MARKED BY MY STEPBROTHER

Chapter thirty six

Sophie’s POV

The dark beings moved as if they were living shadows.

Their leader moved with unnatural speed, black tendrils of energy zapping around him as he headed straight for us.

I pushed golden energy from my palms to make a protective dome. The impact of the first attack shook me so much that it affected my bones, but I held firm.

“Damon!” I shouted.

He was already moving as fast as he could, shifting fully into his black wolf and slamming into the nearest creature. The impact sounded like thunder. Claws met shadow, and dark ichor was spilled.

“Protect the Luna and the Alpha!” Marcus roared. Our warriors charged into the fray.

I stayed rooted in place, feeding power into the shield and at the same time trying to send sharp bursts of golden energy at any creature that got too close.

One of the beings slipped past our front line and came at me. Its pale hand reached for me. I drove my golden claws straight through its chest. It shrieked, a sound that was far from human, and dissolved into black smoke.

So they could do that? That was how they died? By dissolving into smoke? Pretty much interesting.

“Sophie, get back!” Damon’s voice reached me through the bond as he tore through two more creatures.

I retreated a bit backwards, looking for some cover in the clearing, but more of them kept coming. There were just too many.

Damon’s POV

Anger was the motivation behind every strike that I made. These things didn’t bleed like normal enemies, they dissolved into smoke and reformed. But I was faster, stronger, and fighting for the people that I had made a vow to protect.

What else could be more motivation that

I ripped through another creature and spun toward Sophie. She was magnificent, standing her ground, golden light shining around her like a beacon. But I could feel her getting tired through the bond.

War wasn't never made easy.

A gigantic shadow beast, bigger than the others, broke through our line and charged straight at her. I ran and intercepted it just before it made a leap, tackling it to the ground. Its claws scratched across my side, burning like acid. I ignored the pain and tore its throat out with my jaws.

The creature dissolved, but the leader laughed, a hollow, chilling sound.

“You cannot stop what is coming,” it hissed. “The Primordial Spark belongs to the Void. The child will open the gate.”

I shifted back to human form, blood running down my stomach, and stood between my pack and the remaining creatures.

“Not today,” I said.

Sophie appeared beside me, her hand on my arm. Our powers came together as one, silver and gold doing their magic. A brilliant wave of energy exploded outward, disintegrating the front line of dark beings.

The leader staggered but remained standing.

“This is only the beginning,” it warned before dissolving into smoke with the rest of its forces.

The battlefield fell silent except for the heavy breathing of our warriors.

Marcus limped over, bleeding from several wounds. “We held them off, for now. The fact that they even reform when they disintegrate tells me that they’ll be back. And they'll come back stronger.”

“Everyone back to the mansion. We'll need to double the guards and then we are going to figure out what these things are.”

Sophie’s POV

Back in the safety of the mansion, Lena took Lucas to the reinforced nursery while Damon and I cleaned up. His wounds were already healing, but I still tended to them carefully, trying to be as gentle as possible. Nothing was ever gentle towards him out there on the battlefield, but with me, I had to make it count.

“What were those things?” I asked as I bandaged a deep gash on his ribs.

“Ancient,” he replied. “Older than any pack history I’ve read. They called Lucas ‘the Primordial Spark.’”

“Yeah, and Elowen warned us something darker was coming. I think we just met it. This is much worse than what we faced when we fought against Victor and Seraphina.”

He laughed harshly. "Victor wasn't that powerful, my love."

"And what makes you say that?"

Damon looked at me. "If he didn't have Seraphina by his side, we could have ended his reign earlier. Seraphina was the strongest of the two. And if Victor had been her equal or superior, they might have been able to survive longer."

Well, I could not believe that he was saying that about them.

Damon pulled me onto his lap on the edge of the bed, holding me close. “We’ll contact The Veil tomorrow. If they want to help protect Lucas, now’s the time to prove it.”

"We can only hope for the best to come," I said to him.

“Well, no matter what comes, whether ancient beings, rival packs, or the entire world, I will keep you and Lucas safe.”

But as sleep finally claimed me, I couldn’t shake the feeling that the real storm was only just beginning.

Damon’s POV

I woke before dawn to the sound of someone knocking on the door. It was almost impossible to wake up and watch the sun rise these days, without any disturbance.

Marcus stood outside our door, his face pale. “Alpha. We just received a message from The Veil. They’re already on their way. And they’re not alone. Something called The Hollow Court wants to hunt Lucas. They say if we don’t hand him over for training within the week, they will have to take him by force.”

A lot of people making threats as easy as anything.

Sophie stirred behind me, sitting up with worry in her eyes.

I turned to her, and broke the news to her. “They want our son? Then they’ll have to kill me first.”

Sophie got to her feet.

“Let them try.”

The war for our family had entered a newer, and even deadlier phase.