I remember the rare but genuine smile he used to give me. How he’d ruffle my hair when passing me in the hallway. The time he helped me carry my books when I’d gotten sick during a pack gathering and needed to leave early. Small kindnesses that meant everything to a lonely girl who had no one else.
I thought he was different. Kind. Safe.
Alaric’s voice rumbles in response, but Darius cuts him off. The words “second-in-command” and “babysitter” pierce the door with crystal clarity.
The numbness spreads to my chest now, wrapping around my ribs like a vise. There’s an ache building there, deep and strange, like something is trying to claw its way to the surface.
I push it down, deep down where it can’t interfere. Where it can’t make this worse.
I’m here because Alaric asked me to meet him after dinner. I had no idea he intended for me to work at pack headquarters. I certainly didn’t know I’d be working under Darius. Under someone who apparently can’t stand the sight of me.
“Fine.” Darius’s voice cuts through again, sharp and final. “I’ll bring her to work tomorrow.”
My stomach twists.
I hear him approaching the door from the other side. I should move. Should run. But that same paralysis keeps me locked in place.
The door swings open.
Darius stops dead when he sees me. His eyes go wide, shock flooding his features. Then, guilt: raw and unmistakable. His mouth opens slightly, like he wants to say something, but no words come out.
I look past him to Alaric, who is seated behind his desk. The Alpha’s eyes meet mine before they slowly close, regret etched into every line of his face.
“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop,” I say quietly. My voice sounds hollow even to my own ears. “You asked me to come see you in your study, Father.”
Alaric’s jaw tightens. “I forgot I’d asked you to come.”
A bitter smile tugs at my lips. “I figured.”
The silence stretches between us, heavy and suffocating. Darius hasn’t moved from the doorway. His eyes are locked on me, something unreadable flickering in their depths.
An inexplicable urge rises in my chest to movecloser to him. I’m confused. Why is my body reacting this way after what I just heard? Why don’t I understand what every cell of mine is trying to tell me?
I crush the feeling ruthlessly. Squash it like a bug under my heel. Whatever this bizarre pull is, it doesn’t matter. Darius has made his feelings crystal clear.
I’ve had years of practice hiding what I feel. Smiling when my mother’s hand would connect with my face. Nodding obediently as she stripped away pieces of who I am. This is no different. Just another pain to bury.
“May I come in?” I ask, keeping my tone neutral. Professional.
“Yes,” Alaric says. “Of course.”
I move forward. Darius is still blocking most of the doorway, and I make sure not to brush against him as I slip past. I angle my body carefully, leaving inches between us, as if he is contaminated.
My chest tightens as I pass him. That instinct I don’t recognize pulls me back toward him even as I force myself forward.
He notices the space I’m maintaining. I can feel his eyes tracking every deliberate inch.
Good. Let him see exactly how much I want to avoid him, too.
I stop in front of Alaric’s desk, hands clasped loosely in front of me. My mother taught me this posture years ago, demure, unthreatening, perfectly compliant. “What did you want to discuss with me?”
Alaric’s brow furrows. He glances at his son, who is still standing in the doorway, then back to me. “Ignore what Darius was saying. He’s being foolish.”
I meet the Alpha’s eyes steadily. “It’s fine.”
“Violet—”
“I’m used to being looked down upon.” The words come easily, smoothly, like I’ve said them a thousand times before. Because I have. To myself. In mirrors. In empty rooms where no one can hear the way my voice cracks. “Darius is just one of many. I won’t get my feelings hurt.”
