Chapter 140: _ Trouble in Paradise
Her neck.
Darien digs his fingers into his hair, pulling until his scalp burns. He saw it. He knows what he saw. Twin marks were on it. It was raw and pulsing with energy that did not belong to him. The betrayal tastes like bile at the back of his throat.
"No," he mutters, pacing. "No, this is not happening. They didn’t—she didn’t... she wouldn’t let them. She’s mine. She’s mine." His voice cracks into a growl.
Amias exhales slowly, his face tightening. "I saw it."
"Then say something! Say it’s a mistake. Say they didn’t. Say she didn’t let them..." Darien’s voice rises higher frantically.
He can’t stand it. He can’t stand the thought... Can’t bear to know she’s bonded to someone else other than him. Hell, before him. He should have been the one to claim her first. But when they had sex, her wolf wasn’t awakened yet, so there was nothing to claim.
But then again, she slept with him first. Why couldn’t she just wait? Is this punishment? Is she trying to get revenge for his ignoring her? Is she insane?!
Didn’t she get it? He’s killing himself, ignoring her just to protect her. How could she not get it?! How can she repay his sacrifice like this? He knows Amias must be pissed too. He should be angry right out of his wits.
But Amias shakes his head, twisting his mouth. "It’s hers. Her neck. Her choice. And it looks like she already made one."
The words land like a dagger between Darien’s ribs. For a moment, he can’t breathe. His fists clench and unclench, knuckles going white, nails biting into his palms until he smells the faint tang of his own blood.
Her neck, her choice? From the moment her wolf cried "mate," to the four of them, her body ceased being hers. She’s theirs for crying out loud.
She just doesn’t belong to the twins, and if at all anyone should claim her first, it shouldn’t be the youngest!
"No. No, I won’t accept that. She doesn’t belong to them. She’s mine. She was always meant to be mine. They can’t just..." His chest heaves. "I can’t let Grayson and Morgan take her!"
Amias drops into one of the leather chairs by the fireplace, burying his face in his hands. He doesn’t speak and doesn’t try to reason at first. He just sits in silence, as though sinking deeper into the weight of his own misery. His wolf paces too, restless, but quieter and subdued, unlike Kairos.
Darien keeps ranting, words tumbling over themselves, half-growled and half-choked. "They’ve never cared about anyone but themselves! They don’t deserve her. They don’t—They think they can just claim her because they jumped into that damn portal? Because they finally did something for someone other than themselves? I’ve been the one protecting her from the start. I—" His throat tightens, he’s running out of breath. "I never stopped caring for her. And now she’s..."
He breaks off, chest aching.
The silence is heavy enough to be suffocating. Darien awaits Amias’s response. After all, she is fated to him as well. How could he be so cool about it? How could he not be angry?!
"What do you want to do, Darien?"
Darien spins toward him, eyes blazing. "What?"
Amias lifts his head, his eyes bloodshot, but not insane. "If Grayson and Morgan haven’t claimed her fully yet, if there’s still a chance... what do you want to do? Claim her yourself?" His voice hardens. "Or have you forgotten what you are?"
Darien stiffens.
"You’re just a mummy’s boy," Amias says, his tone dripping with contempt Darien’s learned to know his brother shows when he’s feeling super insecure about him again.
"Aren’t you Ines’s boy? Her precious puppet? You can’t sneeze without wondering if it’ll ruin her reputation. You can’t take a step toward Heidi without flinching at what your Mother will say. You let her wolf suffer when she first shifted because you didn’t want to raise suspicion. You talk a big game now, but what will you do if it comes down to choosing Heidi or your Mother? Hm? It’s funny how you almost had me convinced you didn’t care about her with all that sobbing and now, you have the right to lose your mind just because she chose those who chose her."
Darien’s heart slams against his ribs. The words stab at every raw nerve, every hidden cowardice he’s buried under excuses. The truth is a sharp spear drilling through his heart. His jaw tightens, his breathing ragged.
But coming from Amias? That’s got to be the most condescending thing. Amias might be his older brother, Darien might have endured all of his hatred and outbursts, all those punches Amias throws at him every time there’s a situation that reveals how better than him Darien was—because Darien would rather suffer a few punches, bruises, and humiliation than sully his mother’s name or disappoint his Father.
A loyalty Amias can never understand even in his wildest dreams.
"That’s rich," he spits, scoffing sarcastically. "Coming from you."
Amias’s brows knit. "What?"
Darien steps closer, eyes blazing with rage. "Don’t you dare sit there and act like you’re above me. You want to talk about mothers? Yours is a cheat. Everyone knows it. You’ve been hiding in her shadow your whole life, a bastard no one wants to admit belongs here. What the hell could you ever do for Heidi if you claimed her? Drag her down the dirt with you?
The room explodes with tension.
Amias shoots to his feet so fast the chair topples backward, crashing against the carpet. His chest rises and falls like a storm contained in fragile skin. His hands curl into fists, the veins in his neck bulging.
For a heartbeat, silence hangs between them as both brothers heave, ready to tear into each other. Darien is waiting for it... for Amias’s punch just for him to put him in his place this time. Hell, he’ll return the favor of every single damn time his older brother had hit him that he had to be the ’bigger person’ and remain calm over.
After all, no one’s in the study there to watch with them. He can do absolutely whatever he wants, and if that is beating Amias until he vomits blood, it’ll be his precious pleasure.
However, instead of hitting him, Amias slams his fist down on the table with such force that the ink bottle tips over, black liquid bleeding across important papers.
"Say that again," he snarls, voice guttural. His wolf surges close to the surface, flashing in his eyes. "Go on, Darien. Say it again."
Darien bares his teeth, his own wolf clawing at his insides. "I said your mother’s a cheat. You’re nothing but her shame. You’ve got no right to judge me, no right to talk about Heidi like you ever had a chance with her. You couldn’t protect her if you tried!"
With that, Amias attacks, grabbing Darien by the collar and slamming him back against the nearest bookshelf. The wood shudders, dust raining down from the top. Books cascade, spines cracking as they hit the floor.
Darien doesn’t cower. He snarls back, shoving against Amias’s chest, their foreheads nearly colliding. "Try me! You think you scare me? You think I’ll just hand her over to those bastards—or to you?"
Their growls overlap, vibrating through the study walls. Wolves pressing, bristling, snarling. Two halves of the same broken family, too wounded to see straight and too desperate to think.
"You’re a coward, Darien!" Amias roars, spit flying. "You’ve always been one! Too afraid to break free from her chains. You don’t deserve Heidi—you never did!"
"And you?" Darien snaps, shoving Amias back with all his strength. The older brother stumbles, knocking into the table, sending more papers scattering like leaves in a storm. "You’re a pathetic shadow who hides behind sorrow because it’s easier than fighting. You think Heidi needs that? A man drowning in self-pity? She’d die before she chooses you!"