Blood Legacy Chapter 135: 133. Darius unhinged

"Still, even with this...unexpected turn of events," the king waved a dismissive hand as he prowled towards the nearest plushy chair,

"We have another issue at hand," he added as he sat and leaned back, his cold and decisive gaze trained on Darius.

"Those sick little bastards are already waiting for your brother and the princess to come forth," he said, plain and simple.

"I'd imagined so," Darius replied with a scoff, crossing his arms over his broad chest as he regarded his father.

I was still standing close to Nathan, our earlier little childish play long forgotten as we stood there and watched, closely observing this gradually tensing interaction between Darius and their father.

The others had fallen silent too, mutely watching them now. Even that thirsty little bitch had taken a seat closer to her parents, her features displaying visible concern as her anxious gaze bounced between the two.

"They are out for blood. They've already taken Lysander to their realm," The king informed, his features devoid of a single twinge of emotion. He remained tactful and cold, as if my father's possible demise didn't mean shit to him.

My brows furrowed, a little surprised at that. I thought that they were friends, that they cared for each other, in their own twisted way. At least it seemed that way the last time I was here. They were laughing and talking, appearing so at ease with each other.

*"Appearances can be misleading sometimes, love,"* Nate's voice echoed in my head. I turned to throw him a quick glance, noticing that lifeless smile tugging at the corner of his lips, his gaze remaining trained ahead. Where his father was.

"It's a good thing that they are not aware of your existence yet. We can make a good deal out of this. You can be our greatest asset, now that we know that there is magic coursing through your veins," the king said, his dark gaze gaining a certain glint as he started to assess his eldest son, from head to toe.

"We can still go forward with the ceremony. Crown you as king and-"

"No," The power of that word as Darius practically growled it out managed to shake the entire room, few gasps resounding in the background from the sheer force and determination in his voice.

"I'm sorry, but there will be no ceremony. I will not force her to go through that," his tone maintained that hint of finality, firm and decisive.

I almost mewled at the sound of that. That pure male roughness in it.

The king's expression quickly morphed with disbelief, even threatening to shift into anger as he abruptly stood from his chair.

"Son, you don't understand. We hold the power now! For once, the ball is in our court! We can finally overthrow those bloodsucking bastards!" His voice held such desperation as he spewed all that, regarding his son with brimming outrage.

Holy shit. What a fucking asshole!

I heard a soft snicker coming from my right but I didn't get to throw another glance in Nate's direction as Darius' thundering voice resounded once again.

"No! I will not subject my soulmate to such demeaning and power-draining acts! I don't give a flying fuck about the council, or any of this sick and outdated bullshit our clans have going on!"

I blinked, stunned into utter shock as I watched them stand toe to toe, Darius' chest heaving as he towered over his father's equally tense form by a few inches. Holy hell. Who was he and what had he done with my patient and sweet Darius? I'd never seen him like this before. Hell, I had no idea that he was even capable of such ferocity.

"Let them come," he sneered under our shocked stares, his stance so blatantly challenging and dangerous as he looked his father in the eyes.

"Let them try to fucking touch what is mine. Or my brother. I will end every single one of them. I will die with my teeth and claws buried deep in their bodies if I have to but they will not touch them! This I swear!"

Deep and gravely silence followed. My ears rung.

I could only stand there and watch as he continued to look down at his father like that, his broad shoulders tense and squared up. Ready to pounce.

I tentatively reached out through the bond, anxiously biting my lower lip with brimming concern as I really didn't want this to escalate. No matter how much of an asshole his father had just proven to be. It wasn't worth it. I wasn't worth it.

Darius' head suddenly snapped in my direction as soon as that thought passed through my mind, his black eyes glinting with ferocity as he swiftly stalked straight towards me.

Oh, shit.

"You are a stubborn fool, that's what you are," his father spat with disdain at his back but he didn't mind him. His dark and intense gaze burned into my own, holding me trapped and with no means to escape as he lowly uttered,

"Maybe I am, but at least I'm brave enough to defend what is mine,"

I squealed as suddenly and out of nowhere, I found myself draped over his shoulder like a damned scarf, his hand so possessively wrapped around my thigh as he headed straight for the door.

*"Byeee, girlfriend. It was nice meeting you,"* Nathan's voice popped in my head, so filled with mirth as he watched us leave. My eyes widened, struggling to look at him from that very uncomfortable position as Darius carried me further away.

*"What?"*

**

I landed over the soft mattress with a breathless "oof", my widened gaze raising to watch him stand at the foot of the bed with that wicked glint still present in his eyes.

I struggled to sit up over the silken black sheets, only to find myself letting out another squeal as his hand wrapped around my ankle and pulled. His hand remained wrapped around my leg and I heard the sound of a zipper being pulled, mere seconds before my boot left my foot. The other followed.

I tried to once again raise myself using my elbows, my heart doing a flip as I suddenly watched him place his hands over the bed, like a panther starting to prowl towards me. He inched closer, bit by bit and I had to lower myself back as his face hovered above my own, his gaze roaming over my features.

"You are the sun. The moon that hangs low in the sky, illuminating my cold and lifeless nights. You are the rain pelting down my skin, the warmth that heats my blood. The energy thrumming in my body, the one that keeps me alive,"

"My Goddess. The only deity I would happily kneel for," his hungered gaze trailed to my lips, wasting but a single moment before he leaned over, pressing a gentle kiss. I hummed with delight, my hands reaching out to grab a hold of his immaculate shirt. He smiled over my lips, sensually peering down at me for a moment before diving in for another kiss. He sucked and bit my lip and I produced a muffled moan, unable to contain myself. He was so freaking delicious.

"Don't you ever let that thought cross your mind again," he ground out, his tone scolding and angry as he peered down at me.

"Do you understand?"

I quickly nodded, eyes wide as he was back into Darius unhinged mode, those eyes watching me like a hungry wolf.

"I didn't hear you,"

My brows furrowed, intending to open my mouth when he suddenly dove forward and gave me another toe-curling kiss, this time with a little bit more passion as he licked and sucked and nibbled like a desperate man.

I drew in a gasp of air as soon as he pulled back, unable to hide that naughty little smirk as a whole different thought crossed my mind instead.

*"I believe I didn't quite catch that, good sir. Would you care to repeat?"*

He devilishly smirked in reply, his gaze becoming hooded with desire as he let his gaze trail over the length of me lying so helplessly beneath his powerful body.

*"Oh, so you wish to play it like that. Very well,"* he roughly uttered in my head and my heart started to thunder within my chest with building anticipation and suspense, even feeling a little nervous now.

This was our first time finding ourselves in such a heated and favorable situation ever since Nate had so proudly announced that he couldn't feel anything whenever Darius and I were together. He didn't feel any pain or hurt disturbing his side of the bond. Nothing. We didn't believe him at first, thinking that maybe he was only trying to shield us away from his suffering. But he'd so stubbornly insisted. He wouldn't shut up about it. He even forced us to get all handsy and heated as he waited against the other side of my bedroom door, just to prove that our physical closeness didn't affect him at all.

God. I still felt so cringey and mortified whenever I dared revisit that memory.

*"Will you two just fucking get it on already? I wanna take a nap and you're bothering me with your freaking loud thinking!"*

I let out a small and startled gasp, Darius' brows furrowing as he observed that sudden change of look on my face.

My cheeks immediately filled with heat, blinking a few times as I stared up at him.

"What's wrong, kitten?"

I bit my lip, my cheeks burning even hotter as I squeaked out,

"It's Nate. I can communicate with him through the bond again,"

He didn't hesitate to push himself back into a kneeling position, his features hardening with a murderous glint as he was about to climb off of that bed. Ready to inflict pain on whoever dared to harm his sibling.

"Wait!" I rushed to clutch at his arm and stop him as realization dawned upon me.

"No, it's not that, he's safe, I swear!"

His brows remained knitted together, a confused look marring his features instead as he peered down at me.

I audibly swallowed, that heat increasing tenfold under my skin as I meekly stuttered out,

"H-he's trying to sleep and I was...just...bothering him with...my thoughts..."

I closed my eyes and sighed, feeling so stupid and embarrassed now. Great. Way to ruin the moment, Care.

I suddenly felt his powerful presence so close to my body again, followed by the gentle touch of his lips on my forehead. My eyelids fluttered open and I stared up at him, watching him let his body heavily fall at my side, adopting a casual and relaxed position.

He propped his hand under his jaw, lovingly watching me as I laid there, still on my back.

"Why is your father so desperate for us to perform that ceremony?" I found myself quietly asking after a moment. That thought has been bugging me ever since we left that tea room. I wanted to know.

"It's because of the exchange of power," he simply answered after a long and tired exhale.

"If I was still only werewolf, your power would extend only to me during the ceremony. Through our mating bond,"

"But if we do it now, now as I am I could give my entire family access to our powers combined, seeing as I have a strong bond with them too through my wolf side," he started to explain and I turned on my side to face him, mimicking his position as a small frown marred my features.

"These regular rituals have benefited both clans throughout generations, but only to some extent. It gave the anointed Wolf King an extra boost of power to rule, to dominate all of his subjects with the help of his shaman bride's magic.

And in exchange the shamans would draw through their sacrificed little lamb their favourite type of nourishment from the Wolf King. Our special lifeforce," he spewed out with the faintest hint of disgust and my brows rose, so thoroughly vexed and equally repulsed by what I was hearing.

"So, basically, what you're trying to say is that I would have to become a living fucking transfusion bag. For my husband and my clan,"

He paused to let out a small chuckle at the sound of my words, albeit still affected by what he'd just told me. I could see it in his eyes.

"Not a transfusion bag per se, but yeah, in a nutshell,"

"But now that you have your own power..." I suggestively trailed off as I stared up at him, eager to hear the rest of it. I needed to get to the bottom of this. I needed to finally understand. All of it.

"Now that I have my own magical powers I could simply do the ritual for spell-binding purposes only, and transfer some of that power to all of us instead of just me. My parents, the other royals, hell, our entire court could have access to some of it, thanks to that spiritual bond our wolves share," he explained and my brows knitted together again as another thought popped into my mind.

"Can't you just do it by yourself then? I mean like, do the ritual thingy and give them some power if they're so desperate for it," I rolled my eyes and he let out another small chuckle and shook his head, his features slowly returning to that sad and disheartened expression as he said,

"I'm afraid not. The spell specifically requires two people. From each clan. My wolf has to...connect with his shaman significant other, I can't just connect with myself, if you know what I mean," he raised a suggestive brow and my lips parted a little as I lastly realized what he was talking about. Sex. He would have to have sex with me during the ritual. There was no other way to perform it.

"We'd have to do it together. There is no other way," he softly echoed my thoughts and my gaze refocused on him, plagued by another question.

"But if we do it, aren't they still going to suck some lifeforce from you through me? You said that they would make me their proverbial transfusion bag anyway,"

"They can't get access to it if they're not present at the ritual. They'd have to be there, participate for the spell to fall into place. They'd have to drink from your blood, bind themselves to you to..."

I quickly nodded, not exactly eager to hear the rest. It sounded awful anyway. Having to have freaking sex in front of everybody, just like that whilst they drank blood...Holy shit.

"That's why my father is so desperate for us to do it now, while the council still doesn't know that I'm alive and that I'm like this," he said after a moment and my gaze darted back to his, my mouth quickly working to complete what he just said.

"So they can do it under wraps and draw the power only for themselves, leaving the shamans completely out of the loop,"

"And with a chance to finally overthrow them," he added with a mild shake of his head and another tired sigh, that certain sentence however triggering something within me. My will to fight back. To finally retaliate against those fucking tyrants. And before he could even let out another exhale I suddenly blurted out,

"Let's do it. Let's overthrow those cocky pieces of shit,"