Chapter 25
For the first time in years, I felt free. Truly free. The absence of Lucian from my life wasn’t just a relief–it was a revelation. I didn’t realize how much of a burden he had been until now, how much peace I had been denying myself.
And then there was Alpha Darian.
He wasn’t a man I had sought out for help, yet he had done so much for me, even when I didn’t ask him to. Now, here I was, sitting across from him at a cozy restaurant owned by his pack, sharing a quiet dinner that felt oddly… perfect.
“I can’t believe I’m having dinner with someone as flirty as you,” I teased, raising an eyebrow.
He laughed, the sound deep and rich.
“Well, you like it,” he replied, leaning back in his chair with a confident smirk.
I smiled softly, shaking my head. “Let’s
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just say I forgot how to giggle. And yet, somehow, you managed to make me laugh the other day when you joked about me being your mate.”
He tilted his head, his smirk widening.
“Who said I was joking?”
I blinked, caught off guard by his response. His tone wasn’t teasing–it was serious. And for a moment, I felt something flutter inside me, something I hadn’t felt in years.
The night felt magical, different. For the first time, I felt truly alive. I’d always had everything I wanted–money, power, influence–but none of it had ever made
me feel this kind of happiness. This kind of peace.
I narrowed my eyes playfully. “What are you even trying to say, Darian?”
“That I’ve known about you for a long time,” he said, his voice softening. “I’ve seen you with your brother back then but I
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didn’t know you were his sister. I just know that Boone has a sister who vanished for training when she turned fifteen, your identity seemed to disappear. It was like you vanished into thin air, and I couldn’t find anything about you.”
“Are you stalking me?” I asked with a laugh, though my curiosity was piqued.
He smiled, shaking his head. “No. But I did try to find you. And when I finally did, I discovered you’d become a Luna in someone else‘ s pack. I didn’t intervene. I respected your position. But when Lucian’s pack asked for my alliance…” He paused, his blue eyes locking onto mine. “I took the chance to visit. Not because I cared about the alliance, but because it was a chance to see you.”
His words left me momentarily speechless. His honesty, the sincerity in his gaze–it was unlike anything I’d ever experienced.
With Lucian, there had always been fear, pain, and doubt. But with Darian, I felt…
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safe. His attention didn’t feel like
possession; it felt like appreciation. And for the first time, I felt butterflies in my stomach instead of dread.
He leaned forward slightly, his voice low but warm. “You‘ ve always been someone worth finding, Freya. Even when you didn’t know it.”
I swallowed hard, unable to suppress the small, genuine smile that crept onto my lips. He wasn’t like Lucian. This was different.
And for the first time, I let myself believe that maybe, just maybe, I deserved this.
“Why are you so interested? Is it because I’m beautiful like all men could say-”
“No but it’s because you‘ re strong even to the time that I don’t know that you‘ re actually a Stormhood. Beautiful, yes, but that’s not what drew me in. It was the way you carried yourself, even when the world seemed to crumble around you…” he
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murmured, “You look so much like a
winner even when the time that you have nothing to say. You already win even when you didn’t answer.”
I felt a lump form in my throat at his words. No one had ever spoken to me like that before, not even close. Lucian‘ s compliments had always felt hollow, more like a ploy to keep me tethered to his whims. But Alpha Darian? His words felt raw, honest, and they struck a chord deep within me.
I glanced at him, searching his face for any sign of insincerity, but there was none. Just that same steady gaze that had both comforted and unsettled me since the day he came into my life.
“You think too highly of me,” I
murmured, breaking eye contact to look at the plate in front of me. “I’m not as strong as you think I am. Yes, I’m a
Stormhood. My blood is rare… But I’d still stay even when I already have to.”
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“And yet, here you are,” he countered softly. “You survived everything he put you through, didn’t you? You could have given up, but you didn’t.”
I swallowed hard, my chest tightening. “I didn’t survive because I’m strong. I survived because I didn’t have a choice.”
Darian reached across the table, his fingers brushing mine. The touch was warm, grounding. “Maybe that’s what strength is–pushing forward even when you don’t feel like you can.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. My heart felt like it was racing and standing
still all at once. The vulnerability in his words, in his touch, made me feel
something I hadn’t allowed myself to feel in years: hope.
The rest of the dinner passed in a blur of light conversation and stolen glances. For the first time in what felt like forever, I didn’t feel the weight of my past crushing down on me. Darian had a way of making
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me feel lighter, freer. Like maybe, just maybe, there was still a future for me that didn’t revolve around fear and regret.
As we stepped out of the restaurant, the cool night air wrapping around us, he turned to me with a small, mischievous smile. “So, do I get points for being the first one to make you smile tonight?”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Maybe a few.”
“Just a few?” He raised an eyebrow, feigning offense.
“Don’t push your luck, Alpha,” I teased, but there was no malice in my voice, only a playful edge that felt foreign but welcome.
He chuckled, offering me his arm. “Shall we? I’ll take you home.”
I hesitated for a moment before sliding my
hand into the crook of his arm. As we
walked, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this night was the beginning of something new–something I hadn’t dared to dream
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of before.
“And you’re here, Freya.”
