MARKED BY MY STEPBROTHER

Chapter Thirty Seven

Sophie’s POV

The mansion was on full lockdown by the time the sun had already risen.

Every window and door had been reinforced and the patrols were doubled. Warriors went round the perimeter in shifts while the hybrids from The Veil arrived under heavy escort. Elowen and five of her strongest members were brought into the war room, where Damon, Marcus, and I waited.

Elowen’s expression was a serious one as she looked at the maps spread across the table. “The Hollow Court is older than any pack or bloodline you know. They are the remnants of the First Ones, beings who existed before the moon blessed our kind. They see Lucas as the key to reopening ancient gates of power.”

“I see. I have a question."

"And what is that?" Elowen asked at once.

"Can they be reasoned with?”

“Only if you give them the child for training,” Elowen replied honestly. “Otherwise, they will take him by force.

And they are far more dangerous than the Shadow Pack or Victor ever were.”

I felt a cold knot form in my stomach. Like the kind when you knew that something was missing and empty. Damon was right when he said that Victor and Seraphina were small fry compared to those shadow beings. It seemed that our adversaries kept getting stronger and more powerful as our lives unfolded.

Lucas was upstairs sleeping, unaware that ancient monsters now hunted him.

“So was hat do you suggest?” I asked.

“Train him with us, quickly. The Hollow Court moves slowly but won't get tired. You have perhaps ten days before they reach full strength here.”

Damon was silent for a long moment, then he finally spoke. “We’ll consider it. But Lucas stays with us. As it should be.”

Damon’s POV

After the meeting, I found Sophie in the nursery, holding Lucas tightly as she rocked him. The sight of them together always hit me hard. When it came to close family, they were all I had. They were my everything.

I walked over and wrapped my arms around both of them. “We’re not giving him up,” I said firmly. “Not to The Veil, not to The Hollow Court, and not to anyone.”

Sophie leaned back against me. “I know. But I’m scared, Damon. He’s just a baby.”

“And so? He isn't alone, he has us. And you should believe that we are more stronger when we are united.”

Later that night, after Lucas was asleep and the mansion was quiet, I pulled Sophie into our bedroom. The stress and fear had been building for days. I needed her and I felt it through the nik that she needed me too.

I took off her clothes, kissing every inch of skin I exposed. When she was naked before me, I lifted her onto the bed and worshipped her with my mouth until she was trembling and moaning my name. Only then did I slide into her, deep and slow, enjoying the way her p***y clenched around me.

“You belong to me,” I said against her neck as I moved inside her. "And to no one else."

Sophie’s nails dug into my back as she met every thrust. “I belong to you,” she repeated with a gasp. “Always yours.”

We made love with desperate intensity that felt like natural heat. When my knot swelled and locked us together, we came at the same time, clinging to each other like the world might tear us apart if we didn't.

Afterward, as we lay spent, Sophie traced a scar on my neck.

“No matter what happens,” she whispered, “I choose you. Every time.”

Sophie’s POV

The attack came at 4 AM in the morning.

Alarms sounded through the mansion as I jolted awake to find Damon already dressed and armed, strapping weapons onto his body.

“They’re here,” he said. “The Hollow Court. Seems like they didn’t like to wait.”

I dressed as quickly as I could. Lena burst in and took Lucas to the reinforced safe room in the basement with a team of guards.

Damon and I ran outside with our warriors. The night air was unnaturally cold. Dark figures stood at the edge of the property, taller than normal beings, wrapped in swirling shadows, with eyes like abysses.

Their leader stepped forward. His voice sounded like a hundred echoes, like multiple voices speaking at once.

“Give us the Awakened One. The Primordial Spark belongs to the Court.”

Damon showed them his claws as they extended. “Yeah? Over my dead body.”

The being smiled in response and said, “That can be arranged.”

Hundreds of shadow creatures poured out of the darkness. The battle was unlike anything we’d faced before. These beings didn’t fight like wolves, instead they moved like smoke and struck with freezing darkness that drained one's energy once they made contact.

I fought beside Damon, golden energy clashing against their shadows. Every time one of them got too close, I felt Lucas’s power surge through me, helping me push them back.

But they were so f*****g relentless.

One of the creatures broke through and grabbed my arm. Ice-cold pain shot through me as it tried to drain my life force.

Damon was beside me and he tore the creature apart, but more kept coming.

Elowen and her hybrids joined in the fight against the Hollow Court.

“Get Sophie inside!” Damon shouted to Marcus.

“No!” I yelled back. “I’m not leaving you!”

One of the shadow beasts broke through our lines and headed straight for the mansion. No one needed to tell me that it was heading for the basement where Lucas was hidden.

This was the time where I felt so f*****g terrified than I had ever felt in my life. “Lucas!” I screamed.

Golden-red energy exploded from my body in a violent wave, stronger than anything I’d ever produced. It incinerated the shadow beast and several others nearby. But the effort drained me completely. My vision clouded as I dropped to my knees.

The last thing I saw before darkness took me was Damon fighting desperately to reach me, calling my name as more shadow creatures swarmed him like bees over honey.

Damon’s POV

“Sophie!”

I tore through the creatures separating us, motivated by panic every. When I finally reached her, she was unconscious on the ground, still had a pulse but looked so pale.

I took her into my arms and ran toward the mansion, warriors closing ranks around us.

The Hollow Court leader’s voice echoed across the battlefield:

“This is only the beginning. The Spark will be ours.”

As I carried my unconscious mate inside, I felt a terrifying new presence watching us from the darkness.

The real war had arrived.