FIVE BROTHERS MATED TO ONE (The Veil of Stars)

⚔️ Chapter Sixteen: Sparks and Shadows

⚔️ Chapter Sixteen: Sparks and Shadows

The air was thick with tension when the brothers gathered again. Elara sat between them, pretending to focus on her stew, but her lips still tingled from Kael’s kiss, her pulse still sang with Theron’s.

She could feel their eyes on her—Kael’s fiery, possessive; Theron’s steady, questioning.

And then Riven’s grin cut across the silence like a blade. “Well, isn’t this cozy?” His dagger spun lazily between his fingers, though his gaze was sharp as glass. “Our Starborn looks flushed. Wonder why that is.”

Kael stiffened, glaring. “Mind your own business, Riven.”

“Oh, I am,” Riven said with mock innocence. “It’s just fascinating how suddenly you’ve decided she’s yours.” His smirk widened. “Pity Theron doesn’t look like he agrees.”

Theron’s jaw tightened, his calm cracking. He turned to Kael, voice low but cutting. “You swore we would protect her, not use her for our own hungers.”

Kael’s eyes flared, fire dancing at his fingertips. “Don’t you dare talk to me about hunger when you’ve been stealing her in the dark.”

Elara’s stomach dropped. The words hit like a slap—the kiss, the secret moment with Theron. Kael knew.

Riven leaned back, whistling. “Well, isn’t this a mess. Guess we’re all not as noble as we like to think.”

Darius finally spoke from the shadows, his voice a quiet blade. “You fools are blind. While you tear each other apart, Malrik tightens his noose. And Elara—” His gaze flicked to her, unreadable. “—she’s already slipping from your grasp.”

The silence that followed was thick, dangerous.

Elara’s hands shook around her bowl. They all knew now—at least enough. And whatever fragile unity the brothers had was cracking, fast.

Kael rose in a flash, fire licking across his hands, eyes blazing at Theron. “If you think I’ll stand aside—”

Theron’s calm snapped. Water surged from the Veilwater at his command, wrapping around his arm like a living blade. “And if you think I’ll let you destroy her—”

The cavern trembled with the clash of heat and current.

Riven laughed under his breath, watching like it was the best entertainment he’d seen in months. “Now this is interesting.”

Darius didn’t move, but the shadows thickened at his back, his gaze sharp as a knife.

Elara’s heart pounded. They would tear each other apart—over her.

Something inside her snapped.

“STOP!”

The word ripped from her throat, carried on a surge of starfire so fierce the cavern walls blazed with light. The Veilwater boiled, the fire sputtered, and even the shadows recoiled.

The brothers froze.

Elara stood trembling, her hands glowing with threads of starlight, her voice shaking but fierce. “I am not your prize. I am not your battlefield. If you want to fight, then fight Malrik, fight the darkness—not each other.”

The silence that followed was heavy, broken only by the hiss of fading steam.

Kael’s fire dimmed, his face pale as he realized the destruction he’d almost unleashed. Theron lowered his water, shame and longing in his eyes.

Even Riven’s grin faltered, replaced by something unreadable. And Darius… for the first time, something like respect flickered in his gaze.

Elara’s knees nearly gave out, but she held her ground, the starfire finally dimming to embers.

“From now on,” she whispered, her voice hoarse, “you listen to me.”

And in the stillness that followed, the brothers knew—she was no longer just the girl fate had bound them to. She was becoming something far more dangerous.