Chapter 139: _ She’s Claimed
The moment Daphne floats into their section, the mood changes the way sunlight suddenly breaks through storm clouds, dazzling and insufferable at the same time. She’s a vision of pastel silk and glossy hair, bouncing with that trademark Bellamy sparkle as though the entire courtyard has been assembled just for her entrance.
Daphne laughs, tosses her hair, and pretends not to notice the heads turning in her wake. She knows they’re turning. That’s half the fun.
"Darien! Issy!" she chirps in that annoying, delicate, and impossible to ignore tone.
Daphne may be extra at times but she’s still his sister and Darien loves her to the ends. Isolde doesn’t even lift her head. She mutters something dark under her breath about how Daphne’s voice should be outlawed in crowded spaces.
Darien gives a noncommittal grunt, bracing himself. Daphne’s brand of sunshine tends to get under his skin the way glitter does, once it’s there, you’ll never get it out.
She beams at them anyway. "Have you seen Morgan and Grayson?" she asks, all breezy curiosity, like she’s talking about a pair of earrings she’s misplaced.
That’s when it hits Darien. His head jerks a little because—shit. He hasn’t. He hasn’t seen either of those bastards since before the labyrinth sealed.
Well, he knows his brothers. Know how they can be. Morgan’s smirk and Grayson’s indifference. Always absent when it mattered. And yet, now that Daphne’s mentioned them, Darien realizes the absence has been too quiet. Suspiciously quiet. His brows knit together.
"Why?" he asks carefully, shifting a little closer.
Where the hell could those two be?
"Oh, I don’t know. Just... I haven’t seen them all day. Which is weird, right?" Daphne twirls a strand of her hair around one finger, oblivious to the tight coil of dread winding through Darien’s gut.
But before he can push further, the courtyard erupts.
The air crackles as magic roars to life even harder. The portal, that swirling mouth of silver light, blossoms open again with a roar that makes even the boldest students fall silent. The hum becomes a vibration under Darien’s boots, a tremor that shoots up his spine.
And then they come...
... The Moon Blessed one by one, stumbling out of the shimmering maw of the labyrinth. Clothes torn, faces hollow, and eyes glazed with the kind of trauma that won’t wash off with soap and water.
Darien leans forward instinctively with tense shoulders and eyes that are searching for her. His heart is pounding too hard... it feels like someone is inside his ribcage with a hammer.
But she’s not there. The first handful of Moon Blessed stagger out and there’s no Heidi. Then another group. No Heidi.
Darien’s pulse is a drumbeat now, erratic, frenzied. Kairos is clawing at him, snarling inside his chest.
"She’s gone. She’s gone. We lost her."
"Shut up," Darien growls under his breath. His fists are balled at his sides. His vision sharpens until all he sees is the empty space beyond the glowing portal.
Every second is an eternity. Every absence of hers is a knife in his gut. He can’t breathe. The courtyard, the students, the teachers, even Daphne’s chatter... it all blurs. All that exists is the portal and the gaping void where Heidi should be.
And then the thought coldly and mercilessly hits him: he did this. He let her go in there. He ignored her when she needed him most. He sacrificed his own soul to keep his mother’s spotless image intact, and now...
Now he’s paying for it.
His jaw locks so tightly it aches. The ground feels like it’s tilting under him. If she doesn’t come out, if she’s...
"Darien."
It’s Isolde’s voice, but distant, muffled, like he’s underwater. He doesn’t look at her. He can’t. His eyes are burning holes into that portal.
And then...
She appears.
Heidi.
Stumbling out of the portal like a vision torn from his nightmares and stitched back together. Her hair is wild, tangled with dirt and blood. Her face is streaked with exhaustion, and her eyes are shining with tears. Hell, her clothes are ripped and her hands are unsteady.
But she’s alive. Hell, she’s alive. THANK THE MOON.
Darien’s entire body jolts. Relief detonates in him so violently that he almost doubles over. His knees feel weak, his chest is so tight, it’s painful. He wants to run... gods, he wants to run to her, sweep her into his arms, bury his face in her hair, and breathe in proof of her existence until his lungs explode.
But he can’t. Not here. At least, not with Daphne’s hawk-eyes, with the teachers and the entire Academy watching. Not when the wrong expression could condemn them both.
So he freezes. He forces himself still while his insides riot. He doesn’t move a muscle, doesn’t even blink, even though every instinct screams at him to go to her.
Next to him, he hears a sharp, shaky exhale from Amias.
Darien cuts him a glance and finds his older brother with wide eyes, chest heaving, relief etched across his usually impassive face. Of course. Amias feels it too. The same pull. The same unbearable relief. She’s their mate, after all. But that doesn’t stop Darien from being jealous. His stomach twists, nausea rising in his throat.
But then his world tilts further, because Heidi isn’t alone. Grayson and Morgan step out of the portal behind her.
Darien’s brain short-circuits. For a moment, he thinks he’s hallucinating. His brothers. His selfish, self-serving, never-give-a-damn brothers... walked into the labyrinth?
For her?
The realization punches him in the gut. No one tells him because no one needs to. He knows. He knows it with the same bone-deep certainty he knows Heidi’s scent in a crowded room. They went in there for her.
There’s no other reason Morgan and Grayson could have gone in there except for their mate. That’s the only reason strong enough to drive even the most selfish wolves into sacrifice.
His breath stutters. His heart squeezes. Because all he did was ignore her. Ignore her when she cried, when she wolfed out for the first time. He stood back, forcing himself into cold silence, convincing himself it was for her protection when really, it was cowardice dressed as sacrifice.
And his brothers, the same ones he’d bet his last coin would never put anyone above themselves, went into a labyrinth for her.
Hot and sharp Jealousy slams into him. His blood feels like fire, his skin too tight. His teeth grit hard enough that he tastes copper.
And then it gets worse.
Because Grayson steps in front of Heidi, shoulders squared, protective as a damn guard dog. Morgan flanks her, eyes hard, like he’d rip out throats for her.
Darien can’t stop staring. His chest feels like it’s cracking open. The way Heidi breaks down, crying for her friend, her whole body trembling, it shatters him too. He feels every tear like it’s burning his own skin. He wants to comfort her, to pull her against him. But it’s Grayson who steadies and defends her in front of the entire school.
And then... gods above, no.
Lucan walks over, casual as always, and Darien catches her scent and neck. Hell, it’s marked.
The realization is one he’s not ready for. His vision goes white out for a second. Morgan and Grayson. Those bastards. They marked her.
His Heidi.
Darien’s chest erupts with a snarl he barely manages to choke down. Kairos lunges inside him, teeth bared, desperate to tear something apart.
"No. No. No."
They had no right. No damn right. She’s his. She was always his. And yet... she let them?
The thought curdles in his stomach. His hands shake with fury. He can’t help but feel betrayal running through him even as he knows — deep down, that this isn’t on her. But logic has no place here. Only rage, jealousy, and devastation.
He can’t stand here. Not with everyone watching, not with the taste of ash in his mouth and the sight of her leaning on Lucan.
Darien turns on his heel and storms off, taking heavy strides. His boots slam against the floor, echoing down the halls until he reaches the one place he can breathe: the study.
The door slams behind him, rattling the frame. He paces like a caged animal, fists clenching and unclenching. His whole body trembles with fury. He waits. Waits for those bastards to show their faces and explain who the hell gave them the right.
Minutes crawl by, suffocatingly slow as he waits. And then, the door creaks open with Amias stepping in. Not the one Darien’s expecting but he should do for now.
His face is also pale, eyes sharp and troubled. Darien rounds on him instantly. The words are out before he can stop them.
"You saw it, didn’t you? You saw she’s been marked."