"You're not just surviving anymore. You are waking up from a bad dream." Ariana lay in the quiet hospital room, Darius's words echoing in her mind. The realization of the monstrous betrayal and Darius's fierce, unexpected protectiveness had indeed felt like an awakening. The sickly girl was gone.
Weeks later, Ariana's return to Blackthorn Manor was nothing like her arrival. This time, the atmosphere wasn't just tense; it was charged with a mixture of shame, relief, and a dawning, fervent respect from the pack members. The news of the switched medications, the deliberate poisoning, the confirmation that Ariana was the victim of unimaginable cruelty orchestrated by her own family – and Elena – had ripped through the territory. Pack members who had been swayed by Elena's charm, who had seen Ariana as weak or a placeholder, now looked at her with guilt and a fierce, protective shift in loyalty.
Ariana, wrapped in a warm cloak, watched her breath mist in the cool air. A figure approached, hesitant at first, then walking directly towards her. Amara.
"Ariana," Amara said, her voice tight, strained with uncharacteristic humility. She didn't meet Ariana's eyes at first, shuffling her feet on the gravel path. "I... I have to speak to you."
Ariana turned fully towards her. "Amara?"
Amara finally looked up, her amber eyes clouded with regret. "I was wrong. Terribly wrong about you." Her voice dropped to a near whisper. "Elena... she fooled us all. She showed us what we thought we wanted to see in a Luna, what we thought the Alpha needed. And... and we dismissed you. We were blind. We called you... the substitute. Behind your back, we..." She trailed off, shame coloring her cheeks. "I am so deeply sorry, Ariana. You endured unimaginable cruelty, and we were too blind, too foolish, to see it."
Ariana felt her heart soften. She saw the genuine remorse in Amara's eyes, heard the pain in her voice. It wasn't feigned. She reached out a hand, her fingers brushing lightly against Amara's arm. "It's alright, Amara," she said softly. "You didn't know the truth. None of you did."
Amara's eyes filled with unshed tears. "We know now. Goddess, we know now. Elena... she's a snake. A monster in a pretty dress." She squeezed Ariana's arm, her grip firm, respectful. "You... you are the one who belongs here. The one he chose all along, the one who survived their poison." Her voice was firm now, absolute conviction replacing her earlier disdain. "You are the real Luna. The *true* mate."
The shift was complete. The pack's perception, swayed by truth and shame, had swung decisively. They looked at Ariana now not with pity or dismissal, but with a fierce, emerging loyalty.
That night, sleep was impossible. The weight of the day – the pack's apology, their acceptance, the lingering intensity of Darius's gaze – left her restless, a whirlwind of emotions she couldn't grasp. She left her quiet room, drawn by an unseen pull, a faint scent that was uniquely him. She wandered into the west wing, her steps quiet on the thick rugs.
Before she reached the door to his chambers, Darius was there. Leaning against the stone wall of the corridor, arms crossed over his broad chest, a silent, formidable presence in the dim light.
"You couldn't sleep either?" she asked, her voice low, barely above a whisper.
He pushed off the wall, stepping towards her. His golden eyes, usually so guarded, were raw with an intensity that made her breath catch. "No," he said, his voice rough, a low growl of need vibrating in his chest. "Not without you. I want you to leave your room and come join me in my chambers. Where you belong."
She took a shaky breath, her heart hammering. But before she could answer, he was on her. Gently at first, his large hands cupping her face, his lips brushing against hers in a kiss that was both unbelievably tender and fiercely possessive. It was a question, a desperate apology, a promise.
Then, the control snapped. The kiss deepened, became urgent, demanding. His hands moved to her waist, gripping her, pulling her flush against him until there was no space left, until she could feel the hard lines of his body against hers.
Their kiss tasted of fire and remorse, a desperate, all-consuming need to burn away the pain and betrayal of the past, to claim what should have been theirs all along.
Clothes tore away in a flurry of fevered hands, hers as eager as his. Lips clashed, teeth scraped, breath hitched and caught in their throats. The hallway's cold stone kissed Ariana's back as Darius pressed her against the wall, one arm braced beside her head, the other gripping her thigh and hitching it high around his waist. Skin met skin in a rush of heat and desperate hunger, and the air between them sparked like lightning before a storm, thick with need and the scent of wolf and woman.
He entered her slowly, deliberately, his gaze locked on hers, golden eyes dark with desire and something terrifyingly tender. Every inch he sank into her felt like a promise – of dominance, yes, of possession, but also of a depth of connection she had only dreamed of. Ariana gasped, her nails carving red crescents into his back as she clung to him, urging him closer.
"Fuck," Darius groaned into her neck, his voice a wrecked sound of pure need, his breath searing against her skin. "Is this what I've been missing?" He held her tighter, his hips beginning to move. "Do you have any idea how sweet you feel?"
She whimpered, arching into him, chasing the exquisite friction, the perfect fit. "I need you," she choked out, wrapping her legs tighter around his waist, pulling him deeper. "Don't stop. Please don't stop. You are so good."
He didn't stop.
His rhythm shifted, primal now, hips slamming into hers, relentless, demanding, every thrust a vow etched into her bones, claiming her completely. Her cries echoed off the stone, shameless, broken open by a pleasure too sharp, too intense, to hold in.
"Fuck, Ariana," he growled again, teeth grazing the tender skin of her pulse point, his breath hot against her throat.
"Huhhhh…" she whimpered, legs tightening around him, pulling him deeper, harder, faster. "Do you know how long I've waited for this, Alpha? I am yours. Mark me. Claim me. Fuck me harder."
A low, guttural sound tore from him—half growl, half groan—a sound of ultimate release and claim. And he did. He fucked her against the cold stone like a man possessed, his hips unyielding, powerful, his lips dragging down her neck, seeking her scent, her taste. When she shattered around him, crying his name like it was a sacred prayer, riding the wave of a devastating climax, he bit down – not hard enough to truly harm, but just enough to bruise, to mark, to own.
The climax was a wave, devastating and endless. Her legs shook around him, unable to support her own weight, her moans reduced to ragged sobs of pleasure, and still he moved, relentless, chasing his own release like he was drowning in her, consumed by her.
When he came, it was with a ragged roar, burying his face in her neck, his growl muffled against her skin. His mark throbbed red and fresh against her collarbone. His seed spilled deep inside her, a final, powerful claim.
And in that moment, pressed against the stone wall of the corridor, it wasn't just sex. It was raw. It was primal. It was two broken halves finding their terrifying, perfect fit.
He didn't say "I love you." He didn't need to.
She felt it in every desperate thrust, every hungry bite, every ragged breath they shared, in the fierce protection in his eyes even in the throes of passion.
She was claimed. Irrevocably.
And she had claimed him right back.
Afterward, he carried her into his chambers, laying her gently on the large bed. She curled into his chest, his fingers tracing lazy, possessive lines on her bare back. The room was silent save for the sound of their breathing, their hearts gradually slowing, beating in sync against each other.
"I won't let anyone touch you again," he murmured, his voice low and possessive, the Alpha's vow resonating deep within her. "Ever. I won't wait. I won't hide my feelings anymore, Ariana." He pulled her closer, pressing a kiss to her hair. "I will protect you. With all the powers and strength I own. You are mine."