Romane von SB

Dustan's POVThe symbol stared back at me. The familiarity was mocking me. Ruth's emblem? Ruth's crest? I couldn't process it. Couldn't wrap my mind around the implications. Ruth, of all people, connected to this darkness? She was unpredictable, yes. But this darkness… This was something else. It didn't make sense.And yet, there it was. Carved into the stone of this cave, hidden in the mist-shrouded hills near Blackwater Ridge. The same symbol that adorned her clothes, her bags, her weapons. I always thought it was one of her sketches. She used to scribble these so often. I had a feeling uncle Alaric took it from her sketch books and got it everywhere because he was proud of what she was scribbling. Apparently, the matter was not that innocent. The same symbol from my cousin’s childhood sketch books, now pulsed with a dark, malevolent energy.Kael had felt it too. I could see it in his eyes, the way they had widened when he touched the stone. He had sensed the same darkness, th

Kael's POVThe cave was damp and cold, its walls slick with moisture that glistened in the pale light filtering through the mist. I could hear the steady drip of water somewhere in the darkness. Dustan was on the other side of the cave, his back to me, his body tense as he examined the rock formations. His hands trailed over the stone, his nose flared as he scented the air.We hadn't spoken in hours.Not since Richard had taken Elara away, promising to find her a healer. Neither of us complained. We knew we needed to keep our distance for the time being. And we knew she needed help. But who was I fooling…it was hard. The memory of her leaving still burned in my chest—the way she had looked back at us, her eyes filled with confusion, and with concern. The way she had reached out, as if to touch us, before Richard had gently steered her away.She didn't understand what was happening to us completely. She didn't understand the hunger that was clawing at our insides, the desperate ne

Hell yeah... I wanted to mate.The thought consumed me. It burned through every rational part of my mind like wildfire through dry grass. I wanted to be inside her more than I had ever wanted to be in all my life. I wanted to throw her on the ground and just dig inside till I filled her with my seed. I wanted to claim her, mark her, make her mine in a way that went beyond acceptable ceremonies.I wanted to possess her.And the worst part? I couldn't stop thinking about it no matter how hard I tried. It was as if my mind wasn't in my control anymore. I couldn't stop imagining it. Her body beneath mine, her legs wrapped around my waist, her voice calling out my name in that breathless way she always did... The thought made my cock throb, made my blood run hot, made me want to—I slammed my fist against the tree trunk beside me. The bark splintered under the impact. Pain shot up my arm.What the hell was wrong with me?I was overlooking the fact that she was injured. I was overlooking th

Elara's POVI woke up coughing.It was as if I was trying to expel the very darkness that had swallowed me whole. My hand flew to my face, wiping away the moisture that clung to my lips.The world slowly came into focus.Trees. Then their branches intertwining overhead like the ribs of some great beast. A clearing, bathed in the soft golden light of early morning. The scent of pine and earth and something else—something sharp, like ozone after a storm.And then I saw the two of them.Kael and Dustan sat on either side of me but with their faces turned away. Kael was examining a blade that didn't need examining, his fingers tracing the edge with unnecessary concentration. Dustan was studying a patch of moss as if it held the secrets of the universe.I tried to sit up, to gain their attention. But neither of them were looking at me.I stared at them, my mind struggling to piece together what had happened. The shadows. The light. The darkness that had swallowed me whole.And then I rem

Elara's POVThe light poured out of me like a river unleashed.I watched as it swept across the clearing, chasing the shadows into every corner, every crevice, every hidden pocket of darkness. The shadows screamed as they were consumed, their forms dissolving into nothing, their shrieks fading into silence.It was a win. A miracle. A miracle with no real explanation. We were actually winning.I let it flow… let it flood. I did not hold back at all. But even as the last of the shadows retreated, I felt something shifting inside me. The power that had surged through my veins was beginning to ebb, receding like a tide pulling back from the shore.And I started shaking.My legs trembled beneath me. My muscles started screaming with exhaustion. The golden light that had been pouring out of me began to flicker, dimming, threatening to go out entirely.I tried to hold on. I tried to keep the light burning. But it was too much. It was all too much.I was about to collapse. I blinked, my

Elara's POVThe shadows shifted.They stopped attacking randomly. They stopped attacking altogether at one point…and began to circle the two wolves… One shadow lunged at the chestnut wolf, its claws extended in an exact replica of his own attack. He dodged, barely, but the shadow was already there, mirroring his next movements. As the black wolf tried to attack, he got flipped in an instance. Its fangs sank into his flank. He snarled, twisting to retaliate, but the shadow was already gone, reforming behind him.They were learning.They were adapting.And they were using the wolves' own tactics against them.I watched in horror as the fight turned. The two wolves were on the defensive now. Their attacks were utterly ineffective. Their movements were sluggish. The shadows were everywhere, their forms flickering and shifting, impossible to predict.The black wolf took another hit to the shoulder. His blood sprayed across the rocks. The chestnut wolf staggered. A shadow's claws raked a