Awakening The Silver Wolf

RAVENNA POV

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked Darius, confused by the look on his face. 

The look was a mixture of shock, confusion, awe, and confusion again. 

"Your… your eyes," Darius whispered, his voice tinged with something I couldn't place. 

I crossed my arms. "Yes, Darius, they're beautiful. I know that," I replied. "But that can't be the reason why you have that look on your face."

Darius finally abandoned the spot where I thought his feet were glued on and walked to me, his steps slow and careful as if he were walking toward a spooked horse. 

He got to me and took my face in his hands. I wanted to yell at the bastard that his hands were covered in blood but that look on his face stopped me. 

"Your eyes flashed silver," he said carefully. 

I snorted and tried to shake my face off his hands but he wouldn't let me. "I swear, Ravenna. Your eyes flashed goddamn silver."

I stopped then. His voice was hard, his face harder. Darius was barely serious but when he did I tended to take him seriously. 

"That's… that's not possible," I said.

"I saw it, Ravenna. They were there and gone the next."

I released a breath and Darius let go of my face. I tried to ignore how disappointed I was at the loss of his warmth, even though he was particularly oozing with blood and sweat. 

But the bastard still looked handsome like this. His hair has escaped the bun he tied them into, and is now sticking to his face—his bloodstained face. 

And who wears a suit to a goddamn fight? Darius, that's who. 

So back to the matter at hand. My eyes were flashing silver. I pushed my hair away from my face and turned to Darius. He was still staring at me with that intensity that made my skin tingle. 

"How did you kill that wolf so quickly?" he said. Now I understand what was in his voice before—awe. 

I shrugged, enjoying his attention a little too much. "I felt the wolf coming and I just…" I swing my sword to empathize. 

Darius cracked a smile and walked into my personal space again—a space I wouldn't mind sharing. He reached out his hand as if to touch me but dropped it back. He didn't have a problem the first time so what changed in under one minute?

And that was when I remembered our meeting earlier. I had told him nothing could happen between us and he was respecting that. My chest tightened. 

"You're a wonder, Ravenna," he said, his voice barely audible. Then his voice went lower as he added, "Perfect."

I swallowed, and Darius' eyes tracked the movement. A movement came from somewhere near us and Darius fired a shot without looking. A painful whine followed and then the wolf was silent. 

We were in the middle of a fight but here we were, standing an inch away from each other. 

"We should get back to the fight," I said. 

"Uh-huh." But we still didn't move. 

Darius raised his hand again, slowly, but then he dropped it. I tried not to frown but it seemed I failed because Darius' eyes lit up and he finally touched my face, tracing my lips with his thumb. 

I shivered at the touch, my traitorous body moving without my permission and gluing itself close to Darius—too close. 

Darius' previously lit eyes had darkened. He snaked his arms around my waist and pulled me closer, leaving no space between our bodies, his hard muscles pressed against mine. 

"My silver wisp," Darius purred. "Mine."

He leaned closer. His eyes once again held that question, asking for permission. 

I would be stupid to continue telling myself I didn't want this. I fucking wanted Darius. Needed him. I nodded once. 

Darius grinned and leaned closer, his mouth just barely an inch away from mine, his harsh breath fanning my cheeks, and then he–

"I would like to ask that the both of you wait till after the fight," a voice shattered the moment. 

I pulled away from Darius, trying not to laugh when he growled and faced Lucian. Oh, and Mia was standing beside him. Isn't that just great? 

"Fuck off, Lucian," Darius grumbled. 

"I will after I've reported the current situation," Lucian replied coolly. 

"Well then report and be on your way," came Darius' reply. The exact opposite of Lucian's. 

"We won the fight–"

Darius snorted. "Of course we did."

"–but we lost a lot of our own."

That sobered Darius and he turned to fully face Lucian, back to the composed alpha. 

"How many?" he asked. 

"Thirty," Lucian reported and Darius cursed. Mia's eyes met mine. I quickly scanned her, relieved to see the blood wasn't hers. I averted my gaze, feeling a surge of relief. 

"The rogues were more than we calculated and it seems they kept coming," Lucian was saying. "We managed to push them back and the border is now secured."

Darius nodded absentmindedly, lost in his head. After a while, he said, "Why are the rogues attacking now? It's been years since we've had an attack so why now? And why so many?"

Lucian shrugged, the perfect picture of indifference. "You've made a lot of enemies over the years, Darius. Now it seems rogues have fallen into that list."

Darius shot him a flat look. "So helpful, Lucian."

Lucian ignored his attitude and continued. "The rogues aren't known for thinking. All they want is to fight. The other packs are smart enough to know that they would lose if they attacked us. But the rogues don't have that luxury."

Darius rubbed his hand on his jaw and nodded. "Tell the pack to leave everything and go rest for the night. Come morning and we'll deal with everything."

Lucian nodded and then turned to leave. Mia followed but not before glancing at me. 

Now I was alone once more with Darius, but the earlier moment was gone. Now Darius had a faraway disturbed look in his eyes, his jaw clenched. 

After a handful of silence, he finally spoke. "I hate this," he whispered. "I hate losing members of my pack."

Darius' gaze fell to my hand resting on his shoulder.

"They died protecting their home," I whispered. "The ones left will honor that."

His eyes met mine, filled with a pain that squeezed my heart. Darius searched my face, his gaze lingering. 

And for the second time today, Darius turned and walked away.