Daryn was subjected to so much anguish and pain that life was becoming unbearable for him. It was a well-known fact that if werewolves, especially the Alphas like him, didn’t mate after identifying their mates, they could go mad. He was also aware how mad wolves were taken down by their own tribes. 

Every other night, when he couldn’t take it, he would scurry around the mountains, leave deep gashes on the trees and pick up fights with unknown stray wolves. 

​​

The puzzled painful look on Dawn’s face when he deliberately provoked her by hurling every rude word he could think of, during the dance gnawed his heart and made him miserable. His wolf wanted to dominate her, claim her.

But that could lead to breaking an alliance with dangerous consequences. 

That night after she had left with Azura, he picked up his clothes and stomped out of the venue. Maya ran after him and confronted him in the deserted aisle adjacent to the room. Her face was red with fury and she was shaking with anger. “What was that Daryn? Why did you dance with that girl? Who is she? Do you know her? How could you disrespect me in front of so many?” A princess like her had many suitors but she had eyes only for Daryn. He had agreed to marry her and now he had insulted her the worst possible way. Her fingers retracted and claws were visible. 

“I don’t have to give you every explanation Maya,” he retorted. “I am not the one who wants to marry you. It’s your father who is pushing this marriage. Trust me if it were for me, I would break it today.”

“What?” she shouted and lunged at him. 

Daryn dodged her, grabbed her by her neck and pinned her against the wall. He snarled and bared his teeth. “If you like I can break the engagement today.”

Maya was in tears. She choked and coughed. Daryn left her and she leaned against the wall. She took her hand to her neck to rub it. “I am sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you,” Maya took a one-eighty degree turn on her stance. If Daryn broke his engagement with her, she would be embarrassed in their society. So many Alphas from various packs were present in the party. They all looked up to this couple. Daryn was the most sought after powerful Alpha and she couldn’t even imagine what kind of status she would be elevated to after marrying him. 

She fell on her knees and held his right leg. “Please Daryn, please. Please don’t reject me. Try mating with me. Try marking me. I am sure things would become fine as soon as you mark me. Don’t go, please.” She wept. 

“Cut on this conversation game!” he grumbled. He was appalled by her, by the way she clung on to him. 

“No, I won’t,” she said, tightening her grip over his leg. “You have to exchange rings with me. Else I will be shamed today. My family is going to be humiliated. Don’t go.”

Daryn’s body repulsed the woman who could go to this length to marry him. Her relationship was so toxic and shallow. Her attitude was consistently trying to get what she wanted through manipulation and coercion. She was trying to control every aspect of this relationship. He had broken off their engagement once but she had forced her father by trying to commit suicide. Her father had to meet Gayle and talk him back into an alliance. It was as if she was in some competition to marry him and needed to win at every cost. It disgusted him. But he couldn’t do much because their families were deeply involved in it and they were about to get married. The relationship was in one word – stifling. 

Daryn dug his suit pocket and took out a green velvet box. He threw it down on the floor and said, “Here, wear that ring and I will wear mine. But I won’t return to the party. Get engaged alone!” He knew what she desired. 

Maya left his leg and scrambled to pick up the velvet box. She opened it and with quivering hands wore the ring. This was more than enough for now. She wiped her tear-stricken face and smiled creepily looking at the gold ring. This was the ring she wanted forever. A month later, she would have him as her husband. “Thank you,” she said and looked up, but Daryn wasn’t there. Maya ambled to the hall admiring the ring, humming softly. On her way, she went to the bathroom and cleaned her face. As she stared in the mirror, only one thought rebounded in her mind – she had to kill that neotide. Her face contorted with rage. 

When she entered the hall, Pia saw her and exclaimed, “Congratulations!” She hurried to her. Her face was glowing. “Where is Daryn?” she asked with confusion. 

“He was in a hurry to go somewhere, so we exchanged our rings privately,” replied Maya with a smile. 

That night Daryn ran around the forest surrounding the mountains and the knolls, next to the River Lifye that flowed inside the mist he so wanted to penetrate. When the waxing moon lit the snow-clad mountain peak, feeling attracted to it, he ran up the slope to expend his energy. 

— 

A week later, Dawn had successfully delivered Azura’s first project in which she advised him to hold floating shares in the market to increase capital because some fundamentals were lacking. She said that he should wait for another six months. Azura took her advice and immediately, he gave her the next project. It was about a Company that didn’t belong to him. He had asked her to find out all the financial details about it. 

In the night, after having dinner with Cole, she switched on her laptop to check the project. While researching, the first thing she did was to check the owners and she was shocked to see that the Company belonged to Daryn. It was a gaming company, which was about two years old. 

Her memory of that evening returned and she shuddered. 

Many questions sprung up in her mind and one of them was why was Azura interested in Daryn’s company? So she called Azura to understand his interest. “Why do you want to know about this firm?” she asked as she stared at the statistics with concentration. 

“I am not in the town Dawn. Will let you know as soon as I am back next week,” he said politely. However, he added excitedly, “Once I am back, I have a surprise for you.”

As if the previous jolt wasn’t enough, he wanted to give her another one. “What surprise?” Dawn asked with a frown. 

“I can’t tell you. It’s a surprise!” he sounded exhilarated. 

“Okay, See you soon,” she said because she couldn’t wait to ask what his purpose was to know about Daryn’s company.

“See you!” he replied and disconnected the call. 

Because she wanted to avoid everything related to Daryn, she didn’t want to start the project. Her pent up feelings for him surfaced and an urge to see him rose. It became like molten iron stabbing at her heart. Setting the laptop aside, she drew up her knees to her chest and rocked back and forth. 

The nightmare of being bitten hounded her again that night. At midnight, the house echoed with her retches. 

—

After taking Cole’s advice, Dawn changed her name to DW in her blog and removed the profile. A few days later she noticed that there were two comments on her blog asking for advice. She sat up straight and alert on her chair feeling a little breathless. Heat radiated off her chest in happiness. With fluid movement of fingers, she wrote a fantastic reply. An hour later the visitor replied back with a message that he was very happy to have met the blogger. It seemed that the visitor liked her blog and shared it on his social media. Dawn noticed positive growth after that. Her advice was genuinely liked by many. The only issue was they all referred to her as ‘He’. 

A week later Azura came and went to meet Dawn.