Lucien stayed for a few more minutes, asking seemingly casual questions about her life before, about her family, but Ariana kept her answers brief, guarded. He was curious, yes, but she sensed a deeper purpose behind his easy banter. Like He was still testing her.
Days later, the manor felt emptier than usual. The sounds of activity were muted. Ariana found herself restless, having read everything in the library corner she usually occupied. She decided to venture further into the house, maybe find a different window to look out of, a different quiet spot.
She wandered down a less-used corridor and heard rhythmic grunts and impacts echoing from behind a large wooden door. Curious, and forgetting Tara's quiet warning about staying away from certain areas, she pushed the door open a crack and peeked inside.
It was a training room. Vast, with worn mats on the floor and weapons racks lining the walls. And in the center, two figures were sparring. Hard.
One was Darius. Stripped to the waist, his tanned skin gleaming with sweat, muscles rippling with every powerful move. His opponent was Kane, Amara's brother, the warrior wolf who sometimes guarded her. They moved with brutal grace, a blur of controlled violence.
Ariana froze, mesmerized and terrified. This was the raw power of the wolf, unleashed. This was the beast.
She must have made a sound, a soft gasp.
Darius stopped abruptly. Kane hesitated. Darius's head snapped towards the door. His golden eyes, intense and focused from the fight, landed on her. They were sharp, assessing, dangerous.
"What are you doing here?" His voice was low, rough, laced with irritation.
Ariana's heart pounded. "I... I didn't know this was here. I was just looking around and..."
"You were told to stay in the allowed areas so what the F*** are you doing here?," Darius cut her off, his voice gaining a hard edge. He wasn't speaking to a wife; he was speaking to an intruder.
"I wasn't trying to intrude I just thought someone needed help," Ariana said, straightening her shoulders slightly. Her quiet defiance surprising even herself. "because... I heard the noise."
Darius took a step towards her, and Kane moved subtly to the side, giving them space. The air in the room crackled with tension. Darius's power was palpable, overwhelming.
"Help?, what can you possibly do to help?, let me make myself clear This is pack business," Darius stated, his eyes holding hers. "Not for outsiders."
Outsiders. Even here, she was an outsider. The dying girl. The unwanted wife.
"I live here now," Ariana said, her voice trembling slightly, but she held his gaze. "Doesn't that make me... not an outsider?"
Darius's jaw tightened. He stared at her for a long moment, his golden eyes searching her face. She saw a flicker of something unreadable deep within those eyes, something that vanished as quickly as it appeared.
"No," Darius said, his voice flat and final. "It doesn't."
The words were a cold slap, but Ariana didn't flinch visibly. She just looked at him, a quiet sadness settling over her.
Just then, Lucien and Amara appeared in the doorway, drawn by the sudden stop in training and the sight of Ariana standing before Darius.
Amara's face twisted with instant fury. "What is she doing here? Is she interrupting training now?"
"She wandered in," Darius said, not taking his eyes off Ariana.
"Wandered in?" Amara scoffed. "Or trying to get attention? Stay out of the training room, Luna. It's not a tea party."
Lucien's eyes darted between Darius and Ariana, a look of pure fascination on his face. He didn't speak, but his smirk returned, wider than before. He seemed to be enjoying this far too much.
Darius finally broke his gaze from Ariana and turned back to Kane. "We're done here," he said curtly. "Get cleaned up."
He walked past Ariana, close enough that she felt the heat radiating from his skin, the sheer power of him. He didn't acknowledge her further. He simply left the room.
Amara shot Ariana one last venomous look before following Darius. Kane hesitated, looked at Ariana with something akin to pity or maybe just awkwardness, then left too, giving her a wide berth.
Lucien was the last to leave. He stopped in front of her, his expression unreadable for a moment. "Intriguing," he murmured, more to himself than to her. He winked, a quick, sharp movement, then turned and followed the others, leaving Ariana alone in the silent, sweat-scented training room, her heart still pounding from the confrontation, and from the unsettling intensity of Darius's gaze.
Later that evening, the house was quiet again. Ariana had eaten alone in her room, not wanting to face the stares or Amara's cutting remarks. The air was cool, and she found herself drawn to the large fireplace in a communal sitting area she rarely used. A fire crackled merrily, casting warm, dancing shadows. She curled up in a large armchair, pulling her shawl tight, the exhaustion of the day finally catching up to her. The conversation with Darius, the look in his eyes, the palpable rejection... it had taken more out of her than she realized.
Her eyes grew heavy. The warmth of the fire was too inviting. She didn't mean to fall asleep.
She wasn't sure what woke her. Maybe the sudden absence of the fire's direct heat. She stirred, opening her eyes groggily. She was still in the chair, but someone had draped something heavy and warm over her. It smelled faintly of pine and... wolf.
Her eyes fluttered open fully. Standing a few feet away, silhouetted by the dying embers of the fire, was Darius.
He wasn't looking at her directly. His gaze was fixed on the fire. He was dressed in dark pants and a simple shirt, the scars on his chest faintly visible in the dim light.
He must have put his coat over her.
Ariana didn't move, barely dared to breathe. She watched him, this man who was her husband in name only, this beast who had said she had no place in his life. He stood there, silent, unreadable.
After a long moment that felt like an eternity, Darius turned his head slowly and looked at her.
His golden eyes were different in the low light. Less sharp, less guarded. For just a second, Ariana thought she saw something there. Not the coldness of the Alpha, not the emptiness of the beast. Something... else. Something complicated, maybe even weary.
He didn't speak. He didn't smile. He just looked at her, the girl he'd been forced to marry, the girl he claimed he didn't want.
Then, without a word, he turned and walked away, disappearing into the shadows of the house.
Ariana remained curled in the chair, wrapped in his warmth, the scent of him filling her senses. The 'beast' had covered her. He hadn't said a word, hadn't shown any outward sign of softening, but the heavy weight of his coat, the lingering scent, felt like more than just a discarded garment.
Something had shifted. Just a tiny fraction. But she felt it.