CHAPTER 138 — THE SPLIT IN MY SOUL

CHAPTER 138 — THE SPLIT IN MY SOUL

The world bent.

Light from Asher.
Darkness from the curse.
Both pulling so hard that my vision fractured like glass under too much pressure.

“Asher—” I choked out, gripping his shirt as the ground buckled beneath us. “It’s… it’s tearing—”

“I know,” he rasped, pulling me tight against him. “Hold on to me. Don’t let it separate us.”

But the curse wanted that.
It pushed.
Pulled.
Twisted.

Trying to divide.

Trying to claim.

The shadows in my arm swarmed up my shoulder—cold, alive, eager—and for a moment my fingers went numb in Asher’s grip.

His eyes widened.

“No. No—Luna, stay with me.” His voice cracked, harsh with terror. “Don’t let it take your hand—don’t let go—”

“I’m trying—”
But my hand jerked involuntarily, like someone else was puppeteering it.

The curse pushed through my skin, faint tendrils writhing like black smoke, reaching outward toward its towering shadow-form.

A claim.

A bond.

A pull.

Asher roared, grabbing my wrist with both hands, trying to shove the darkness back through sheer Alpha will.

“Get OUT of her—”
His voice broke into a snarl, deeper than human, deeper than wolf.
“—she belongs to NO ONE.”

The shadow’s whisper ribboned through the air.

She belongs to me.

My knees buckled.
The curse surged with that voice—like it gained strength from hearing itself claim me.

My vision blurred—dark at the edges, bright at the center—splitting like two halves of me were drifting apart.

One side pulled toward Asher’s warmth.
His voice.
His scent.
His bond.

The other pulled toward cold emptiness.
The shadow’s voice.
The curse’s promise.

My heart stuttered between them.

“Asher—” My voice thinned, cracking. “It’s—taking—half—”

His grip tightened until it hurt.

“Then I’ll take the other half back,” he snarled.

The shadow stepped closer, its shape sharpening—almost human now, almost solid.

“You are my chosen vessel,” it spoke, voice like silk soaked in grave dirt.
“Half of you is already mine.”

“No,” Asher hissed through clenched teeth. “No part of her is yours.”

The shadow leaned in—so close I could feel the cold radiating off it like a second heartbeat.

“She feels me,” it murmured. “In her pulse. In her thoughts. In the marrow of her bones. She is dividing, Alpha. And soon… you will hold only the leftover half.”

Asher’s entire aura flared—bright gold erupting from his skin like wildfire.
His wolf shoved forward so violently his eyes blazed crimson-gold.

“Take your filth—” he growled, voice low and trembling with barely restrained violence—
“—and DIE.”

He launched at the shadow, dragging me with him—because he refused to let go even for a second.

But the curse inside me reacted before he could reach it.

The darkness exploded outward from my arm—
a wave of black energy that slammed into Asher’s chest, flinging him backward through the air.

“Asher!” I screamed as he crashed through a dead log, earth erupting around him.

I tried to run to him.
My legs wouldn’t move.

The curse froze them, locking my muscles in place as the shadow stepped closer.

Its voice softened—sweet as rot, gentle as poison.

“You feel me, Luna.”

I shook my head violently. “No—no, I don’t—”

“You do.”
It raised a hand of swirling black mist.
“And every time your heart cracks… every time your courage shakes… every time he bleeds for you… I grow.”

A tremor ran through me.

Because I could feel it.

The split.
The divide.

Half of me was cold.
Half burning with Asher’s love.

Two forces tearing me apart from the inside.

“You are the doorway,” the shadow whispered. “You opened when you touched him. You opened further when you feared losing him. And now—”

Its fingers reached toward my face.

“—you are ready to break.”

“No.”
The word tore from me with more strength than I expected.

The shadow paused.

“I’m not breaking,” I said.
“Not for you.”

It tilted its head. “You already have.”

A scream tore through the forest—
raw, furious, heartbreaking.

Asher.

He staggered toward us, blood dripping down his temple, chest heaving, power sparking violently around him.

“Don’t touch her,” he snarled, voice shaking with wrath that burned hotter than the sun. “Luna—LUNA—don’t listen—don’t look at it—keep your eyes on ME—”

I tried.

But the shadow cupped my chin with one cold, smoky hand.

Darkness shot down my spine—

—and the split inside me cracked wider.

I gasped.

Asher’s face twisted in agony.

“LUNA!”

The shadow whispered one final word:

Mine.

And I felt something inside me—
deep, fragile, essential—
begin to tear.