23: Darius’ POV

I found myself pacing in my quarters in the late hours of the night, having an internal disagreement with my wolf. As the oldest of my siblings, I prided myself in having control of my emotions and my wolf at all times. It was the one thing that I felt was a non-negotiable for a royal werewolf that represented an entire Kingdom: your wolf could not rule you. There had never been a situation where I had struggled with this concept— my wolf truly was an asset to me, providing me with the ferocious temper and cold ruthlessness that was necessary when dealing with some of my family’s greatest adversaries.

Until Ada.

She had swooped in and changed everything for me. Suddenly, I wanted to go against direct orders from my King and father. I wanted her for myself. I wanted to belong to her so completely and receive the same from her. Ada had replaced the object of all of my fantasies. She was rapidly becoming the reason behind every decision I made or thought that I had. I no longer thought out trade and war strategies or attended council meetings for the good of the Kingdom. I did them for the good of *her.*

And I couldn’t have her. It was nearly impossible for me to have her in the way I wanted. Partly because my father had decreed it and I was essentially betrothed to my feral cousin, Lady Elizabeth Jane. But also because I’d seen it in Nik’s carefully guarded expression this morning. There was something there for him and my brother did not feel. Ever.

Anger surged forward, my fingers extending into claws that slashed into the back of the couch. If he felt anything for her, he shouldn’t have been rough with her. She was still so delicate, fragile. She barely felt comfortable speaking, even when she was directly addressed. I’d initially assumed that what Mariah had said was simply Lady Elizabeth Jane’s doing— conniving little wench that she is. But then I’d overheard some servants and demanded that they tell me what they were discussing.

Bruises, markings, bite marks— all had apparently littered Ada’s body when Nik was through with her. She had been found sobbing by her lady’s maid in the early hours of the morning, in pain and distress. The servants spoke of how unkind Nik was and the the devices they found in Ada’s room. I knew of some of my brothers proclivities, but I had hoped he would leave them far from Ada. She was worth so much more than his BDSM, cold self.

My wolf raged, barking out at me, *Let’s go tell him as much.*

Normally, I would have talked him off the ledge and held back my anger. Today, I embraced it and let him lead me all the way to Nik’s dark chambers. My brother was sitting on one of his leather couches in front of a fire, book open in his hands. He was in his usual black-on-black suit, but it was one of the rare times he donned his reading glasses. Wolves normally had more than perfect vision, and when he was in wolf form, Nik did. But when he was younger, he’d had acid thrown in his face by a heated shewolf. No scars had persevered, but the eyesight in his left eye never fully recovered in his human form.

He looked up from his book as I slinked over to him, smirking, “Darius. What brings you to my quarters at this hour?”

“You, brother,” I snapped, practically foaming at the mouth, “It isn’t even that you went out of turn that bothers me, as I know you are older than Phoenix and it is technically your right,” Nik arched a thick eyebrow, only fueling my inner fire, “It is that you were absolutely vile to her. Bruises, bite marks, your—“ I shuddered, unable to even envision him utilizing some of his harsher devices on sweet Ada, “It is unacceptable that you were so harsh and disrespectful to her.”

Nik closed his book, leaning back against his couch. His face was flat, his eyes seeming to lose all reflectiveness and turn matte black. Not even the flames flickered in his irises as he removed his glasses and leveled his gaze on me. While I may have been his older brother, Nik held a level of promised rage in his eyes that made even me tremble slightly with fear.

He spoke softly, almost sweetly, “I assure you I was nothing but kind to Ada. I may have approached my time with her differently than a man of your style would,” his smirk spread across his face slowly as he watched me clench my fist, “but we had a lovely time together that I personally can’t wait to repeat,” I clenched my jaw, gritting my teeth, as Nik narrowed his eyes, “I also have it on good authority that the only bruising and bite marks Gwynn found on Ada were the morning directly after *your* time with her, big brother,” his tone had been borderline mocking, but transitioned to cold, “Regardless, only one of us discussed Ada’s skills in bed with Lady Elizabeth Jane,” he sighed and shrugged, “and it wasn’t *me.*”

Some of my anger had dissipated and turned into disgust at what he’d said. I knew what good authority meant for Nik. He and the Lady’s maid Gwynn were rumored to have a sort of *friendship* which meant she had probably told him. This meant his source was more reliable than some random castle servant I’d happened to bump into and overhear. Which meant that I had been responsible for the injuries on Ada that may have signaled violence, and if *that* portion about Nik wasn’t true… I had to assume nothing else was.

I held up both of my hands, “It would appear we have had nothing more than a simple misunderstanding.”

“I’m afraid it isn’t that simple, Darius,” Nik clucked his tongue and stood slowly, “You’re letting your feelings dictate your decisions when it comes to Ada,” he took a step toward me, “That won’t end well for you or her.”

I laughed bitterly in his face, “As if you weren’t covering up your feelings for her with your usual bravado earlier, Nikolai,” I shook my head, “You’re usually such a cold and calculating individual. Tell me: are you afraid that translated to the bedroom with her and that she won’t want you again?”

He growled, shoving me back from him, “You’re just terrified that she will appreciate me more because I don’t treat her like a broken doll I can use for release.”

“Prick,” I snapped, lunging forward, “How dare you ev—“

“Enough!” Phoenix’s voice echoed from the doorway.

Our youngest brother grabbed the color of my shirt mid-jump and sent me careening backward. Nik had stayed stock-still, muscles tense but no indication that he had been planning to move to defend himself. Phoenix was in black sweatpants and nothing else, his Long red hair hanging loose around his shoulders as he stepped between Nik and I.

Nik stated coolly, “Clearly it isn’t me with this issue here, Phoenix,” his eyes flickered over to me, “Maybe you can talk some sense into our older brother regarding the surrogate.”

He went to move away but Phoenix grabbed his elbow and pulled him back to face him. Nik’s eyes met Phoenix’s and our youngest brother gulped, his hand shaking as he dropped it from Nik’s arm. His voice was surprisingly firm, “Ada is not some prize for the two of you two fight over. She is a living being that is in a situation she doesn’t want to be in,” Phoenix sighed, “It doesn’t matter how either of you feel. She is the Royal surrogate for all three of us and is otherwise not to be pursued per our father. Shove it aside and move the fuck on, you morons.”

Neither of us responded to Phoenix. Nik simply sat down on the couch behind him and reopened his book. Phoenix turned to me, furrowing his eyebrows. I gave a small shake of my head and started out of the room to our shared living area. It didn’t matter what Nik or Phoenix said to me. I’d gone from angry to distraught. Had I hurt Ada? Had I been to rough? Did she still not want me or this situation? I mean, she had said that if she could have chosen which one of us would be her first it would be me.

But that wasn’t necessarily true. Because if she’d had a choice, she wouldn’t have chosen one of us at all. Did she still feel that way after our time together? There was only one way to find out but now that my time had come to pass with her, I could merely hope to steal a few moments with her at an upcoming ball. If only it were happening sooner than a few days from now— then I would be able to rest.