Page 38 of Echoes From the Void

I smile against his chest, feeling utterly content. “Yeah,” I murmur, pressing a soft kiss to his collarbone. “It really was.”

We stay like that for a while, just holding each other, basking in the afterglow and the strength of our newly formed bond. I can feel it humming between us, a warm, comforting presence that connects us on a level deeper than I ever imagined possible.

Eventually, Leo shifts, his hand coming up to brush a strand of hair from my face. His touch is gentle, reverent. “You okay?” he asks softly, his eyes searching mine.

I nod, leaning into his touch. “More than okay,” I assure him. “I feel... complete. Like a piece of me that was missing has finally clicked into place.”

Leo’s face breaks into a radiant smile, his joy palpable through our bond. “I know exactly what you mean,” he says, pressing a soft kiss to my forehead. “I’ve wanted this for so long, Frankie. To be yours. To be part of your pack.”

The wordpacksends a thrill through me, reminding me of the bigger picture. Of Bishop, and the others who are waiting for us to come together. “We should probably get cleaned up,” I say reluctantly, not really wanting to leave the warmth of Leo’s embrace. “The others will wonder where we are.”

“Let them wonder.” He rolls his hips again before lifting me up and laying me on the couch, still buried deep inside of me. “I’m nowhere near done with you yet.”

I can’t even reply as he thrusts inside of me again. All I can do is moan in pleasure.

Chapter 14

Frankie

The training groundsshimmer with layered protections—Bishop’s Guardian symbols intertwined with Dorian’s temporal barriers and Matteo’s shadow shields. Three days since the last power surge nearly collapsed the medical wing, and no one takes chances with twin training anymore. Not after feeling the void’s hungry response to our combined power.

“You’re hovering,” Tori says, adjusting Finn’s stance with careful hands. Her shadows curl protectively around his light in a way she probably thinks is subtle. “He’s fine. The stabilization took hold three days ago.”

Through our twin bond, I feel how her presence speeds his healing, though neither seems ready to acknowledge that connection.

“I don’t hover,” I protest, even as my shadow wolves circle them both. One particularly protective wolf keeps nudging Finn’s elbow into proper position.

“You absolutely hover.” Finn’s smile carries more strength than I’ve seen since finding him. His light pulses steadily now, no longer fighting the shadows inside him. “Though not as much as your pack. I counted four ‘casual’ check-ins from Leo this morning alone.”

“He brought muffins,” Tori adds, her hands lingering on Finn’s shoulders. “And coffee. And enough energy drinks to give an army insomnia.”

“Which she confiscated,” Finn says with a knowing look. “For my health.”

“Obviously.”

Their easy rapport should probably concern me more, but through our twin bond, I feel how Finn’s light brightens around her. How her shadows seem to ground his power in ways mine can’t. Like they’re creating their own kind of balance.

“Ready?” I ask, pushing aside thoughts of potential pack complications. One crisis at a time.

Finn nods, violet eyes reflecting my determination. His gaze flicks briefly to Tori as she moves behind the protective barriers, his light reaching unconsciously for her shadows before focusing on the task at hand. “Show me how to call them.”

My shadow wolves materialize first, their ethereal forms circling us with predatory grace. Through our twin bond, I feel Finn studying the power pattern, catching how his light instinctively seeks balance. A reminder of how much he’s missed, how much was stolen from us.

Then—

Light erupts from his hands, coalescing into foxes made of pure radiance. They emerge with clever eyes and starlight-tipped tails, dancing between my wolves with playful grace. Shadow and light circle each other, neither threatening nor merging, simply... acknowledging their shared nature.

“Well that’s new,” Leo comments from his guard position. His sisters Lyra and Liliana watch wide-eyed from behind the barriers, their own newly awakened shadow marks spiraling in response. Lyra’s violin strings hum with unconscious power, creating harmonies that make our creatures dance, whileLiliana’s shadows reach tentatively toward Finn’s light foxes, testing their emerging abilities.

“The resonance patterns are fascinating,” Dorian mutters, scribbling in his ever-present notebook. “The harmonic convergence of opposing forces suggests?—”

“Incoming,” Matteo interrupts sharply, his fangs flashing as he shifts closer to me. Through our growing bond, I feel his protective instincts surge.

Power builds between Finn and me as memory hits like a physical blow. Through our twin bond, something stirs—recognition. The shadow beasts prowling outside feel... familiar. Like echoes of screams we used to hear through asylum walls. Children who went into Valerie’s labs but never came out quite human.

The world tilts as the past crashes in:

Blackwood’s lab, sterile and cold. Metal tables gleaming under harsh lights. The taste of fear metallic on my tongue.

---