Chapter 131: THE DARKNESS BETWEEN US 2

AYLA'S POV

I’m running.

Not because I want to. I have to.

My lungs burn, legs barely keeping up, and the rain, Goddess, the rain, it just starts pouring like the sky’s trying to drown us both. It’s cold. Blinding. Everything's slippery. But I don’t stop.

I can’t.

Because Thane is behind me.

No—no. Not Thane. Something else. Something wearing his body like a costume. It looks like him. Moves like him. But it’s not him.

“Thane!” I shout again, breath sharp and panicked. “Please! Fight it! You said you’d fight!”

No answer.

Just that sound. Heavy, angry footfalls crushing wet leaves behind me.

And I’m slower now. I know it. I can feel it deep in my bones. My energy’s gone, drained out of me since the mark faded. I can’t feel it anymore. That spark. That tether.

Gone. I don't know why the hell it did to me, but it's gone

I slip on the muddy slope, knees hitting the earth. My palms scrape against a rock. I cry out, push myself up, soaked and shivering and still calling his name.

I don’t want to give up on him. I won’t.

Flashes come—m, memories. I don’t know why. Maybe my brain’s trying to hold onto what’s real while everything around me unravels.

His stupid smirk that first day. The way he leaned against the wall like he didn’t give a damn about anything, but kept watching me like he did.

The way he said my name. Like it mattered.

Like I mattered.

I hear a growl behind me, low and guttural. Too close.

I don’t even look. I just run harder.

Then something tackles him from the side.

I spin around just in time to see two wolves crash into the mud. One of them’s Thane. The other—

“Garrick!” I scream, running toward them.

They’re fighting, teeth flashing, bodies twisting, claws out. But Garrick pins him, snarling right in his face. He’s holding him down with everything he’s got.

Leona appears out of nowhere. How she got here, I don’t know, but thank God she did. She doesn’t hesitate. Her hands lift, and she starts chanting, low and fast. Her voice shakes, but she doesn’t stop.

It’s some kind of spell. Old. I feel the tension in the air, humming against my skin.

Thane writhes beneath Garrick, howling this inhuman sound that scrapes my spine raw. It’s not his voice. It’s darker. Deeper. Cruel.

“Hold him!” I scream. “Don’t let him go!”

Leona chants louder. The wind picks up, the rain pelting sideways now. My heart’s in my throat.

But Thane bucks hard, and Garrick loses grip for just a second—

And it’s enough.

A claw tears straight across Garrick’s chest. Blood splashes across the ground. He chokes, stumbles back.

“No-” I run to him, dropping to my knees.

He falls, gasping, eyes wide and glassy.

“Garrick, hold on-” I press my hands to his wound, but there’s too much blood.

His hand grabs my wrist. Weak. Shaking. But still there.

“Don’t…” His voice is barely a whisper. “Don’t let him go…”

Then he’s gone.

Just like that.

My hands are shaking. My whole body trembles. I can’t cry. I can’t breathe.

I look at Thane.

He’s panting, standing there with blood on his claws, and his eyes, his eyes are black. Empty. Gone.

Something inside me snaps.

I scream and lunge at him, all logic gone. I fight. Not with power. Not with spells. Just fists and fury.

I slam into him, and he goes down hard.

He tries to fight back, but I don’t give him a chance. I hit, I push, I claw until finally, finally he stops moving. Just breathing. Unconscious.

And then I drag him.

I grab him by the arms, ignore the weight, ignore the pain, ignore everything else and just move.

Back through the woods. Back to the ruins.

The ground feels like it’s moving. Maybe it is. Maybe it’s just me.

Leona follows in silence. She doesn’t try to stop me. Maybe she knows it won’t work.

We reach the temple.

I pull him into the heart of it. Right where it all started.

Where it should end.

He groans a little, but he’s not awake.

I drop to my knees beside him, my body aching from head to toe. I place my hand on his chest, feel the slow, steady beat under my palm.

“You promised,” I whisper. “You said you’d fight.”

The air shifts. I feel it before I see it. The ground trembles. The walls seem to pulse with something dark and alive.

Leona’s standing at the edge, arms wrapped around herself. She looks terrified.

“You know this could kill you both,” she says quietly.

I nod. “I know.”

I stare at him. This man who’s always walked the line between control and chaos. This man who tried to keep his distance and failed. This man I—

I lean down, press my forehead to his.

“I love you,” I whisper. My voice cracks. “Come back to me.”

The mark on my wrist pulses once. Just once.

Then the ground splits open beneath us.

A horrible scream, like metal tearing apart rips through the air.

Black smoke spills out of his mouth, his eyes, his chest. It swirls and fights, clawing at the walls like it wants to stay.

But I don’t let go.

“I love you,” I whisper again. “I’m not leaving.”

The smoke lashes out, hits me across the face, and I feel

it. Cold. Empty. Starving.

But I hold on.

And then—

Silence.

White light. Blinding.

And nothing else.

Not pain. Not fear.

Just peace.