CHAPTER 200: _ FOR HEIDI

Darien finishes showering and steps out, wrapping a towel around his waist. The mirror fogs over completely, so he wipes a hand across it, revealing his reflection again. His own eyes stare back; gold-ringed and fierce. For the first time in years, he doesn’t look like someone running toward a goal. He looks like someone running from fear.

And it’s not fear of the pack, or his father, or even death. It’s the fear of losing her.

Kairos senses it too. His tone softens. "You could just admit it, you know."

Darien grits his teeth. "Admit what now?"

"That you’re in love."

He scoffs, grabbing his clothes. "We’ve known her for what... weeks?"

"Time doesn’t measure bonds like ours," Kairos says, almost gentle now. "You feel it. You just don’t want to name it. Because naming it means it’s real. And if it’s real, you could lose it... right?"

Darien doesn’t answer. He dresses quickly, pulling on loose pants and a black shirt. When he sits on the edge of his bed again, the silence feels heavier. He leans forward, elbows on his knees, staring down at his hands.

Heidi’s hands were smaller. Softer. And yet they’d gripped him like they could hold the world steady.

He exhales, long and slow. "I can’t afford to fall in love right now."

Kairos sighs. "You can’t afford not to."

Darien shakes his head and lies back, staring at the ceiling again. "Tomorrow," he says quietly. "Tomorrow I’ll talk to them. Morgan. Grayson. Maybe even Amias if I’m desperate."

"That’s the spirit."

He huffs out a laugh, closing his eyes. "I’m going to need all the strength I can get. They’ll probably try to kill each other before I finish my sentence."

"Or you," Kairos offers cheerfully.

"Encouraging as always."

But despite the sarcasm, something in him feels lighter. Purpose, even when it’s wrapped in dread, is still a kind of relief.

As he drifts toward sleep, his last thought isn’t of the pack or his brothers or even the prophecy. It’s of Heidi—her laugh, her warmth, the quiet strength in her gaze when she’d looked at him like she saw through all the walls he’d built.

He can still feel her, somehow. Like a pulse beneath his own heartbeat.

And before sleep finally takes him, he whispers to no one but the dark, "I’ll keep you safe. No matter what it costs."

Kairos buzzes in approval, fading with him into dreams.

Outside, the moon watches silently, unblinking. And somewhere, miles away, a girl with starlight in her veins stirs in her sleep...

... as if she’s heard him.

.

.

Morning creeps into Darien’s room like an uninvited guest. It’s soft at first, then relentless. The pale gold of dawn presses through his curtains, dragging him awake long before he’s ready. He groans, throwing an arm over his eyes as if that might convince the sun to leave him alone.

For a blissful second, his mind is empty. Then the faint, lingering warmth of a dream he can still feel in his bones hits him. Her laugh. Her skin. Her scent. Heidi.

It’s like his wolf is already awake, pacing beneath his skin, tail flicking with restless anticipation. Kairos practically buzzes with energy.

"She’s the first thing you think of when you open your eyes," he teases. "You sure you’re not in love?"

Darien mutters something incoherent and very rude, dragging himself upright. "I think of breakfast too," he says, rubbing sleep from his face. "That doesn’t mean I’m in love with food."

Kairos gives a disbelieving snort. "You once punched Morgan for looking at your steak too long. The evidence says otherwise."

"That was once and a long time ago, Kairos. My mother took that incident to teach me how leaders don’t win with their fists alone. You know that ever since, I became the only well-behaved male in this family who never throws punches around, so if you will stop bringing that up whenever you want to prove I’ve got a violent side?"

"Bah bah bah..." Kairos scoffs.

Darien smirks despite himself and swings his legs off the bed. His room is large but not sterile; weapons hang on one wall — swords, daggers, his old silver-forged spear, and books cover every available surface. The air smells of cedar, rain, and wolf musk, grounding him in a sense of home he’s not sure he’s earned anymore.

The thought of Heidi threads through again, uninvited. He remembers her hair falling over her shoulder, the little crease between her brows when she’s thinking too hard. His chest tightens, both ache and warmth at once.

"Get it together," he mutters, standing.

He pads to the window and pulls open the curtains. Outside, the Alpha’s estate stretches across acres of manicured land — the stables glint in the distance, and beyond them, the woods begin, dark and infinite. The sky is soft blue, the morning air crisp with the promise of a weekend. Saturdays are routine. Predictable. Comfortably so.

But not today.

Today he’s going to ruin the peace by voluntarily talking to his brothers.

"Are you sure about this?" Kairos asks, his curiosity mixed with delight.

"No," Darien answers flatly, walking toward the bathroom. "But I’m doing it anyway."

The shower sputters on, steaming instantly. The scent of soap and pine fills the small tiled space. He steps under the hot water and lets it crash against him, shaking the last bits of sleep off. For a moment, it’s just him and the sound — a rhythm he can think in.

He pictures his brothers; Morgan’s smirk, Grayson’s sarcasm, Amias’s too-calm face, and feels the old irritation rise. They never agree on anything. The last time the four of them were in a room together, something caught fire. Literally.

"Maybe start by not making anyone punch you this time," Kairos suggests, ever helpful.

Darien runs a hand through his wet hair. "I make no promises."

"You’ll have to if you want them to help you protect Heidi."

That’s right... For Heidi.