Chapter 12
920 Words
The words settled over the ruined hall like a curse.
Midnight’s breath caught.
Kael’s grip on her wrist tightened instantly.
Not enough to hurt.
Enough to remind her he was there.
Grounding her.
Protecting her.
The Hollow King watched the contact with open fascination.
“Such devotion,” it murmured. “Your bloodline never learns.”
Kael stepped forward slightly.
Silver eyes glowing brighter now.
“You lost the right to speak about my bloodline centuries ago.”
The creature beneath the mountain smiled wider.
“And yet your family still built their kingdom on our corpses.”
Silence.
Lucien went still.
The older wolves exchanged uneasy looks.
Midnight frowned sharply.
“What does that mean?”
Kael didn’t answer.
Which meant the creature probably wasn’t lying.
The Hollow King noticed her reaction immediately.
“Oh?” it rumbled softly. “You haven’t told her.”
Kael’s jaw flexed hard.
“Enough.”
The chains suddenly strained again.
A deafening metallic groan echoed through the mountain as crimson cracks spread across the ancient runes.
Midnight gasped.
Pain ripped through her chest instantly.
The Hollow King inhaled sharply.
Like it tasted the pain.
“Interesting…”
Kael pulled Midnight against him immediately.
The second her body hit his—
the pain eased.
Not fully.
But enough to breathe again.
Lucien saw it.
So did everyone else.
The Hollow King’s smile slowly disappeared.
For the first time—
it looked thoughtful.
Not amused.
Not manipulative.
Calculating.
“That should not be possible.”
Kael’s eyes narrowed dangerously.
Midnight looked between them.
“What?”
The Hollow King stared directly at Kael now.
“You are weakening the bond to the abyss.”
Silence slammed through the room.
Lucien whispered softly, “Impossible.”
Midnight’s pulse spiked.
“Abyss?”
Kael’s expression darkened.
“The demon realm.”
Cold spread through her instantly.
The Hollow King leaned forward slightly against the chains.
“Her demon side should be consuming her through emotional attachment,” it said slowly. “But you…”
Its glowing gaze sharpened.
“…are disrupting the corruption.”
Kael said nothing.
But Midnight felt his shock through the bond.
The Hollow King laughed softly again.
“Oh, this is fascinating.”
Lucien looked stunned.
“That’s never happened before.”
Midnight stared at Kael.
“You’re helping me?”
Kael finally looked at her.
Something softer flickered behind the brutality in his silver eyes.
“If the bond feeds on emotion,” he said quietly, “then maybe it also responds to intent.”
Midnight blinked slowly.
“You mean because you’re trying to protect me?”
Kael’s jaw tightened slightly.
“Yes.”
The Hollow King snarled suddenly.
The sound shook the mountain.
“Protectiveness does not overpower demon blood.”
But Midnight felt the shift immediately.
The creature below was angry now.
Not at her.
At Kael.
And that terrified her more than anything tonight.
Because it meant Kael mattered.
The Hollow King’s crimson gaze darkened.
“You would weaken yourself for her.”
Kael answered without hesitation.
“Yes.”
The creature looked genuinely disturbed by that.
Midnight’s chest tightened painfully again.
Not from the demon.
From him.
From the terrifying sincerity in his voice every time he chose her.
Even now.
Even after learning what she could become.
The Hollow King leaned back slightly.
Chains groaning around its massive form.
“Then you are more dangerous than your ancestors.”
Kael looked unimpressed.
“I’ll survive the compliment.”
A tiny sound escaped Midnight before she could stop it.
A laugh.
Small.
Disbelieving.
The entire room went still.
Because Kael Draven—terrifying alpha of Black Hollow—had just made a joke.
Kael looked down at her immediately.
And something in his expression shifted the second he realized she was laughing.
Warmth.
Actual warmth.
The mate bond pulsed hard.
The demon inside her quieted.
Not gone.
Watching.
But calmer.
Lucien noticed too.
His eyes widened slightly.
“Well,” he murmured.
The Hollow King did not look pleased.
Its chains suddenly snapped tighter around its wrists as darkness exploded through the pit below.
“Enough.”
The entire estate shook violently.
Midnight grabbed Kael instinctively as power burst upward from beneath the mountain.
The Hollow King’s crimson eyes locked onto her.
“You are wasting time.”
The warmth vanished instantly.
The creature’s voice deepened.
“You think affection will save her?”
Its gaze shifted toward Kael.
“She is not becoming less monstrous.”
The chains strained harder.
Cracks spread wider.
“She is becoming stronger.”
Midnight felt it instantly.
The truth of it.
Every emotional connection. Every surge of feeling. Every moment with Kael—
the power inside her grew.
Not evil.
Not fully.
But bigger.
Ancient.
Hungry.
Kael must have felt her fear through the bond because his hand slid against the back of her neck gently.
“Midnight.”
She looked at him.
“What if it’s right?”
Kael’s expression didn’t change.
“Then we learn how to control it.”
“And if I can’t?”
His silver eyes darkened slightly.
“Then I control it with you.”
The Hollow King laughed again.
“You still think this is a battle against darkness.”
Its gaze slid slowly toward Midnight.
“But little shadow…”
The creature smiled.
“You were never created to fight the abyss.”
The chains exploded outward violently.
And for one horrifying second—
Midnight felt something inside her answer back.
- Writer
