< 139 Some Effort
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139 Some Effort
Lucian
The room fell into a heavy silence after Tiffany finished. Her words hung in the air like smoke-thick, choking, impossible to ignore. None of us knew what to say. Darian looked at me, then Mara, silently begging one of us to step in and say something that might fix this.
But this wasn’t ours to fix.
This was his mess.
“Tiffany, please,” Mara said, her voice soft and pleading. “Reconsider.”
Tiffany turned to her, not angry-just tired.
“It’s easy for you to say, Mara. Lucian never lets you out of his sight. You’re loved. Protected. When the two of you got married, people whispered that you’d be miserable because of the rumors, but look at you now. You’re admired. Envied.”
She paused, her fingers tightening gently around her baby.
“My only crime was being naive. I genuinely thought you only got pregnant during heat. That’s what I believed until Lucian used me as an example, remember that? When Martha tried to convince you to rest and get pregnant after your first heat?
”
Mara looked away.
“My mother never taught me anything about being a woman. All she cared about was appearances and spending money. Everything I’ve learned, I learned by failing. I didn’t plan this. Who wants to be a mother at twenty?” She glanced briefly at Mara. “No offense. But this was never the future I imagined.”
She shifted in bed, holding her daughter protectively.
“I had already broken up with him. It doesn’t matter what the DNA says. People will always see me as the slut who trapped Darian Nighthorn. No one knows he was my first. No one knows I never cheated. But what they do know? He doubted me. That’s what stuck.”
Her voice didn’t shake. She wasn’t falling apart, she was already past the wreckage.
“I can’t stay here. I can’t stay with someone who’s only choosing me because the woman he really wants is unavailable. I have dignity, Mara. I’ve earned it the hard way.”
I said nothing. I couldn’t. Because everything she said was true. Darian had chance after chance to show up-and every time, he chose something else.
“I stayed with the Nighthorns for shelter. For safety. I thought they’d care for me during my pregnancy, But aside from paid bills, I did it all alone. No support. No companionship. Just silence. Just shame.”
She looked up at us, her eyes clear. “I died, Lucian. I died, and the goddess gave me back my life. I’m not wasting the second chance.”
Mara couldn’t argue. No one could. This wasn’t drama. This was clarity. And it hurt more than any shouting ever could.
Then Darian stepped forward, voice raw.
“Please, Tiff.”
He dropped to his knees.
leave me.”
Tears filled his eyes as he looked up at her.
“You and our daughter… you’re all that makes sense in my life right now. Please. I can’t lose both of you.”
He clasped his hands together, trembling.
“I’ll do anything. I’ll follow you anywhere. I’ll be the man you needed then. Just give me the chance now.”
His voice cracked.
“I was sorry long before today. I thought you were trying to trap me. I’ve been tricked before. Girls lied. Some weren’t even pregnant by the time we offered terminations. I lumped you in with them. That was my sin. And I’m sorry.”
He bowed his head.
“I was a coward.”
“Please,” Darian whispered, still on his knees. “Just tell me what you want me to do, Tiff, and I’ll do it. I swear I will.” The door opened behind us.
“Darian!” Martha’s voice cut through the air like a whip. “What are you doing? Don’t you remember you’re an Alpha?” He didn’t even glance at her. Didn’t move. Just stayed there, eyes locked on Tiffany, his voice shaking with regret. “What’s going on?” my father asked quietly, stepping beside me.
“Tiffany’s leaving,” I said. “She’s taking her child.”
His brows shot up. “The girl’s a Nighthorn. She can’t just take her away.”
“She can,” I replied evenly. “Darian never married her. That child is also a Northwood.”
He fell silent. The truth landed hard. After a beat, he placed a hand on Martha’s back and gently nudged her toward the door.
“Let’s give them some space,” he murmured, pulling her along.
I was about to do the same when Tiffany spoke.
“Don’t leave. I want you both here,” she said, her voice soft but resolute. “I want you to take me home.”
Mara stepped closer, trying to offer some light in the dark. “Tiffany, you can’t do this alone. I’ve helped you with her for two weeks, and I know how much it takes. Why don’t you two stay with us for a while? Just try it. Let your daughter grow a bit, let yourself recover. If you still want to leave later, no one will stop you.”
Tiffany looked uncertain. Her lips pressed together, eyes watering.
I stepped in. “Or better yet, I’ll rent the house next to ours for you both. That way, you’ll have your space. No pressure. Just proximity. Support when you need it.”
Tiffany turned to Mara then, only Mara. And something passed between them. A silent conversation, a look that said more than words. Trust. Safety. Sisterhood.
“I don’t want to be around Darian, Mara,” she said, her voice cracking. “He hurt me to my soul.”
She broke down then. Mara moved quickly, wrapping her arms around her.
I took the baby from Tiffany’s arms to give her space, rocking her gently as she whimpered.
Tiffany was still bleeding on the inside, and it wasn’t the kind a hospital could treat.
23
139 Some Effort
I glanced at Darian. He looked like a ghost-frozen, helpless.
I nodded toward the hallway. “Come on. Let’s talk.”
He followed me out, dragging his feet.
Outside, I turned to face him. “Are you serious about everything you said in there?”
He nodded, ashamed. “I’ve been serious since before she gave birth. I just-” he looked away, voice breaking, “-I thought she got pregnant to trap me.”
There it was. His fatal flaw. The doubt. The assumption. The curse of his past creeping into his present and poisoning
everything.
And now he was trying to undo damage that might be permanent.
