All Chapters of Bound by Darkness: Shadowborn: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Therrin's POVThe stream whispered like a lullaby, curling around stones worn smooth by time. I crouched at its edge, the moss soft beneath my feet, cool water lapping at my toes. For once, the world didn't feel like it was pressing in around me — it was exhaling, letting go.I pulled my tunic over my head, folding it neatly on the rocks. It wasn't like anyone could see me here. Grimm was off hunting or brooding. Dion… I hadn't felt him near since the chaos that left my body wrecked and Ari shaken into silence.I stepped into the stream slowly, letting the cold bite my skin in soft pinches. The chill was grounding, drawing me into my body, back into myself. My fingers skimmed the surface, and I cupped the water to my lips. It tasted wild. Alive. Like something sacred."Don't you love the way it feels?" Ari's voice stirred softly inside me. It wasn't demanding this time — not pushy or mocking. Just… curious.I closed my eyes. "It's cold."A soft laugh. "But alive. You can feel it, can'

Dion's POVThe night whispered with the hum of crickets and the rustle of branches high above. Moonlight pierced through the trees in silver streams, and I followed that light like a moth drawn to flame.Something had shifted in Therrin. I felt it ripple through the tether we shared like a current dragging me beneath the surface. It was more than just magic. It was her essence—and Ari's—stirring, thrashing, aching.I had to see her.The forest parted for me as if it understood my urgency. My boots barely touched the mossy ground, and still, I could feel the earth trembling faintly. Residual energy. The aftermath of the chaos they'd endured.She was there—by the water, bathed in moonlight.She didn't turn to me, but I knew she sensed me. Her bare legs dangled over a smoothed stone ledge, her toes skimming the cool stream. Wet strands of raven-black hair clung to her neck. Her body was still, but her soul wasn't. I could feel it humming, raw and open.I kept my voice low. "You felt it t

Ari's POVThe body I wore still smelled faintly of the stream—of wild water and moss and the faintest trace of moonflowers. My skin still hummed from the earlier conversation, from Therrin's trembling honesty and my own rising desire to protect her. To love her in the ways she cannot yet love herself.Now, though, she was quiet.Not gone. Just… resting. Tired, maybe. Or maybe giving me space. We didn't often trade places like this, not fully. But something about tonight—about Dion's presence, about the vulnerability she showed me—opened a door. So I stepped through.I walked barefoot through the clearing toward where I knew he'd be. The sky was quilted with dark clouds, the moon peeking in and out like it, too, was eavesdropping.I found him standing by the edge of the glade. Shirtless. As usual.His back was to me, muscles tense, shoulders rising with every slow breath. He was staring at nothing. Or everything."Dion," I said softly, voice more Therrin's than mine. But not quite hers

Therrin's POVThe air was too still.Even the birds had gone silent, their song cut off mid-note. Therrin could feel the way the forest held its breath, as if it too sensed the brewing storm. She crouched by the streambed, hands cupped beneath the water's surface. The cold should've been grounding. Instead, it only made her skin ache.Something's wrong, Ari murmured in her head, no teasing in her voice now. Just dread."I know," Therrin whispered, barely hearing her own voice over the pounding in her ears. She stood slowly, scanning the trees around them. "Do you feel that… buzzing?"A low hum vibrated in her bones, like the ground was growling. Then the light began to bend. Sunlight fractured strangely, becoming too sharp and too dim all at once. Shadows stretched unnaturally long, slithering over roots and rocks like hungry fingers.Her heart skipped. "Ari?"But Ari didn't respond. A pulse of heat erupted inside her chest—like two souls colliding—and then she was somewhere else.Ari

Therrin's POVThe forest opened up like a secret whispered through the trees, revealing a glade bathed in silver light and silence. The stream that had guided us curved gently toward its beginning, where a waterfall cascaded down a mossy cliff like the earth's sigh. At its base, tucked into the roots of the mountain itself, stood a small cabin—wooden, hand-built, imperfect in shape but somehow perfect in spirit."This is yours?" I asked, my voice soft as my fingers brushed the worn handle of the door.Dion nodded behind me, his presence close, steady. "Built it with my own hands. When I was younger. Before I even knew why I was building it."I turned slowly. "You built this… for me."He didn't smile, not fully. His lips curved with something deeper—recognition. Reverence. "I think my soul knew long before my mind ever caught up."Inside, the cabin smelled of cedar and wild herbs. Simple. There was a low bed layered in soft pelts and quilts, a hearth still warm from past use, and one t