Page 65 of Branded By Shadow
“Choose me,” I whispered back.
As a shattering orgasm tore through me, he buried his teeth into my bonding gland. It hurt, but it was a good pain. The pain I’d been craving for so long without knowing it. At the same moment, I felt him swell inside me, a primal, physical knotting that claimed me completely.
A violent, chaotic surge of power erupted from that point of contact, a shockwave that made the very stones groan. The symbols on the walls flared.
The new connection snapped into place, a radiant, silent warmth that burst behind my eyes and saturated every cell. The raw, open wound of our separation sealed over, replaced by a feeling of serene, unshakeable peace. I could feel him in my mind, a clean, steady current that did not pull or demand, but simply… was.
For a long moment, we remained joined, his body still buried deep inside mine as the last tremors of my orgasm subsided. I felt the slow, powerful pulse of the knot within me, a profound physical anchor to the new reality settling in our minds.
Then, the pressure began to recede, a slow, lingering release as he slipped from my body. The sense of loss was immediately replaced by the hum of the new bond, a connection that no longer required touch.
He pulled back to look at me, his eyes wide with a wonder that mirrored my own.It’s... balanced,he sent to me, his thought a wave of quiet, breathless awe.There’s no weight. No drain.
It feels... like ours,I replied.Like we built it.
Because we had, hadn’t we? With blood, pain, and sacrifice. With brutality, grief, and desperation. We’d rebuilt something that should have been permanently destroyed. Together.
Tears tracked down my cheeks as the bond settled into place. “Can you feel it?” he murmured, his voice thick with emotion that made my chest tighten.
I took a shuddering breath, finally feeling complete. “Everything. I can feel everything.”
He shifted, creating just enough space to look at my face. His other hand came up to cup my cheek. “They’re still up there. Helena. Alexander. They’ll spin this as a victory.”
I met his gaze without flinching, a new, quiet strength settling deep in my bones. “Let them have their story. We have the truth.”
A muscle in his jaw tightened, the only outward sign of the rage he was holding in check. “They will not stop, Cora. They will come for you again.”
“I know.” I leaned into his touch, the way I should have from the very beginning. “But this time... I won’t be alone.”
I felt the truth of my final words settle in the space between us, a promise and a vow.
“And neither will you.”
25
Epilogue
Cora & Alexander
Six months later
It had been half a year since I had fallen into the abyss. Half a year since a war between gods and men had been fought and won in the screaming darkness.
For six months, the world had been still. Not the muffled, underwater stillness of my initial shock, but a new kind of peace, born of purpose and patient work. It was the feeling of the earth itself breathing a slow, contented sigh.
A steady, humming warmth resided in my chest. The constant presence of my bond with Damon now felt as natural as my own heartbeat. It carried no weight, no drain. It was simply him. Anunspoken certainty that I was not, and would never again be, alone.
I walked a path cut through a field of impossibly tall, glowing wheat. The stalks rose above my head, each grain radiating a soft, golden light. The air hung warm and smelled of sun-baked earth, fresh bread, and the clean, sweet scent of the harvest.
This was the heart of House Demeter, a place that felt more real than any I had ever known.
Theo walked beside me, lost in a state of unadulterated awe. He kept reaching out to touch a stalk of wheat, his fingers tracing the glowing husks. He held a data slate in his other hand, but as I’d expected, he’d completely forgotten about it.
“I still can’t get over this,” he whispered with almost religious reverence. “The cellular bioluminescence is stable. Perfectly stable. Do you have any idea what this means for agricultural science?”
“I have a few ideas.” I laughed. “After all, that’s why we’re here.”
He turned to me then, his academic excitement fading into a deep warmth. “It’s good to see you laugh, Cora. Really good.” He paused for a long moment, his gaze searching my face. “For a while there... I wasn’t sure I’d ever hear it again.”
