Chapter 229

229 The Poison Within

Darian

I woke before the sun, my mind already busy. Lucian and I exchanged a few words through the mind link-quiet, efficient, the way we’d always been. But I didn’t tell him everything. Not yet.

He needed this morning. A few precious hours of peace with Mara before I shattered the stillness with talk of our crumbling military. Let him breathe first. Let him hold her.

As I buttoned my shirt and adjusted the collar, I felt Tiffany’s eyes on me. Her brows were drawn, lips pursed in that gentle disapproval I’d come to know too well.

“Did your brother not just return?” she asked, crossing her arms. The words were soft, but the weight behind them was heavy. She thought I was running off to play Alpha again.

I couldn’t help but laugh-quiet, low, amused. I turned to face her fully, taking in the woman I’d chosen, the one who still