Page 21 of Dark Bonds

I believe him.

Chapter 6

Matteo

Frankie’s breathwhispers across my skin, a stark contrast to the war raging within me. Another fucking shadow beast attack, and I nearly lost her. The memory of her blood and pain twists my insides like a knife. Each exhale from her lips brands my chest, a reminder of how close I came to failure.

My eyes dart around the room, cataloging weaknesses and potential threats. It’s what I do and what I am—a guardian, a protector… a fucking failure.

Frankie’s hand clenches in my shirt, her face twitching with unseen terrors. Even in sleep, she reaches for me. It’s a pull I can’t resist, a need I can’t deny. She’ll never know how many nights I’ve spent lurking in the shadows, watching over her and fighting the demons that haunt her dreams, because there are so many. Christ, there are so many.

Golden light seeps through the worn curtains, painting her skin in hues of amber and honey. She looks ethereal and untouchable. The faint scent of last night’s rain lingers in the air, mingling with the earthy smell of her hair spread across the pillow.

I know the truth though. I’ve seen the scars, both visible and hidden. I’ve tasted the darkness that clings to her like a second skin.

My muscles coil with the need to act and rip apart anything that dares threaten her, but I remain still, her unwitting protector. My mind races, analyzing and planning.

The window—a weak point.

The door—needs reinforcing.

My grip on her tightens involuntarily.

Last night was a clusterfuck of epic proportions. I promised I’d always be there for her, and I failed. The guilt of her getting hurt twists in my gut like a living thing. Her blood is on my hands, because I wasn’t fucking good enough.

I consider ways to keep her safe without caging her. A tracking spell? No, that’s a betrayal she’d never forgive. A charm perhaps? Something to protect her when I can’t? I can’t always be there. That’s the harsh reality that burns like acid in my veins.

My jaw clenches as I fight the primal urge surging through me. I need to press her into the mattress and sink my teeth into her flesh to bond her and make her mine in every way a shifter can. Her scent—lavender and something uniquely her—fills my senses, making my control fray at the edges.

I take a deep breath, trying to calm the beast within. Breathe in, analyze. Breathe out, plan. It’s a mantra that’s kept me sane and focused, but with Frankie in my arms, it’s becoming harder to remember why I’m holding back.

There’s only one reason I don’t give in—Valerie. Her name alone is enough to make my blood boil. We didn’t know the extent of what that bitch did to Frankie. By the time we discovered someone was hunting the lost, it was almost too late. Story of my fucking life.

What’s worse is that Frankie doesn’t know Valerie knew her identity the entire time. She will, though. I’ll tell her, even if theothers choose to keep her in the dark. Because Frankie is mine. And I refuse to enter a relationship with her built on lies and half-truths.

She needs to know everything, like who we suspect she is, what she’s capable of, and the target that’s been painted on her back since before she was born. It’s a strategic decision really. Full disclosure is the only way to build trust, and trust will be crucial for what’s to come. Knowledge is power, and she’ll need all the power she can get.

There are so few of us left who can shift in the human realm. The connection to the shadow realm is weak, and everything we are is on the verge of collapse. If the shadow realm falls, we’re fucked. It’s as simple as that.

Frankie can call her shadows into wolves here, in the human realm. It’s a trait only the strongest shadow shifters possess, and power like that corrupts. It twists and destroys, but not her.Never her.

I want to give her time to discover herself and grow into her power, but time is a luxury we don’t have. I’m determined to protect her before one of these other fuckers tries to bond her. I’d like to see them try. They’d have to go through me first, and I’m not exactly a pushover.

A soft sigh escapes Frankie’s lips as she snuggles closer, all softness and curves, but I know the truth. Beneath that delicate exterior lies a survivor. She’s lived through torture that would break most people, and she carries scars that run soul deep. One day, she’ll tell me about them, and when that day comes, I’ll be here, ready to help her rip Valerie limb from fucking limb.

I’ve had just a taste of her, and it’s more than enough to know I was created for her. Fate might not exist for shadow shifters, but damn if it doesn’t feel like it sometimes.

We’re a dying breed, hunted and used. So many of our women are reduced to nothing more than breeding stock. Thethought makes bile rise in my throat. Frankie has no idea how lucky she is to have survived Valerie. Then again, luck had nothing to do with it. It was all her—her strength and will to survive.

I hold her tighter, my heart aching for the horrors she’s endured, the women we couldn’t save, and the ones we find pregnant, mentally broken, and bound to monsters without morals or ethics. It’s a fate worse than death.

My father was a guardian once. Now he guards artifacts while our cryptographers race against time to understand our past. He doesn’t talk about his days as a guardian. His silence speaks volumes about the weight of responsibility—a weight I feel acutely now as I hold Frankie in my arms.

Will I become like him? Worn down, hollowed out by the constant struggle?

No. I can’t afford to think like that. For Frankie’s sake, if nothing else.

Unlike the light shifters, we don’t have fated mates. Our women hold the choice of bonds and bonding. They embody the dark feminine energy that guarantees our survival. Whom she bonds with is Frankie’s choice, as is whether or not she wants a pack. My mother never thought she could handle more than one mate. My father? He was terrified of not having more.

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