he snarled. “If you want her, you’ll have to go through me.”

Darius smiled. “Oh, Cassian. You still think this is a choice?”

Then he looked at me.

And when he spoke, his voice echoed inside my mind, merging with my own thoughts.

"I’ll see you soon, little one."

And then, just like before.

He was gone.

For a long moment, we just stood there, breathing heavily, the void left by Darius thick in the air.

Cassian turned to me, his red eyes burning with frustration and concern.

“He’s trying to control you,” he growled. “Trying to pull you to his side.”

I swallowed hard.

Because the worst part was.

A part of me understood Darius.

And that terrified me.

“He won’t stop, Cassian,” I whispered.

Cassian grabbed my face, his touch fierce, grounding, his eyes filled with something deeper than just anger.

“Neither will I.”

I wanted to believe him.

But something told me that Darius was already inside my mind.

And next time.

He wouldn’t need to take me by force.