FIVE BROTHERS MATED TO ONE (The Veil of Stars)

🌑 Chapter Twenty: When Shadows Bite

🌑 Chapter Twenty: When Shadows Bite

Elara’s fingers dug into Darius’s shoulders as he kissed her harder, deeper, until she was dizzy from the lack of air. Every brush of his tongue, every rough drag of his mouth on hers made her melt and burn at once.

He pressed her tighter against the cavern wall, his body solid, his need impossible to hide. His hand slid from her hip to the curve of her thigh, lifting, coaxing her leg around him as shadows coiled eagerly at his command—or maybe not at his command anymore.

Because the shadows were changing.

They licked up her arms, twined around her wrists like cuffs, dragging her closer. She gasped against his mouth, and for the first time, Darius froze.

“Elara,” he rasped, breath harsh, breaking the kiss just enough to see. His eyes widened—the shadows weren’t obeying. They were moving on their own, surging with the same hunger he felt.

One slipped higher, brushing her throat. Another curled around her waist, pulling her flush to him, making her whimper at the contact.

“No—” Darius’s voice was sharp, strained. His hands gripped her shoulders, fighting himself as much as the shadows. “Not like this. They’ll hurt you.”

But Elara didn’t feel fear. Not even when the darkness tightened around her wrists. She felt alive, wild, her starfire sparking against the pressure like it wanted to meet the shadows halfway.

Her lips brushed his ear, trembling but defiant. “Then don’t fight it.”

The words broke something in him. He kissed her again, hard, brutal, as the shadows surged like living flame, wrapping them both in a cocoon of darkness and starlight.

And in that moment, Elara knew: Darius’s desire was dangerous—not just because of the prophecy, but because if he ever truly lost control, she wasn’t sure she’d want him to stop.

The kiss consumed her. Shadows coiled like living chains, binding her closer to him, pulling moans from her lips she didn’t know she was capable of. Darius groaned against her mouth, every ounce of his legendary control unraveling.

“Elara…” His voice was ragged, torn between hunger and fear. “I can’t—”

But then his entire body went still.

The shadows snapped back violently, curling tight around him as his head whipped toward the cavern’s entrance. His expression shifted, not to desire, but to raw, deadly focus.

“They’re here.”

Her heart lurched. “Who—?”

Darius didn’t need to answer.

The cavern shook with a distant crash. The scent of iron and rot filled the air. From the tunnel beyond came a sound—inhuman snarls, the scrape of claws against stone, the hiss of voices twisted by dark magic.

Malrik’s hunters.

The brothers appeared in seconds, bonds pulling them to her like lightning to a storm. Kael’s hands flared with fire, his eyes already wild. Theron dragged water from the Veilpool, shaping it into blades. Riven spun a dagger with a grin that didn’t reach his eyes.

“About time,” he muttered.

Elara clutched her chest, her starfire flickering under her skin, still trembling from Darius’s kiss, from the way his shadows had almost claimed her.

Darius’s hand brushed her arm, steady, grounding. His voice dropped to a deadly growl. “Stay behind me.”

Then the first hunter burst through the shadows at the tunnel’s edge, teeth bared, claws dripping with poison—and the brothers unleashed hell.