Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
THEO
M y wolf prowls within me, restless, eager to enter the shadow realm. It doesn’t matter that the world there is full of darkness. I’ve been living without light for years now. I won’t let this place take that from Estee.
She is too good for that fate.
“When I open this portal, the spell used to create the doorway should take you close to Estee, but that doesn’t mean you’ll find her easily. The souls there will be drawn to your life force. They’ll want to attach themselves to you, taking whatever they can from your essence. You’ll need to?—”
My inner beast snarls, and I face Elyn, still not used to her younger appearance. Her eyes are a deep purple now, and despite her lack of wrinkles, her age is evident by the wisdom in her harsh stare as I cut her off.
“I need to bring Estee back. Nothing more, nothing less,” I grumble. “I won’t speak or touch the shadows. I won’t go after Orix. I just need to get my mate out of that hell.”
Her lips flatten, and she shakes her head. “Interrupt me again and see what happens.”
The elder wolf pauses, but I say nothing. My frustration may be returning, but there’s at least a part of me aware that Elyn is a little too much like Aurora. After their exchange, I know I need to be more careful with both of them.
“Much better,” Elyn says. “You’ll be tested when you arrive there. The shadows will try to break you, and you can’t allow yourself to believe what you see. The visions will feel real, but the moment you actually find Estee, her warmth will be different than anything else there. Until your bond confirms that you’ve found her, don’t trust anything, or you’ll both be lost to us.”
“I won’t lose her,” I vow, my voice a growl.
There’s been too much loss in my life. Before Estee, before her light, I would’ve gladly succumbed, but not now. The drive to be more, to be better, for my mate and the future I so badly need with her, that’s what I need to focus on.
Me and her. Us. Now and always.
“When you’re ready to return,” she says, pulling a vial of glowing blue liquid from her coat pocket, “drink this. The magic will bind you to the portal, and I’ll reopen it. But only when you’re certain. I can’t send you there a second time. This is your only chance.”
“One is all I need.”
Elyn reveals a matching potion and murmurs what I assume to be some sort of activation spell for the portal. The air in front of me shimmers and distorts, the fabric of reality tearing open to reveal a gaping cavity. The portal hums with a low vibration, pulling at my very core as though it knows what I seek—and what I’m risking. My wolf growls low in my chest, both a warning and a promise. We’re ready .
Without hesitation, I step through.
The instant I cross the threshold, the temperature drops. The air here is thick and oppressive, alive in a way that feels wrong. Each breath scrapes against my lungs, the shadows already pressing close, their presence suffocating.
The ground beneath me shifts, soft and uneven, like ash that clings to my boots. Every step echoes in the silence, but it isn’t empty. The sound is wrong—distorted, layered—as though something unseen moves with me. Watching. Waiting.
This darkness isn’t an absence of light. It’s a force, sentient and malicious, its whispers piercing my ears. They weave lies and half-truths, promises and accusations, trying to find a crack in my resolve.
I keep moving. My claws dig into my palms, the momentary pain grounding me.
“Estee,” I murmur, the bond in my chest flickering faintly, like a distant star in an endless sky. It’s there—fragile but real. I press forward, following its pull.
I can’t see anything distinct around me as if I’m blind to everything except for the ominous forces and my desire to find my mate. There is nothing significant to tell me if I’m above ground, under the earth, or what kind of terrain I’m dealing with. Just a bleakness filled with dark seams that create something I’m unable to identify.
The harder I try to make sense of where I am, the blacker the air becomes until the shadows begin to shift, and suddenly, I’m not in the void anymore.
I’m back in Selaris. The throne room stands before me, grand and imposing. But it’s not as I left it. The once-pristine stone floors are cracked, the banners torn, the air thick with the metallic scent of blood. My mother stands at the center, her figure distorted, her eyes hollow.
“Why did you let this happen?” Her voice is rasping, broken and accusatory. “You were supposed to protect us. Instead, you destroyed us.”
“I…” My voice falters, my mind racing. I know this isn’t real. Elyn’s warning is still fresh, but the guilt of my mother’s words burrows deep, cutting parts of me that I’ve tried to bury.
“You let me die,” she continues, stepping closer. Her form twists, her face contorting into something monstrous. “You let them kill me. And for what? A crown you don’t deserve? A mate who’ll never forgive you?”
“Stop,” I growl, but my voice trembles. My wolf scratches from within, urging me to move, to fight, but my feet feel rooted to the spot.
“You can’t save her,” she hisses. “You can’t even save yourself.”
Something inside me snaps. This isn’t real.
With a roar, I lunge forward, my claws slashing through the illusion. My mother’s twisted form bursts into dust, the throne room dissolving into darkness.
I stagger, my breaths ragged, but there’s no time to recover.
“Estee.” Her name falls weakly from my lips as I step toward her. She’s lying in a bed, her back to me. I can’t see her face yet, but I know without a doubt that this is the other half of my soul.
With heavy feet, I push through the shadows. I’m only focused on Estee, on picking her up in my arms and getting the hell out of here.
Whispers crawl over me, each one cutting, but none of them stronger than the protective need to retrieve my mate.
“You did this to her.”
“If you’d never forced her to come to Selaris, she’d be safe.”
“She’s better off without you.”
“You’ll never be worthy of her.”
I shake my head, trying to physically push the murmurs from my mind, but when my fingers curl around Estee’s shoulder and I pull her toward me, I know they’re right.
Her dead eyes look up at me with little emotion and her hands settle over her protruding stomach. “He gave me something you’ll never be able to.”
“No.” The word leaves me, deep and broken. “No, Estee. Don’t do this.”
Her stare turns black as she smiles up at me. “I didn’t. You did this, Theodore. You killed us. Just as you’ve done to everyone else you’ve ever cared about.”
The howl that builds within me tears from my throat, turning into a roar of agony. Grief, cutting and cold, slices through me. Each death I’ve ever been responsible for creates a new mark on my soul, reminding me of all that I’ve done, even when I was only trying to protect them.
I drop to my knees, my head in my hands. “This can’t be happening.”
“It already has, Theodore. She’s forever mine now. You’ve failed.”
My eyes close, and the world around me slows like quicksand, drawing out my demise. I have nothing left to fight for. Without Estee, I’d rather die. The shadows can have?—
Something changes. The more I cut myself off from the darkness, crawling back into my own mind, the worse the guilt becomes, but there’s something more, waiting and ready.
A flicker of hope. The connection is faint, but the more I search for it, the easier it becomes to grasp.
The bond. My Starlight.
I keep my eyes closed, shutting out the illusions that nearly overtook me. I focus on the tether, on the glow that is Estee. Slowly, the burden of these visions start to dissolve.
With renewed determination, I stand, still keeping my gaze away from the shadows. As I move forward, the trapped souls press in harder now, angry that I’ve defied them. The air grows heavier, the whispers louder, but I keep walking. With every blind step, Estee’s essence grows stronger, pulling me forward like a lifeline.
There’s a groan of pain, one that pierces the center of my heart. Estee .
Without thinking of the consequences, I open my eyes, only to be caught in another trick. This one far from painful. Tempting in ways I’m finding hard to ignore.
I’m standing in a field, the sun warm on my skin, a relief after the shadow realm. Estee is there, her laughter ringing out as she runs through the tall grass, her hand resting on her rounded belly.
A child bounds into the picture, his laughter joining hers.
They both turn toward me, beckoning me forward, to be with them in this euphoria. It’s a perfect dream, one I never thought I could have. This life, this opportunity calls to me, wrapping around me with soft tendrils of hope.
“Is this what you want?” a voice whispers. “It can be yours. All you must do is let go of the outside world. Release your soul, and you’ll have everything you’ve ever dreamed of.”
Release my soul …it sounds so easy.
“Tell me you want this, and it’s all yours,” the whisper promises.
I hesitate. This can’t be real. No matter how much I yearn for this future, it’s not right, not like this.
“You don’t want me, Papa?” The young boy, whose eyes are a mirror of my own, looks back at me, breaking my heart.
Still, I don’t give in, but… Am I supposed to?
“Yes, Papa. Come with us.”
The idea of what could be settles over me, and I’m ready to give in, to release my soul and go to them, but the moment my thoughts begin to change, the child smiles at me, showcasing sharp, predatory teeth.
This isn’t happening.
His laughter swiftly turns into a shriek as he leaps toward Estee, ripping into her throat, painting the field crimson.
“No,” I snarl, shutting my eyes once more, allowing the real bond with Estee to grow brighter, cutting through the illusion again. The warmth of her essence is undeniable, pulling me back to reality. I push forward, the darkness recoiling as I focus on her, on our truth.
I have no idea what I’m walking through as the air grows heavier and thicker around me, but I don’t dare look. Not until the connection I share with Estee becomes blinding and the scent of pomegranates and orange blossoms replaces the stench of ash.
“Estee,” I whisper, my voice cracking.
The bond between us pulses wildly, a desperate, aching rhythm. My heart clenches. She’s here, slumped on a stone platform, her body pale and weak. Blood pools around her, yet before I can lose myself once more, I see the faint rise and fall of her chest.
She’s alive.
I rush to her side, my hands shaking as I cradle her face. Her eyes flutter open, her gaze unfocused but soft.
“Theo,” she whispers, her voice barely audible.
“I’m here,” I say, my heart breaking at seeing her like this. “I’ve got you. I’m taking you home.”
“I knew you’d come.” Her lips curve into the faintest smile before her eyes close again and she goes limp in my arms. Not wasting another second, I reach into my pocket, pulling out the vial Elyn gave me. I drink it in one gulp, the liquid burning down my throat as the magic binds me to the portal.
The air shifts, our lifeline beginning to form behind me, but then the room grows colder, the shadows around me thickening. A presence looms, dark and oppressive.
“You can’t have her,” Orix growls, his form materializing from the shadows. His black eyes burn with malice as he steps closer.
I glance behind me; the opening back to Selaris hasn’t completely formed. Now that I have Estee, so dependent on me in her weakened state, it’s not hard to ignore my need for vengeance, but as Orix comes closer, I get the sense that’s not a choice I get to make any longer.
Urgently, I place Estee on the ground to keep her as far from Orix as possible, my lips grazing her cool forehead. “He won’t hurt you ever again.” I stand, taking a step away from my mate. “Try and stop me.”
His laughter is menacing. “You’re bold, Theo. But you’re nothing without me. Remember that.”
Orix lunges, his strike fast and brutal. Pain explodes in my side, where a dagger has left a gaping wound across my ribs. Still, I don’t fall. Not even when I sense the bastard trying to get inside my mind again. Instead, I call on my wolf, ready to shift and rip his head from his shoulders. It might not kill him, but as long as I keep him away from Estee, that will be enough for now.
Just as my wolf starts to surge forward, a lavender energy seeps from my injury, stitching my skin back together. I ignore it, but Orix stumbles, his gaze narrowing as he sneers. “ Aurora .” His voice drips with venom as he steps back, his movements unsteady.
The god’s energy presses around me again, but for the first time in three years, he can’t enter my mind. He can’t steal the information he seeks or manipulate my thoughts. Not with the goddess’s essence pulsing within me, a shield he can’t penetrate. His hesitation is all I need to get my mate to safety.
I turn and lift Estee, her weight barely registering as I carry her toward the portal. “She’ll never be yours, and neither will my heir,” I tell him, my voice steady as the energy drawing us back home clings to my skin.
“You’ll regret this!” Orix roars, the shadows around him writhing, but he doesn’t follow.
We’ve escaped…but that doesn’t mean we’ve won anything. Not when I get back to my office and find Estee completely slack in my arms, her face pale and lifeless, the rest of her bloodied.