Chapter 398 398

Chapter 398 398
Maurice POV
I can’t get through.
No matter how much force I throw at it, no matter how hard I push, the red, cloud-like barrier surrounding Bee and Damien refuses to yield. It pulses and swells with terrifying strength, thickening with every passing second like a living storm, a vortex spiraling tighter around them.
I drain myself trying. Every shred of energy, every ounce of strength, slams uselessly into it. This isn’t just magic. This thing isn’t of this earth hell, it isn’t even of the shifter world.
“Bee!” I scream, horror ripping from my chest as black darkness begins to seep from Damien’s eyes, flowing like poison straight into my mate’s.
No.
No this isn’t happening.
I can’t lose her. I won’t.
Her wolf slams the bond shut, pushing me back, but I can still feel it the struggle, the agony, the darkness clawing its way into her through our connection. It’s like watching my soul be dragged apart piece by piece.
The red demonic glow tightens around them, coiling protectively even as Damien’s eyes finally clear. Even as awareness returns to his face, as if he’s waking from a nightmare he can’t remember choosing.
His hands fly up, gripping Bee’s wrists, trying to tear her away from him. He’s shouting begging her to stop, screaming that this was his burden, his curse to bear, not hers. But her strength… it isn’t normal. It isn’t human. She doesn’t let go.
He looks at me then.
Panic floods his eyes, raw and unfiltered, and my world starts to collapse in on itself.
“Her wolf…” My wolf’s voice cuts into my mind, trembling with fear.
“What?” I snap back.
“She’s sacrificing her wolf to the darkness.”
“No,” I roar. “That’s impossible. She can’t she won’t.”
“It was either that… or lose us,” my wolf replies, his words breaking as adrenaline surges through my veins.
“Bee, NO stop!” I bellow, fury blazing molten-hot in my chest as I slam into the red glow again, trying failing to reach her.
Damien fights harder now, desperation sharpening his movements as he tries to shake her, tries to pull her back from whatever abyss she’s falling into. But her body begins to tremble violently, convulsing as the real battle rages inside her.
“No it’s mine!” Damien roars, raw and broken. “My curse!”
At last, with a desperate surge of strength, he manages to pry her hands from his head, catching her just before her body crumples to the ground.
And then I feel it.
The mate bond turns cold.
Her wolf is dying.
“She’s sacrificing her wolf for the human side,” my wolf cries, anguish tearing through our shared mind. “She won’t recover from this.”
“Bee…” My voice breaks.
She lies motionless on the stone floor, and I can’t reach her. Can’t hold her. Can’t even touch her through this fucking forcefield.
My soul fractures as her wolf fades. I feel it happening inside me like something vital is being ripped away, leaving only agony behind.
Then
Pop.
The sound snaps through the cave, followed by a burst of smoke and the sharp stench of something burning.
Gilles appears out of nowhere.
Before I can react, before anyone can stop him, he steps forward and the red glow parts for him. Melts away like it recognizes him, like it allows him through.
My blood runs cold.
His hands reach for Bee’s head, fingers pressing into her temples exactly as she’d done to Damien. Her body lifts from the ground as if pulled by invisible strings.
A new threat.
Gilles doesn’t hesitate. He grips her arm and yanks her closer, dragging her up to his eye level.
Rage explodes through me when his lips crash onto hers.
He’s kissing her.
Now.
Here.
While her wolf is dying.
I launch myself forward, but he raises a single hand, stopping me cold silent, commanding, warning me to stay back.
And for the first time since this nightmare began, I realize something far worse than the forcefield stands between me and my mate.