Awakening The Silver Wolf

DARIUS POV 

I stopped in Ravenna's room to drop her bag before I climbed up to my room, feeling wary down to my bones.

Lucian was waiting outside my door. Perfect. 

I nodded in greeting as I passed him and entered my room. "Come in, Lucian." 

The door clicked softly as he closed it. I walked to my coffee table and poured myself a glass of brandy, downing it in one go, the familiar burn smoothing some of my nerves. 

I sighed deeply as I ran my hand through my hair, feeling the weariness set deep into my bones. Now that Ravenna was safe in my territory some of the tension left my body, and in their place tiredness entered. She was safe now, but for how long?

"You don't look good," Lucian commented, sitting on the chair beside me. 

"I don't feel good," I answered. 

I leaned back on my chair and refilled my glass, sipping this one slowly. Lucian said nothing and just waited.

"Ravenna shifted," I said. 

Lucian just hummed and said nothing so I continued. "She's a Lupinari." I looked at him as I said this and there was finally a reaction. 

"Shit," he said as he frowned.

"Yeah. Shit." I idly swirled the liquor in my glass, watching the brown liquid move with a fluid grace—free, yet not free. It danced within the confines of the cup, unaware of the predator whose hand controlled its fate.

"It's funny, isn't it, Lucian?" I said, still staring absentmindedly at the liquor. I didn't wait for him to answer before I continued. "I tell you my mate shifted and is a Lupinari, and the first words you said was 'shit'." I breathed in deeply. "Why wasn't it congratulated? Why does it have to be that word?" Once again I didn't wait for him to answer. "Because our world is fucked up. Because even though Ravenna is one of the most rare wolves of our world she shouldn't be happy she is. Because she might get that sense of freedom whereas she's not. And there will always be a predator at the corner who thinks he has her fate in his hands." 

I paused for a while, the glass trembling in my grip. Lucian said nothing and just let me gather myself together. That was one of the reasons we were still close. He knew when to speak and when not to.

"What if I'm not able to protect her, Lucian?" I continued, my voice sounding choked. "What if one day she goes out and those predators strike? What if they struck when she was home, here? My mother was killed in her own home." 

She was killed in our own territory. She had left one day to the woods like she always did and that was when they had striked. The guards who were with her didn't stand a chance. My father had been at home while they killed his wife. 

I knew the men didn't want to kill her; they wanted to capture her. But my mother had fought hard, and so they had to kill her. If they couldn't have her, no one should. That was their sick mentality. 

And so what if one day Ravenna and Mia decide to go camping again? Or maybe just take a simple stroll. And then those predators were there, waiting?

But I would always protect her. I would always be there. But what if… what if I wasn't there anymore? What if… "What if I get killed? What then will happen to my Ravenna?" 

I downed the rest of the liquor and kept the glass aside. 

Lucian sighed beside me, the only sound he had made for the past minutes. "Don't kill yourself with the what-ifs, Darius," he said softly. "You should be thinking of ways to protect her, not ways you could not."

"We must always think about the other possibilities, Lucian. The negativity. The what ifs. So many things could go in our favor. And so many could go against it."

Lucian hesitated. "True." 

I inhaled and exhaled softly before I turned to face Lucian fully. "Listen to what I'm about to say, Lucian. Listen and don't judge. Listen and put yourself in my shoes. Listen and try to understand me, brother." 

Lucian shifted, and I could tell he always knew where this was going but he still let me talk. 

"I have found my mate, Lucian," I began, my voice thick with emotions. "I have found a purpose. My father's cause is not my purpose." Lucian opened his mouth but I cut him off with a hard glare. "Our plan is dangerous, Lucian. It's a 50/50 plan. We succeed or we don't and lose our lives in the process. In past years I had no reason to fear death but I do now. Unimaginable things will happen to Ravenna if I'm gone, and I can't… I can't let that happen, Lucian."

Lucian's eyes had grown hard as I spoke, his jaw clenched. "Darius," he growled.

"For god sake, listen, Lucian!" I snapped, all the emotions raging in me rising to the surface. I lowered my voice as I added, "Please, Lucian. Listen and understand."

I couldn't remember the last time I said that word to anybody that wasn't Ravenna. And Lucian knew that too because his eyes softened and he relaxed a little. 

I inhaled and continued. "I won't stop from continuing this plan. No, I won't. I will support you with whatever you need. You have the right to avenge your father and I won't stand in your way. All I'm saying is that I'm stepping back. I'm letting go of that course." 

Lucian watched me for a while, his eyes hard but glassy before he stood up and stormed out of the room, slamming the door on his way out.

I stared at where he had sat, my chest tightening. 

This was for the best. I didn't want to live for me; I wanted to live for my Ravenna. Because she would need me, and I was going to be there for her. Whatever it was going to cost me I would pay it just so I could be there for her. Even if the cost was Lucian's friendship.

My eyes burned, adding to the lump forming in my throat. If I was a lesser man I would have broken down. But I couldn't. There were things to do, and a mate to protect.

I got up and walked to the bathroom, washing and shaving with my mind far away.

I was drying my hair when a soft knock came on my door. "Enter."

The door opened and Mia peeped in before she entered and closed the door softly. 

I was half naked but I didn't bother covering myself. This was Mia. 

"Mia," I greeted. "What brings you here?"

She chewed on her bottom lips before she finally said, "Ravenna told me she shifted. She was a Lupinari."

"Ah." I walked to my closet and picked a sweatpant before I walked back to the chair and sat. Mia sat where Lucian had sat.

"Are you okay?" she asked softly.

"No."

Her small bands landed on my shoulder and seized gently. If it was someone else that wasn't Ravenna who was touching me I would have snapped at them. But not Mia. She was as close to me as a sister was, even though we had grown apart over the years. "We'll protect her, Darius. Nothing will happen to her." 

That burning returned to my eyes and my throat closed up. "But what if we can't, Mia?" I whispered.

"We will, Darius. And Ravenna is strong, stubborn. She won't let no fucker try to take her away." 

I snorted before it turned into a choked laugh. "Yeah, she won't." 

Mia's hand tightened on my shoulder before she drew me into a hug. 

I let myself be held and I tried to keep the emotions at bay. 

Was history going to repeat itself?