Chapter 24 – Shadows Inside

The next few days were a blur.

We kept burying our dead. We kept fixing the walls. We kept training until we were too tired to move.

Every night I fell asleep in Damons arms. I tried not to think about the thing growing inside my chest.

It felt like a darker heartbeat.

It started small.

I felt a spot behind my ribs. A quiet chill that wouldn't go away.

Damon held me close. It didn't help.

Then it spread.

Little tendrils of darkness made my wolf restless.

She. Growled, even when there was no threat around us.

Sometimes I stared at nothing.

I got lost in memories that didn't feel like mine.

I remembered fire. My moms voice.

My dad casting a spell with his breath.

I didn't tell Damon how bad it was getting.

Not at first.

He knew.

Our bond told him.

One night after a day of training we lay in bed.

The room was dark except for the moonlight.

Damons arm was around me.

His chest was pressed to my back.

His breath was warm against my neck.

His hand rested on my stomach.

He moved his thumb in circles.

He was trying to calm whatever was stirring inside me.

"You are hurting " he whispered.

It wasn't a question.

I swallowed.

"It is not that bad " I said.

His hand stopped moving.

"Don't lie to me, Isla " he said.

"Not about this."

I turned to face him.

In the light his eyes looked almost black.

They looked tired.

They looked worried.

They were full of love.

It made my chest ache worse than the seed.

"It feels like something is growing " I admitted.

"It is not like the wolf " I said.

"This is colder.

It is slippery " I said.

"Sometimes I hear whispers " I said.

"Not voices " I said.

"Just feelings " I said.

"It wants me to be angry " I said.

"It wants me to stop caring about the pack " I said.

Damons jaw tightened.

He pulled me close.

Our foreheads touched.

"I can feel it too " he said.

"It is like a shadow " he said.

"It is trying to push between us " he said.

"Every time it gets stronger I feel you pulling away " he said.

"Not because you want to " he said.

"Because it is making you " he said.

I closed my eyes.

I was scared.

"I know " he said.

"I am scared too " he said.

"But you are not fighting it alone " he said.

"I am here " he said.

"Every step " he said.

"Every breath " he said.

"I am not letting that thing win " he said.

He kissed me then.

It was slow and deep.

It was full of everything he couldn't say.

His hands moved over me.

He was trying to memorize every curve.

He was trying to memorize every scar.

Every place that still hurt.

I kissed him back.

I poured my fear and love into every touch.

We made love that night.

It might have been the time.

It wasn't rushed.

It wasn't desperate.

It was honest.

Our skin was against each other.

Our heartbeats were against each other.

His mouth was on my neck.

My fingers were in his hair.

Our bond was wide open.

There were no secrets.

When we finally fell apart

he held me tight.

"I love you " he whispered.

"No matter what happens " he said.

"Even if that thing tries to change you " he said.

"You are still my mate " he said.

"You are still the woman who survived " he said.

"I love every part of you " he said.

Tears fell down my cheeks.

I was tired of crying.

I couldn't stop.

"I love you too " I whispered back.

" The parts of me that feel broken " I said.

We fell asleep.

We were tangled together.

His leg was over mine.

My face was pressed to his chest.

Our bond hummed between us.

It was like a shield against the darkness.

The morning

the seed made itself known.

I was in the training yard.

I was with warriors.

I was showing them how to channel light.

The cold spiked.

My vision blurred.

For a second I saw fire.

I heard my mom screaming.

I dropped to one knee.

I gasped.

Rafe was beside me.

"Isla? What's wrong?" he asked.

"I am fine " I lied.

My voice sounded wrong.

It sounded sharp.

It sounded cold.

Damon appeared.

He took one look at my face.

He pulled me away.

He guided me to the edge of the yard.

"It is getting worse " he said.

I nodded.

"It showed me my parents " I said.

"It felt real " I said.

"Like I was there " I said.

His jaw clenched.

"We need to do something " he said.

"Mara said there might be texts " he said.

"Something about binding magic " he said.

"Maybe we can find a way to weaken it " he said.

I looked up at him.

"What if we can't?" I asked.

"What if it keeps growing?" I asked.

Damon cupped my face.

His thumbs brushed my cheeks.

They were gentle.

"Then I will love whatever is left " he said.

"I will fight the rest " he said.

"I am not losing you, Isla " he said.

"Not to some shadow " he said.

"Not to anything " he said.

I leaned into his touch.

For a moment the cold went away.

It was pushed back by our bond.

It was pushed back by his eyes.

We spent the day in the archives.

We were with Mara.

We looked at books.

We looked at scrolls.

There were spells written in languages I didn't understand.

Mara explained what she could.

Even she looked worried.

"The seed is a fragment " she said.

"It is a piece of the darkness " she said.

"It wants control " she said.

"But you are stronger " she said.

"Your bond with your mate helps " she said.

"Love is a kind of magic " she said.

That night,

Damon and I lay in bed.

He didn't just hold me.

He talked.

He told me stories.

He told me about when he was younger.

He used to bully me.

He was scared of how much he felt.

He regretted every word.

Becoming Alpha made him harder.

It made him colder.

Until our bond snapped.

It cracked everything

"I don't deserve you " he said.

"I am going to spend my life trying to " he said.

I kissed him softly.

"You already are " I said.

The seed stirred again.

I woke up with a burning chest.

Shadows whispered in my mind.

Damon woke up with me.

He didn't ask questions.

He just pulled me on top of him.

He wrapped his arms around me.

He held me until the darkness went away.

We stayed like that.

We were skin to skin.

We were heart to heart.

The war was still coming.

The seed was still growing.

Something else was growing too.

Something stronger, than fear.

Something that might save us.