blood bond 🩸

HUNGER THAT ISN'T MINE

Elara’s breaths came fast and shallow. The taste of Tristan’s blood still coated her tongue, rich and heady. But it wasn’t just hunger curling inside her anymore. It was something else.

Someone else.

Selene.

Her presence slithered through Elara’s mind, whispering in a voice like silk and smoke.

You called me, little one.

Elara staggered back, pressing a hand to her chest. “No.”

Tristan’s eyes darkened. “What’s wrong?”

She squeezed her eyes shut, but the visions only sharpened.

A throne drenched in shadows. A woman with ice-white hair, her lips painted the color of blood. A smirk that held centuries of knowing.

Selene.

She leaned forward in Elara’s mind, her voice echoing. You took what was mine. Now, you are mine.

A scream built in Elara’s throat, but she swallowed it down, forcing herself to breathe.

Tristan grabbed her shoulders. “Elara, focus.”

Her eyes snapped open. “She’s inside me,” she whispered. “I can hear her.”

Tristan’s grip tightened. “You have to fight it.”

A bitter laugh broke from her lips. “Fight her? She’s stronger than me, Tristan. I can feel it.”

Selene’s laughter curled through her mind, cold and cruel. Oh, little one. You haven’t even begun to feel me.

Pain lanced through Elara’s skull. She gasped, her knees nearly buckling.

Tristan caught her. “Elara.”

“I—” Her voice broke.

And then—

The world tilted.

Darkness unfurled around her, swallowing the room whole. The air turned thick, suffocating. Tristan’s presence wavered, distant and unreachable.

And she was there.

Not in Tristan’s room.

Not in her body.

But somewhere else.

A place of shadow and fire.

Elara turned, her breath catching.

Selene stood before her.

Tall. Regal. Utterly inhuman.

Her silver hair cascaded over her shoulders like silk, her pale skin flawless. But her eyes—

Black. Endless. And filled with something terrifying.

She smiled. “Finally, we meet properly.”

Elara’s hands clenched. “Get out of my head.”

Selene tsked, tilting her head. “Oh, but darling, this is my head now.”

The shadows coiled around Elara’s feet, creeping up her legs.

She struggled, but it was like sinking in tar.

Selene stepped closer, running a cold finger along Elara’s jaw. “You drank from him,” she purred. “You sealed your fate.”

Elara jerked away. “I won’t be like you.”

Selene’s smile sharpened. “Sweet girl, you already are.”

The shadows surged—

And Elara fell.

—

She hit the floor with a gasp, the real world slamming back into her like a tidal wave.

Tristan was kneeling beside her, his grip firm on her arms. His expression was tight, unreadable.

“Elara,” he said, voice urgent. “What happened?”

She looked up at him, chest heaving.

Then, in a voice that wasn’t quite hers, she whispered—

“She’s coming.”