Awakening The Silver Wolf

DARIUS POV 

"I'll leave you to do your alpha work," Ravenna said, leaning in to kiss me softly on the cheek before she stood up and headed for the door. 

She opened the door and gave Lucian a nod before he strode in and she out. I stood up and walked around my desk, slumping on my chair, I ran a hand through my hair. 

When Lucian remained silent I looked up to see him staring at me with a slight frown on his face. "You're shirtless," he remarked helpfully.

I was too drained for this. "Such a wonderful observation, Lucian," I said dryly. "Give yourself a pat on the back."

He ignored my taunting. "She saw your back?" he asked, his lips pressed tight.

"Yes." 

"What was her reaction?"

Recalling the way Ravenna had sobbed on my back made my chest tight. "She cried," I whispered, my eyes staring downwards. "She cried on my back with her arms around me." 

Lucian didn't respond for a while. "She's your mate, isn't she?"

My shoulders slumped. "She is." 

"Does she know?"

"She doesn't." 

I was about to tell her, though. Lucian's interruption was a blessing in disguise. What if she had rejected me? What if she didn't want me as a mate? 

A mate was a life-bound thing, not an affair you could just enter and go out if you wanted. A mate was your other half, the half of your soul and heart. It was no small thing. 

Would she want that commitment? Would she want to be committed to a broken villain like me who has caused her pain? 

But whether she accepted me or not I wasn't going to let her go. No matter what her decision was, I was going to fight for her love. She was the only good thing in my life, so I was going to fight for her. 

"She's not going to reject you, Darius," Lucian said, his voice not soft, but it wasn't hard either.

I raised my eyes slowly to him. "What makes you so sure?" I asked, hope and uncertainty blooming in my chest.

"Because the signs are written boldly in red," he answered, sitting in the chair in front of my desk. 

"Since I'm so obviously blind, please enlighten me." I rested my elbows on the desk and placed my chin on my joined fingers, looking intensely at Lucian. 

Lucian sighed, clearly done with the theatrics. "I'm not a relationship counselor, Darius, but it's not exactly rocket science." 

I just glared at him.

"Fine," he huffed, throwing up his hands in frustration. "Ravenna has fallen head over heels for you, dumb ass," he began. My heart skipped a beat. "Drag that ass of yours out of self-sabotage and self-pity and you'll see it clearly even in dim light." A pause. "It's the way she looks at you, the way she's always glancing at you when you're not looking, her body language around you. It's all there, Darius. Open your fucking eyes!"

A wide smile spread across my face, and my heart felt as if a stone had been lifted from it.

"Love-sick idiot," Lucian muttered under his breath but he had a small smile on his face.

I leaned back on my chair, rolling it to face the window so Lucian wouldn't see how my smile kept widening—who knew that was possible—and heat rising to my neck. 

Ravenna has fallen head over heels for me. 

Damn. 

Was it really true? Have I really been that blind to see it all this while? I put my hand over my heart if it could stop it from beating so fast.

"You can also ask Mia," Lucian added. "I'm sure she has seen it too."

Yes, I was definitely going to ask her before I got my hopes too high. Hope was a dangerous thing. 

Lucian cleared his throat. "So to the reason why I came here in the first place." 

I turned my chair back to face him again, tucking matters of the heart beside me. "Right. You said I have a message from our latest ally." 

Lucian nodded. "Alpha Hale called to say his agents would be arriving sooner rather than later."

"How soon?"

Lucian's lips thinned. "Tomorrow."

I raised an eyebrow. "Tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow."

"Why the sudden change? We weren't expecting them for another two days at least." 

"He didn't say. All he said was his agents would reach here tomorrow and the deal will be finalized." 

I tapped the desk, repeatedly. 

"What's the plan, Darius?" 

"The plan," I repeated. Fuck, the plan. The goddamn plan. 

"Don't tell me you're having second thoughts now that you've found your mate," Lucian sneered. 

I raised my eyes to his. "I am."

He shot out of his chair. "Fuck that!" he barked. "This plan has been our entire life, Darius. Not just yours, but mine too."

"I know t—"

"You sure as hell don't," he cut me off, his eyes burning with rage. "This plan has taken years to get to this point. Years, Darius! We have sacrificed a lot, and lost a lot, all to get to this level. So don't tell me you've suddenly had a change of heart all because you've fallen in love and found your mates. I would do this with or without you, Darius." 

I watched his face as his chest rose and fell hard, his hands trembling. Lucian barely lost control of himself and snapped like this, when he did it was no joke. 

"Sit down, Lucian," I said softly.

Lucian sat on the chair with so much force, that the chair nearly flew back. 

He settled and pinned me with a hard glare. I ignored the look and said calmly, "I know how important this whole thing is for you. Do not interrupt me again, Lucian," I commanded when he opened his mouth, my voice hard.

I took a deep breath and continued, "I only said I was having second thoughts, not that I wasn't going to carry out the plan anymore." 

That seems to calm Lucian a little. His shoulders came down and he sat a little more comfortably on the seat. 

"This plan might not have been my own from the beginning but over the years it has become my cause. And I really do know how important this is for you, Lucian. Goddamn it, I do." 

Lucian lowered his eyes, the last of his anger leaving him. I hated seeing my only friend like this. 

Lucian has his own flesh to take, his own scores to settle. Those packs have also taken his father, the previous beta, away from him. While I hated my own father to death, Lucian loved his to the moon and beyond. 

So he was out for revenge the same way I was. The only difference is that his own revenge was his choice. But deep down I also wanted to avenge my mother's death. 

She didn't deserve any of what happened to her. 

"We will see this through, Lucian," I said, my voice soft. "I promise you, brother." 

Lucian raised his eyes to mine and they were glassy. "I'm sorry, man," he murmured. "I shouldn't have lost control like that." 

I got up and walked around the desk, clapping him on the shoulder. "All is forgiven." 

I turned and walked out of the office, heading to my room to find a shirt. Lucian followed silently. 

"Let's plan our revenge."