18 The Library Incident 1

Mara

We finally went hunting.

The moment I shifted into my grey wolf form and sprinted into the woods of Riverfall, something inside me loosened. The

wind slicing through my fur, the scent of wet earth, pine, and the quiet hush of running water-it was everything I needed.

I wasn’t out here to hunt. I was here to breathe. To remember who I was outside of obligation and arranged marriages.

Lucian’s ck wolf form ran alongside mine-huge,manding, silent. There was something noble about the way he moved. He didn’t charge. He didn’t dominate. He matched my pace.

We found a deer in the clearing. Cornered it. And just when I expected the lunge, the snap of teeth, the blood-Lucian pulled back. So did I.

And we let it go.

I blinked in disbelief.

Darian and Rowan would have killed it without a second thought. They always did. But Lucian? He did exactly what I used

to beg them to do-just let it live.

I didn’t say anything, but something shifted inside me.

Maybe I was wrong about him.

Since I arrived, Lucian hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol. He hadn’t raised his voice. He hadn’t pushed himself on me.

Could all the stories I heard-about him, about the drinking, the violence-have been wrong? Or at least… twisted?

I wasn’t sure yet. But I was watching.

When we returned from hunting, the butler handed us robes at the door. We shifted back, dressed, and took turns

showering. Lucian said he had things to take care of. Maybe that meant Tina. Maybe not. Either way, I didn’t ask.

If he was that loyal to someone else… fine. Let him be. At least he could be loved like that.

I doubted anyone would ever feel that way about me.

Not wanting to spend the day buried in those thoughts, I wandered over to the right wing’s library. Lucian’s was practically

empty-just for show. This one actually had books. I wanted something to escape into, just for an hour.

I had barely stepped inside when I felt the shift in the air. Darian.

He entered quietly, but his presence was suffocating. My chest tightened. After everything that had happened, I didn’t feel

safe being alone with him-not in here, not anywhere.

I turned to leave, but Darian was quicker.

“Please, Mara. Let us talk,” he said, voice low and desperate.

“We have nothing to talk about,” I replied, already moving.

But he stepped in front of me and gently pinned me against the wall, caging me between his arms. Not rough-just enough to block my escape. My body went tense.

“Please, Mara,” he whispered again, his eyes ssy. “Please.”

I looked away. “You have nothing to say to me.”

18 The Library Incident 1

“Let me exin,” he pleaded.

I stayed still. Not because I wanted to hear it. But because I knew he wouldn’t move until I did. So I waited.

*8 Points

“I love you, Mara,” he began, voice trembling. “I care about you more than anyone. I only rejected you because I saw what my mother was nning. I didn’t want to put you in danger. What I told my father was true-I thought we had time. I was going to make you Luna when I took over. I had it all nned out.”

I shook my head slowly. “Your mother didn’t force you to get Tiffany and the others pregnant.”

His face copsed under the weight of shame.

“That part,” I said, voice sharper now, “was all you.”

No excuses. No lies. Just consequences.

“Who are you, Darian?” I asked, my voice low, cold. “Because right now, I don’t recognize you.”

His head dropped, but he didn’t move. His arms still caged me in, palms t against the wall. I could feel the tension in him, like he was holding back everything and nothing all at once.

“I’m still me, Mara,” he said quietly. “Things just… got out of control. Those girls-Tiffany, the others-they kepting at me. I didn’t mean for it to happen. I just wanted to have a little fun. They were the ones trying to trap me with babies-”

I cut him off sharply. “No one forced you to sleep with them, Darian. And no one told you to do it without protection. That’s on you.”

He shook his head quickly. “I did use protection. Every time. I swear. Those pregnancies-they weren’t mine. They lied. My parents knew they were lying. That’s why they-”

“Stop.” I raised a hand. “You still made those choices. You didn’t have to sleep with them in the first ce.”

He blinked. I could see the anger swelling behind his eyes, the way shame always morphed into me when he was

cornered.

“Why wasn’t your brother knocking girls up left and right?” I asked, tly.

That hit.

“Lucian?” he scoffed, bitter. “Lucian is a scumbag, Mara. He’s only pretending to be this noble guy. You think he’s clean? He’s still with Tina. Everyone knows it. He’s a murderer. A drunk. He’s just better at hiding it. Don’t let him fool you.”

I gave him a long, deliberate look. “Well, I guess it runs in the family then.”

He deted. All that fire crumpled into ash. He dropped his head again.

“Please, Mara,” he whispered, the words cracking.

“What do you want me to do, Darian?” I asked, exhausted. And then, without warning, he crashed his lips against mine.

It wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t tender. It was desperate.

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