Semua Bab Bound by blood and the moonlight: Bab 21 - Bab 30

My chest ached with every step.Not from claws or bruises—though those still throbbed—but from Mateo’s words. His voice lingered in the night air, raw and fierce, wrapping around me tighter than the bond itself.You’re everything.The way he’d said it—unshaken, unafraid—sent my heart spiraling. I should have denied it. I should have pulled away, rejected the fire in his gaze. But instead, I trembled, caught between wanting to run and wanting to fall straight into him.Jason steadied me, his arm firm around my waist. He hadn’t flinched at Mateo’s declaration, hadn’t even looked surprised. He just held me, calm as always, like he already knew this was inevitable. Like he’d accepted it before I had.But Dimitri…His silence cut deepest. He didn’t turn, didn’t speak, but I felt the weight of his words still clinging to me. Dangerous. A liability. And no matter how many times Jason and Mateo tried to cover those wounds with reassurance, Dimitri’s truth d

I had known it would come to this. From the moment we met her, I felt the storm caged beneath her skin. Wild. Unstable. A blade that cut in every direction. And tonight, it finally broke free. I should have been ready. But when she screamed—when the air split and the ground shook beneath her—I felt it in my bones. Not fear of her, but fear for her. Because the power ripping her apart wasn’t something she had chosen. It was consuming her, piece by piece, and she didn’t even realize it. Jason held her like she was breakable glass. Mateo braced against the surge like it was a battle worth dying for. And me? I stood frozen, sword in hand, caught between instinct and reason. She was dangerous. Every instinct I had screamed it. But she was also mine. That truth burned hotter than any denial I could summon. The blast threw branches into the air, dirt rising in a cloud. Jason shielded her with his body. Ma

The forest had gone quiet.Too quiet. No beast stirred, no branches snapped, no night birds sang. Only the faint crackle of a small fire Mateo had built, and Amelia’s shallow breaths where she lay wrapped in my cloak.Dimitri sat apart, sharpening his blade with precise, clipped motions. His silence was a wall none of us could scale. Mateo paced the perimeter, restless energy radiating off him like heat from a forge. And me—I stayed by her side.Always by her side.She looked peaceful like this, though I knew it was a lie. Her face was pale, her lashes trembling against her cheeks. She was still fighting, even in sleep. Fighting the power inside her, the bond tying her to us, the weight of a world she never asked for.And I couldn’t stop thinking—what if she breaks?What if she doesn’t wake?I adjusted the cloak around her shoulders, brushing her hair back with a gentleness I didn’t dare show when she was awake. Mateo’s fire, Dimitri’s steel—the

I couldn’t stop moving.Every step along the tree line, every snap of a twig under my boots, kept my fury from spilling over. The forest was too quiet. The shadows too heavy. The beast was still out there—I could feel it, waiting. And if it showed its face again, I’d rip it apart with my bare hands.But truth be damned, that wasn’t what had me pacing like a caged wolf.It was her.Amelia’s scream still echoed in my skull, her body crumpling in Jason’s arms like a flame blown out by the wind. I’d fought a thousand battles, stared death in the eye more times than I could count, but nothing had gutted me like the sight of her breaking.And I hated it. Hated how much power she had over me already. Hated how helpless I’d felt when her light exploded, burning us all.I growled low under my breath, dragging a hand through my hair.Jason’s voice drifted from the fire, calm and steady as always, soft words meant for her alone. I didn’t need to hear every

The fire snapped and crackled, scattering sparks into the night, but even its warmth couldn’t chase away the chill settling into my bones.Jason hadn’t let go of my hand since I woke, his thumb tracing gentle circles over my skin like he could calm the storm inside me through sheer persistence. Normally, it worked. Normally, his steadiness sank into my bones like roots, grounding me.But not tonight.Not when every flicker of Mateo’s pacing filled the clearing with restless heat. Not when Dimitri sat in silence, sharpening his blade with slow, precise strokes, like he could cut the very tension in the air if he wanted.I felt torn apart by threads I couldn’t control.Jason’s patience. Mateo’s fire. Dimitri’s silence.And me—caught between them, drowning in the bond that bound us.I curled my fingers into Jason’s cloak, pulling it tighter, but it did nothing for the cold gnawing at my chest. My breath came shallow, uneven, each inhale tasting lik