The Silver Wolf (Diana and Talon) novel Chapter 224

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Chapter Two Hundred Twenty Four

When Talon finally reached the door of the suite he shared with Diana, he stopped. His hand rested on the handle, but he did not turn it. For several long seconds, the Alpha King simply stood there. Not because he did not want to see Diana.mNot because he was still too angry to speak with her. Quite the opposite.

The emotions rushing through him were almost overwhelming. He had spent the entire day away from her. No conversations. No mind links. Not even one brief visit to make sure she had eaten or rested properly.

Talon could not remember the last time they had gone this long without speaking when they were both in the same pack house.

He missed her. Goddess, he missed her. Yet beneath that longing was still the pain. Talon could not deny that Diana’s confession had hurt him. As an Alpha, he felt betrayed by her decision. Thorne had attacked his pack, killed his wolves, endangered his allies, and nearly murdered his pregnant mate.

And Diana had helped him escape. She had told Ravenna to take him. She had given Ravenna the means to disappear with him.

She had even allowed Ravenna to attack her so everyone would believe the white witch had betrayed them.

But after spending the entire day walking through his territory and seeing the aftermath of the battle, Talon’s anger had slowly changed. It had not disappeared. But now, there was something else mixed with it. Understanding.

He was beginning to understand why Diana had done it. She had looked at Ravenna and seen something Talon had been too angry to see. A mate desperately trying to save the male she loved.

And when Gideon’s curse left Thorne, Diana had apparently stopped seeing the enemy who had attacked Black Howler. She had seen the male trapped underneath it. Talon closed his

eyes.

He still didn’t know if Diana had made the right decision. Maybe there wasn’t a right decision. Maybe that was what bothered him the most. There were also the charms. Where had they come from?

Diana had told him about the concealment charm that hid Ravenna and Thorne’s scent and magic, and the transportation charm that allowed them to disappear. Had Ravenna prepared those charms beforehand? Had she anticipated saving Thorne? Had she come to Black

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Howler already knowing there was a chance she would betray her duty as Diana’s white witch? Or had the charms originally been created for another purpose?

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Talon didn’t know. But another question suddenly occurred to him. Did he even want to know? Would knowing change what had happened? Would it change Diana’s decision? Would it bring Ravenna and Thorne back? Would it erase the pain their pack had suffered?

No.

“We won’t know anything if you keep standing here like a pup who broke something and is afraid to go home because he knows he’s going to get yelled at.”

Talon’s eyes opened.

“Fenrir.”

“What?”

“You are not helping.”

“I am helping. You’re just stubborn.”

Talon released a slow breath.

Fenrir had been restless for the past several hours. His wolf wanted Artemis. He wanted Diana. He wanted their pups.

But unlike earlier, Fenrir’s anger toward their mate had almost completely disappeared.

“We were hurt by what our mate did,” Fenrir continued. “We are still hurt.”

Talon remained silent.

“Because we are the Alpha,” Fenrir said. “We protect the pack. If someone hurts our wolves, we hurt them back. If they threaten our family, we destroy them so badly that they never think about doing it again.”

A faint smile touched Talon’s lips. That certainly sounded like Fenrir.

“But our mate is the Luna.”

Talon’s smile faded. Fenrir’s voice became quieter.

“Maybe that is why the Goddess gives an Alpha his Luna. Because she sees things we cannot.”

Talon stilled.

“We see the threat,” Fenrir continued. “She sees what caused it. We see the enemy. Sometimes

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Clamm

she sees the wolf underneath. We protect the pack by fighting what wants to destroy it. Our Luna protects the pack differently.”

Talon stared at the closed door. There was wisdom in his wolf’s words. Diana was fierce. She could be more ruthless than Talon when someone harmed those she loved. But Diana also possessed compassion that did not disappear simply because someone stood on the opposite side of a battlefield.

Perhaps that was why they balanced each other. Talon finally turned the handle. The suite was dark. His brows immediately furrowed.

“Diana?”

No answer came at first. Talon stepped inside and closed the door behind him. His wolf vision adjusted quickly to the darkness, and that was when he saw her. Diana was sitting in the chair beside their bed. Alone. Waiting. His chest tightened. She had not gone to sleep. She had waited for him.

The moment the door closed, Diana lifted her head. Their eyes met through the darkness.

“You came back.”

Three simple words. But Talon heard everything behind them. Relief. Fear. Uncertainty.

Talon’s heart broke. Diana stood from the chair and walked toward him. Slowly at first. Then faster. By the time she reached him, tears were already falling from her eyes.

She wrapped her arms around him. Talon froze for only a fraction of a second before instinct took over. His arms closed around her.

Tightly. Protectively. Possessively. He buried his face against her hair and inhaled the scent he had missed all day.

“Mate.”

Fenrir’s voice trembled with relief. Inside Diana, Artemis surged toward their bond.

“You came back.”

Talon tightened his embrace.

“I will always come back to you, my love,” he whispered. “You should know that by now.”

Diana’s fingers clutched the back of his shirt.

“I didn’t.”

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Talon pulled back enough to look at her.

“What?”

“When you left this morning…” Diana swallowed. “I didn’t know.”

His expression softened.

“I thought you wouldn’t forgive me.”

“Diana-”

“You wouldn’t even let me touch you.”

Talon closed his eyes briefly. He remembered. Diana had reached for him, and he had stepped away. At the time, he had been too hurt and angry to allow her touch because he knew the moment she touched him, most of his anger would disappear.

But he had never considered what his rejection would feel like to her.

“I thought maybe you would decide what I did was something you couldn’t forgive,” Diana whispered. “That you would look at me and only see your Luna who betrayed her pack.”

“Never.”

Talon’s answer came immediately. He cupped her face between his hands.

“Do you hear me? Never.”

Diana closed her eyes as another tear escaped.

“I was angry. I am still hurt. But there is nothing you can do that will make me stop loving you.”

“Talon…”

Clarm

“You are my mate. My Luna. The mother of my pups. You are the female I chose, and I will continue choosing you even when I disagree with you.”

Diana leaned into his touch.

“I am sorry.”

Talon remained silent.

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