Chapter 234: The Chains Come Loose
Natalie~
The soft clatter of Darius’s chains echoed through the dim corridor as we stepped into view—shadows peeling away like old skin to reveal us.
His head jerked up at once.
Our eyes met.
And there it was—raw and unfiltered.
Shock. Disbelief. Fear.
He buried it quickly, but not quickly enough. I caught the twitch in his jaw, the slight flare of his nostrils, the pupils that widened a fraction too much before shrinking back down. He stood straighter, too fast, too rigid, like a man trying to salvage the last scraps of pride from a shattered crown. Once, he was the mighty Alpha. Untouchable. Now? Chained, dirt-caked, and completely rattled by the girl he’d once branded as "worthless" and "wolfless."
Zane moved up beside me, a living blade of quiet wrath. His face was calm, but the storm simmering beneath it was deadly. In his arms, Alexander rested peacefully—small, safe, unaware of the monster at our feet. Zane’s jaw flexed once as he looked down at Darius, and that single, sharp movement said everything: You don’t get to speak. Not after what you’ve done.
Darius, of course, couldn’t help himself.
"Praise be to the goddess," he rasped, voice hoarse and scraping like gravel—but laced with mock amusement. "Look who crawled out of the shadows. The little rat... and her royal mutt."
He smirked like he still had teeth. Like his chains were just for show.