CHAPTER 158

CHAPTER 158
DARIUS 

I’d fucked her two more times.
Each time harder, deeper, more possessive than the last — like I could brand myself into her soul if I thrust deep enough. 

By the end, Selene was a breathless, spent tangle of sweaty limbs and matted hair, a melted heap of pleasure and bliss who could barely remember her own name. 

She lay beside me on the furs, chest heaving, skin flushed and glowing, looking thoroughly ruined and utterly perfect.

I collapsed onto my back, one arm thrown across my forehead, trying to catch a breath I didn’t technically need.

“Fuck me,” I muttered, voice rough with exhaustion and satisfaction. 

“You are something else.”

Selene rolled onto her side to face me, that wide, lust-drunk smile lighting up her face even through the haze of fatigue. 

“I’m really starting to like this sneaking around,” she said softly, voice husky and sweet.

"Fuck. Me too."

I placed a hand on her hip, gently tracing my fingertips up and down the outside of her thigh, savoring the warmth of her skin. 

I leaned in, pressing a slow, lingering kiss to her lips. Her scent — wildflowers, ozone, and pure, addictive Selene — flooded my senses, stirring fresh hunger even after everything we’d just done. 

My cock twitched against her thigh, still half-hard and greedy for more.

“I need you, again ” she whispered against my mouth, voice trembling with lingering desire. 

“As do I,” I murmured, brushing my nose along hers. 

“More than you know. But it looks like the last session has already taken its toll on you, my love.”

Her eyes were already drooping, lashes fluttering as exhaustion pulled at her. 

I kissed her forehead, then her temple, letting my lips linger. 

The bond between us hummed with warm contentment, her light brushing against my shadows like a contented sigh. 

She was mine. 

Thoroughly, beautifully, completely mine.

I pulled her closer, tucking her against my chest, one arm wrapped possessively around her waist. 

“Rest,” I whispered into her hair. 

“We have time. I’ll claim every inch of you when you’re not about to pass out from pleasure.”

She made a soft, contented sound and nuzzled closer, her breathing already slowing.

I lay there, holding her.

For a few perfect minutes, the world outside — Eron, the eclipse, Morgana’s sharp tongue — ceased to exist. 

There was only Selene’s warmth against me, the steady rhythm of her heartbeat, and the deep, primal satisfaction of knowing she was safe in my arms.

Then the sound of a battle shattered the peace.

My body tensed instantly, the haze of pleasure burned away in a single heartbeat. 

“Darius?” she murmured, voice thick with sleep.

“What’s going on...what was that?”

"Eron..."

I pulled out of her with a reluctant groan, already moving.

My clothes were scattered across the cave floor. 

Selene sat up, eyes wide with concern.

"Darius.."

“Stay here,” I said, dressing in seconds — pants, shirt, boots.

My voice was hard, all tenderness gone, replaced by the cold command of a warrior who had survived centuries of war. 

“Do not leave this cave. No matter what you hear. Promise me.”

Selene shook her head, already pushing the furs aside.

“No. I’m coming with you. Maybe I can help—”

“No fucking way.”

The words came out sharper than I intended, but there was no room for argument. 

Not with the sounds of battle growing louder outside. 

Not with Eron’s rogues potentially closing in.

“Stop telling me what to fucking do, Darius!” she snapped.

I turned to face her fully, my expression hard, all the tenderness from moments ago gone.

Of course she'll never fucking listen 

Before she could argue further, I raised my hand.

A wave of power left my palm — cool, dark, and absolute.

The vampiric compulsion wrapped around her like invisible chains of shadow and steel, forming a protective shield that hummed in the air around her body. 

It wouldn’t hurt her. 

It would simply hold her in place and mask her scent completely.

Selene’s eyes widened as she felt the power settle over her. 

She pressed her hands against the invisible barrier, testing it.

Her palms met resistance.

Nothing visible.

Just an immovable wall.

“Darius. What the fuck—?”

“This will hide your scent,” I said, my voice leaving no room for argument. 

“No vampire will be able to track your blood. Not here. Not anywhere nearby.”

She frowned, pressing against the barrier again.

“And it’ll stop you from sneaking out to help,” I added, voice steady, final. 

“I’m not risking you out there. Not with Eron’s rogues crawling around. This shield stays up until I get back.”

I tilted my head slightly, watching her test it again.

“Before you start planning your escape,” I said dryly, 

“save yourself the effort. You’re not getting through it.”

“I’ll break it,” she shot back instantly, glaring at me through the invisible barrier. 

“You know I can if I try.”

Fuck. 

Of course she’d threaten to break it. 

My beautiful, defiant mate — the same woman who once shattered my compulsion with a single word and a surge of pure will. I almost smiled despite everything.

“No,” I growled, stepping closer to the edge of the shield. 

“You won’t. Because if you do, you’ll be walking straight into a fight you’re not ready for. And I won’t be able to focus on keeping Roxy and Xander alive if I’m worried about you getting torn apart out there.”

She stared at me, frustration and worry warring across her face, but the bond carried her reluctant acceptance. 

She knew I wouldn’t budge.

“Selene… Roxy and Xander need me,” I said softly, trying to soften the edge in my voice. 

“And you coming with me will only split my attention. I can’t protect you and fight at the same time. Not yet. Not until your power is stronger.”

She clutched the furs tighter to her chest, eyes still blazing. 

“Fine. But if you’re not back here in fifteen minutes… I’m breaking the shield. Or at least I’ll try.”

“I’ll be back. I swear it.”

Then I turned and ran.

The night air hit me like ice as I burst out of the cave and sprinted toward Morgana’s cottage. 

The bond with Selene thrummed behind me — worried, frustrated, but safe behind the shield. 

That was all that mattered.

When I burst into the clearing, the scene was pure bedlam.

Rogue vampires — at least eight of them, feral and half-starved by the look of their ragged clothes and glowing eyes — had surrounded the cottage. 

Roxy was a whirlwind of motion, dual blades flashing as she danced between two attackers, laughing maniacally even as blood sprayed across her cheek.

“Missed me, boys?” she taunted, spinning low to hamstring one before kicking another in the chest hard enough to send him crashing into a tree. 

“Come on, I’ve had better foreplay from a corpse!”

Xander was a few feet away, roaring as he tore through a third rogue with bare hands, ripping the vampire’s head clean off with a wet crunch. 

Blood splattered across his face, but his eyes were wild with battle lust.

“More coming from the east!” he bellowed.

I didn’t hesitate. 

I launched myself into the fray, grabbing the nearest rogue by the throat and slamming him into the ground with enough force to crack the earth. 

My fangs sank into his neck, tearing out his throat in one vicious bite before I tossed the body aside like garbage.

Another one lunged at me from the side. I caught his arm, twisted, and snapped it like dry wood before driving my dagger up under his ribs and twisting. 

He screamed once before turning to ash in my grip.

“About time you showed up!” Roxy yelled, flipping over an attacker and landing behind him to slit his throat. 

“We were starting to think you’d rather stay in the cave fucking your mate than help us!”

“Focus!” I snarled back, grabbing another rogue by the skull and smashing his face into my knee with a sickening crunch. 

“How many?”

“Too many,” Xander grunted, impaling one through the chest with a broken branch. 

“They came out of nowhere. Eron’s strays, I’d bet.”

The fight turned vicious. These weren’t trained soldiers — they were desperate, starving rogues driven mad by bloodlust. 

They came at us in waves, claws and fangs flashing, no strategy, just raw hunger.

I moved like death itself, a blur of speed and violence. 

One rogue tried to flank me; I caught him mid-leap, slammed him into the ground, and stomped his head until it burst into ash. 

Another jumped on my back; I reached over my shoulder, grabbed his jaw, and ripped it clean off before tossing the body into Roxy’s path.

“Catch!” I called.

She laughed wildly and decapitated the still-twitching vampire with a flourish. 

“My hero!”

A scream of rage came from the cottage door.

Morgana Voss stormed out onto the porch, hair wild, eyes blazing with fury, Midnight yowling on her shoulder like a demon.

“You absolute vermin!” she snarled at the rogues.

“Attacking my home? On my property? I just swept the damn porch!”

She raised both hands, fingers glowing with crackling green energy.

“Oh, you want magic?” she shouted, voice dripping with venomous sarcasm. 

“Fine. Let’s give you some real magic, you brainless bloodsacks.”

She flicked her wrists. 

Vines erupted from the ground like living whips, wrapping around two rogues and yanking them into the air. 

Thorns the size of daggers sprouted along the vines, piercing their bodies as they screamed.

“Pathetic,” Morgana sneered, twisting her fingers. The vines constricted, tearing the vampires apart in a spray of ash and blood. 

One rogue broke free and charged her. 

Morgana didn’t even flinch. 

She pointed lazily, and the air around the vampire ignited into green flames. 

He burned alive, screaming as he turned to ash mid-sprint.

“Next?” she called sweetly, looking almost bored. 

“I have a whole list of creative ways to kill idiots who interrupt my beauty sleep.”

I couldn’t help the dark chuckle that escaped me as I tore through another attacker. 

The witch was terrifying. 

And, in this moment, extremely useful.

Roxy flipped over a rogue and landed beside me, blades flashing. 

“See? Even the cranky witch likes us now. Sort of. Probably still wants to turn your dick into a cactus, but hey — progress!”

“Less talking, more killing,” I growled, grabbing two rogues by their throats and smashing their heads together before ripping them apart.

Xander roared as he finished off the last one near him, tossing the body aside like trash.

The clearing fell silent except for the soft patter of falling ash.

Morgana lowered her hands, surveying the destruction with a satisfied sneer. 

“Well. That was mildly entertaining. You lot owe me for the mess on my lawn. And for the emotional trauma of having to look at your ugly faces this late.”

Roxy bowed dramatically. 

“Our eternal gratitude, oh terrifying one.”

I wiped blood from my hands and turned toward the cottage, the bond pulling me back to Selene. She was safe. Waiting.

But the attack meant one thing was clear.

Eron was getting bolder.

And our three days of peace had just been shattered.