LOGINChapter 142Sophie’s POVThe thin leftover thread of the seed didn’t get that far anyway. We felt it the same way Lucas did, a cold, sneaky little pull heading north toward the hills Krell had come from. Damon wanted to ride out right then but Krell, who was still half-dead on his feet, told him to stop being an idiot and wait until dawn so nobody else fell into a hole or got jumped in the dark. For once I agreed with the northern alpha. We had gone through a lot of grind so I didn't see any reason for us to go into battle looking like we were about to faint. Since the threat wasn't close to us for now, well, we could use the rest while it was available for us. We spent the rest of the night keeping the mansion from falling down on our heads. Healers worked until they almost dropped. Wolves, both southern and northern, cleared rubble and carried the wounded. Old Tam checked the deep seals under the library a dozen times and finally said the same thing every time: locked, quiet, done
Chapter 141Lucas’s POVIt felt like something inside my chest was being torn in halves. The power I was pouring into the seals pulled hard on everything I still had left. Gold and shadow, the bond with Mama and Papa, even the rough stubborn strength Krell was giving us, all of it rushed through me and into the deep lock under the mansion. The crack in the seals started closing faster and the big shadow thing climbing out of the hole screamed and tried to shove itself the rest of the way up.“I’ve got you,” Mama kept saying. Her voice was right in my ear. “We’re right here. Don’t let go of us.”Papa’s hand was heavy on my shoulder, pouring power even though I could feel how hurt he was. Krell’s grip on my other arm was iron-tight and bloody. He was cursing under his breath in a steady stream, like the swear words were the only thing keeping him conscious.The main doors of the hall had burst open and wrong wolves and mist shapes poured in, howling. Marcus and the others met them in a
Chapter 140Sophie’s POVLucas’s power poured into the floor so hard the stone under my knees glowed. Gold light raced toward the hole where the second shadow arm was still thrashing with Krell wrapped around it. The deep seals answered him, I felt them wake up and bite down on the arm’s root like they finally remembered how to do their job.“Hold it, baby,” I told him. My voice shook. “We’ve got you.”I kept one hand on his back and used the other to burn every crawling mark that got too close. The seed lines were going crazy now, spreading in every direction, trying to give the hungry dark more paths. Damon’s power kept slamming into them from my left. He was hurt bad that I could feel the pain in his ribs through the bond, but he didn’t stop.Across the hall Krell was still locked onto the second arm. The cold was climbing him like a living thing. His skin where it touched the shadow had gone gray but the man was still yelling curses that would’ve made the meanest northern wolf blu
Chapter 139Damon’s POVThe thing climbing out of the hole didn’t belong in any world I wanted to live in. Two huge shadow arms had already punched through the deep seals and dug into the hall floor. Between them a bigger shape was dragging itself upward, too many angles, too much weight, and a hunger that pressed on my mind like a physical hand. It looked straight at Lucas and didn’t look away.“Sophie, get him out of the hall!” I shouted immediately. She was already moving, hauling Lucas toward the far corridor while burning every crawling mark that tried to block them. The kid’s face was white, his power flickering around him in shaky gold and shadow. I felt his fear through the bond, but I also felt his stubborn refusal to give in. That refusal was the only reason the seals hadn’t completely failed yet.Krell was beside me, blood running down his arms from where the marks and the shadow had torn his skin. He looked half-dead and completely unwilling to fall. “Any bright ideas, Al
Chapter 138Lucas’s POVI felt the crack open in the deep seals like someone had cut a thin line across my own chest. The gold-and-shadow lock I’d made with Mama and Papa shuddered. Down below, the big hungry dark thing pushed against it and laughed. The sound wasn’t loud, but it crawled through every bone I had.“Mama..”“I feel it too,” she said. Her light flared brighter as she burned another patch of crawling marks off the floor near us. “Hold onto me. Don’t let it pull you.”I held on. My power wanted to answer the crack, like it used to. The missing piece, the part that used to like opening doors, wasn’t there anymore, but the seed remembered the shape of it. It kept poking at the empty place, trying to make me fill it again.Across the hall Papa and Krell were fighting the thickest cluster of marks near the big hole. Black lines wrapped their legs and arms like ropes. Papa burned them off with raw power while Krell tore them with his hands. Both of them were bleeding like mad b
Chapter 137Sophie’s POVThe hallway felt totally wrong. “Stay behind me,” Damon said.I kept Lucas close to my side. His small hand was tight in mine. Krell limped along with Garrick’s help, still pale but too stubborn to stay in bed. Marcus and a mix of our wolves and the northern ones filled the corridor behind us. Old Tam muttered over every new mark we passed, trying to slow them with what little power he had left.“They’re moving toward the library,” Tam said. “If they reach the deep seals, the second layer Lucas locked could start to crack from this side.”My stomach twisted. We’d already paid too much to close that door where Krell had nearly died and Lucas had lost a piece of himself. I wasn’t letting some leftover seed undo it.Lucas looked up at me. “I can feel it. The missing part of me, the one that liked doors, it’s like the marks are trying to call it back even though it’s gone.”“Then we don’t give them the chance,” I said. “You stay close and don’t push your power un
Sophie's POV Damon’s hand was still on my hip, and I could feel his fingers digging into the silk of my robe like he owned me. My heart was hammering so hard I was sure Victor could hear it through the door. “Damon?” Victor called again, sharper this time. “Open the door.” Damon let out a low,
Sophie's POV I gripped the strap of my duffel bag tighter as the black Escalade drove through the hefty iron gates of the Blackthorn estate. Silverpine Ridge stretched behind us like something out of a book, very tall pines covered in thick mist, the distant lashing of waterfalls somewhere makin
Sophie's POV I backed away. My body was still aching from Damon, his cum still dripping down my thighs. But I could feel something like adrenaline surging through me, you know. Something inside me had awakened, something hot, heating in my chest.The leader reached for me, and at that moment, my
Victor stood there, eyes wide with shock and anger. “Damon! What the hell do you think you’re doing to your stepsister?!”Damon froze above me, still buried halfway inside me, his muscles shaking with the effort of holding back.Victor’s gaze dropped to where our bodies were joined, then back up to







