Fractured

Therrin's POV

Waking up felt like surfacing from deep water.

My lungs ached. My chest was tight. My skin burned—everywhere. And my body… it wasn't mine.

I sat up with a gasp, clutching the fur blanket that had somehow tangled around me. My limbs trembled, foreign and unfamiliar, as though they had danced through fire and shadows without me. My throat was dry. My lips—bitten. My core—sore.

Ari.

"No… no no no no no," I whispered. My voice cracked like glass. "What did you do?"

There was silence at first. The kind that crawled into your ears and nested behind your ribs.

Then came the purr.

"I did what you were too scared to. I claimed him. For us."

I shuddered. "You violated my body. You took what wasn't yours to give."

"It's not just your body. Not anymore. You were too afraid to feel it. I wasn't."

I clenched the blanket tighter. My pulse raced, panic and shame choking me in equal measure. I could still feel his touch—Dion's. His lips. His hands. The bond. Goddess, the bond…

There was no denying it now. Something had formed between us. A thread of energy laced into my soul, humming with a resonance I didn't understand. Fey magic was different. I wasn't trained for this. No one had told me a twin soul could do this.

I pressed my palms into my temples. I needed to breathe. To think.

I stood on unsteady legs, the ache between my thighs a cruel reminder. Everything felt wrong, and yet… deep within, a part of me still pulsed with the heat of his presence. Of his need.

I took a step and nearly fell. "Damn it."

Strong hands caught me mid-stumble.

"I figured you'd wake like that," Dion said, his voice quiet, steady. "The aftermath is… intense."

I couldn't meet his eyes. Not yet. My lips parted to speak, but I didn't know where to begin.

"I—" I faltered. "I didn't mean for any of it to happen. That wasn't me. Not really."

He tilted his head. Studied me. "You weren't the one in control."

I nodded once. Swallowed. "I'm sorry."

He brushed hair from my cheek. "You don't need to apologize. I know more than you think."

That surprised me. "You do?"

"I knew you were twin-souled the moment I touched you. The energy—the pull—it's split. You're not like other shifters."

A cold weight settled in my stomach. "And now that you know what she is, what I am… do you regret it?"

There was a long pause. He stepped closer.

"I regret nothing," he said. "But I do want to know the girl standing in front of me. The one who still hasn't looked me in the eyes."

His words struck something inside me—raw and real. Slowly, I looked up.

"I'm scared," I whispered. "Of what's happening. Of her. Of this." I gestured vaguely at the air between us.

"I know," he said. "But you're not alone in this anymore."

I didn't know if I believed him. But I wanted to.

And that, more than anything, terrified me.

"I need a minute," I said, voice barely above a breath.

Dion hesitated, then nodded once. "Take what you need."

I turned away from him, retreating deeper into the cave's soft shadows. I found a patch of mossy stone near the ivy-covered wall and sat cross-legged. I closed my eyes.

I need to see her. I need to understand.

The moment I willed it, the world around me shifted.

The cave faded into smoke. Cool air prickled my skin. When I opened my eyes, I was no longer in my body—I was in the in-between. That strange, dim space that existed only in dreams and consciousness.

The mind-space.

It looked different this time.

A dark mirror of a forest surrounded me—black trees with red leaves, the ground soft with mist. The stars above didn't shine, they bled. In the distance, I saw her.

Ari.

She stood barefoot at the edge of a blood-colored stream, dipping her fingers into the water like it was sacred.

"You've gotten stronger," I said, approaching carefully.

She looked up, her face identical to mine but sharper, wilder. Her hair hung loose, windblown. Her eyes glowed faintly with silver light.

"So have you," she said. "You finally came willingly."

"I didn't have a choice."

"You always do. You just don't like the options."

I crossed my arms. "You took my body. You—used it. Used me."

She rose slowly. "And I'd do it again."

The audacity in her voice made my skin prickle. "Why? Why would you—?"

"Because he's ours. And you were too afraid to feel it. You kept denying what your body knew. What I knew."

"Claiming someone like that—it's not love, Ari. It's possession."

Her lips curved into a dark smile. "Funny. That's what they said about you. That you were born wrong. That you were cursed. That your magic was too wild. I protected you. All those years, I whispered when no one else would listen. And now that I finally have a voice, you want to silence me?"

I clenched my fists. "You don't get to speak for me. Not like that. Not anymore."

"Oh, Therrin," she whispered, stepping closer. "You're still clinging to the illusion that this is your body. Your mind. Your life. But we were born together. You and I. Two halves. One soul. And you're cracking, little sister. You felt the bond form. You felt how he responded to me. He didn't resist."

"Because he thought I was consenting!" My voice echoed through the trees like a scream. "You used my face, my body, my trust—and twisted it into something that felt wrong."

Something flickered in Ari's expression. Guilt? No.

Not guilt.

Regret.

But it vanished just as quickly.

"You don't understand yet," she said. "You still think we can be separated. That if you ignore me long enough, I'll go away. But you're wrong. You need me."

I stepped forward, heart pounding.

"No. I don't need you. I need balance. I need control. And if I have to fight for it, I will."

The wind picked up between us, scattering red leaves in a spiral. The ground rumbled.

"You want a war, Therrin?" Ari's eyes glowed brighter now, silver bleeding into white. "You're not ready for what that costs."

"I don't care," I said through gritted teeth. "I won't let you take from me again."

The trees groaned.

The stream boiled.

Ari's form flickered like smoke—and then she was gone.

I snapped back to my body with a gasp, breath catching like fire in my chest.

Dion was suddenly at my side, his hand on my back. "Therrin? What happened?"

I blinked, grounding myself again in the candlelit cave.

"She's getting stronger," I said. "And I think she's trying to take everything."

He frowned. "Then we'll figure out how to stop her."

I didn't say what I was really thinking.

What if I am her?

What if I don't want to stop her?

Dion was quiet for a long moment, his hand still resting gently between my shoulder blades. I could hear his breath, steady and measured, but his body was tense. As if he'd been waiting for this.

"You said… we'd figure out how to stop her," I said, voice hoarse. "But how? What even is she?"

He didn't answer right away.

Instead, he rose and crossed the cave to a carved wooden box beneath a low shelf. He opened it slowly and pulled out a strip of pale cloth wrapped around something heavy. When he returned, he sat beside me again—this time closer, his thigh pressed against mine.

"She's your twin soul," he said quietly. "And that… is not supposed to happen."

"I've heard the phrase before," I admitted. "But no one ever explained it."

"That's because most witches born with twin souls… don't live past infancy." His voice was low now. Steady, but full of weight. "The magic burns them alive from the inside out. Or the souls drive each other mad."

I stared at him.

"I was born with her," I said. "How am I alive?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "But I've only ever seen one other case. And it didn't end well."

I looked down at my hands, still faintly trembling.

"She's always been there," I whispered. "First just whispers. Then dreams. Now… it's like she's breaking through the cracks."

He unwrapped the cloth bundle and revealed an old book with a sigil etched into its leather cover. It pulsed faintly with Fey magic.

"She's not just part of you, Therrin," Dion said, flipping through the pages. "She's her own entity. You were born with one body, two souls. A perfect storm. The only reason it's lasted this long is because you've unknowingly kept her suppressed. But the first shift?" He glanced at me. "That was the key. Shifting always lowers the walls between soul and flesh. That's when she found her opening."

"And now she wants to take over."

He gave a tight nod. "Not just take over. She wants to live. She wants him—me—and freedom. The more you use your magic, the more ground she gains."

I blinked. "So what am I supposed to do? Never shift again? Never use magic?"

"No," he said. "But you need to learn control. Not just over your powers—over your soul. And hers. If you don't, there won't be a 'you' left to save."

I shivered.

He turned to me fully, his eyes glowing softly. "There may be a ritual. A way to bind her, but it's dangerous. You'd be walking into your own soul—and hers. If you fail, she could trap you there forever."

I swallowed hard. "And if I don't try?"

"She'll take your body. Permanently."

The silence between us stretched, thick as smoke.

"I don't want to kill her," I said at last. "She's… me. Or at least, part of me."

"Then maybe," Dion murmured, "the answer isn't killing her. Maybe it's understanding her."

I looked up.

His gaze met mine, firm and unwavering. "If anyone can survive this, it's you. But you won't do it alone."

His words were warm, grounding.

And for the first time in what felt like forever, I believed him.

Even if I didn't believe myself.