Moonbound: The Rogue's Second Chance-Chapter 260: IT WOULD NOT RUN FROM ANYTHING EVER AGAIN
Serena stared at the lamb he set before drizzling in some strange sauce she had never had the pleasure of seeing, it did smelt wonderful though.
"Do you often eat in your office?" She asked, taking a piece of lamb gingerly in her hands.
He did not answer her until she had taken a bit out of the meat before giving a small satisfactory nod to himself. The man settled into a chair opposite her and folded his arms.
"Maybe, is there something you would like to ask me?" He asked with a raised brow.
"Oh my this is actually-" she let out a hum of glee and smiled. After she chewed for a bit she nodded in response to his question. "The dining area seemed to be there for decoration."
He merely huffed, she could not tell if he was amused or irritated. "It is used for special occasions or whenever I see fit."
"Oh yes, you are the prince of this large castle," she said with a smile which quickly melted away when he shot her a pointed look. "Would you not be joining me?"
"I am not so hungry that I could eat a moose," he teased.
Serena enjoyed the meal for a while in companionable silence, pausing only to murmur that Darius ought to give the chef her thanks. "This lamb is wonderfully done," she said at last, licking her fingers before reaching for the wine. "And this sauce, what is it?"
"Moonvine reduction," Darius replied smoothly, watching her reaction.
Serena paused, brows drawing together. "Moonvine?" She tilted her head. "I have never heard of it."
"That is because it is my mother’s own recipe," he said, his tone carrying just the faintest trace of pride.
"Your mother?" Serena blinked and sat back a little, her curiosity sharpened. "She made this herself?"
"She did," he said with the ghost of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "She was a fine cook when she wished to be. This sauce was one of the few things she never shared beyond these walls."
Serena’s lips parted in delight. "Now you must tell me what is in it."
Darius’s smile widened into something teasing. "I cannot simply give away our family secrets. There must be a price."
"A price?"
"Yes," he said with a mock-solemn air, leaning back in his chair as though considering a great bargain.
Serena laughed softly, shaking her head. "I have no coin to my name at present. You will have to wait until your treasury allows me a stipend."
Darius hummed and tapped his chin in exaggerated thought. "A shame. I do not know if the coffers of Ironshade can wait that long." His hazel eyes glinted, his lips curving into something boyish before he declared, "Then I must ask for a kiss in exchange," and he tilted his face toward her, tapping one cheek with his finger.
Serena’s laugh escaped before she could stop it, but then she drew in air too sharply and began to cough, clapping a hand to her chest as tears pricked her eyes.
Darius was out of his chair at once, thrusting her cup of wine toward her. "Do not die on me," he said, half-serious and half-scolding.
Serena waved him off, gulping down enough wine to soothe her throat, and nodded when she could finally breathe again. "I am not dying," she managed, still breathless but smiling. "Though I might have, had I truly taken you seriously."
"Good," he said, his shoulders easing as he sank back into his chair.
She gave him a mock-narrowed glance, her lips twitching. "It is good sauce," she admitted, gesturing with her knife toward her plate. "I daresay I might give you that kiss, if only to learn the secret."
He looked pleased with himself at that, though he said nothing more on the matter, allowing her to finish her meal in peace.
When at last she pushed the plate away, satisfied, she folded her hands on the table and tilted her head toward him. "Tell me, Darius, why does Ironshade have a castle? I do not think I have ever heard of a pack with a castle made of stone. It is the sort of thing one hears of among the vampire lords, not wolves."
Darius leaned back slightly, his eyes thoughtful. "Most packs do not," he agreed. "But when Ironshade’s first pioneers left the ancestral pack, they wandered for some time. Winter drove them far to the east, to the highlands where the stones were plentiful and the wilds harsher. For a brief season, they shared territory with a vampire court, one of the old ones, long gone now. It was not an easy alliance. We were too wild for them, and they were too exacting for us. But we learnt from one another.
"They showed us how they worked the stone, how to make walls that could hold against wind and war alike. And in turn we taught them things of the hunt and the open range that they had little knowledge of. When we parted ways, our forebears took what knowledge they could and built this place as a show of their permanence"
Serena rested her chin in one hand, listening intently, her lips parted in wonder. "I never thought wolves and vampires could live side by side in the past," she said softly.
"Neither did they," Darius said with a faint huff of laughter. "And yet it was done, for a time. But now Dawnbreak does it quite easily, it is their culture now."
"That must have been a sight to behold," she mused.
"Still, I am told it made Ironshade stronger. It shaped us into what we are now. Wolves who could build something lasting and hold it against the centuries." His tone softened as his gaze drifted to the window, as though seeing the shadows of the past.
Serena found herself smiling faintly. "I suppose that is why the place feels so... enduring. I did wonder."
He looked back at her then, and for a moment neither spoke. The firelight painted warm hues across the stone walls, casting long shadows, and Serena felt strangely settled, despite the ache in her thigh and the weariness in her bones.
"You asked why we have a castle," Darius said finally, his voice quieter now. "Perhaps it is because Ironshade decided once, long ago, that it would not run from anything ever again."
Serena’s gaze softened at that. "That is something worth admiring," she said gently.
For a brief instant, his lips curved in a small, almost wistful smile.
