Page 33 of Echoes From the Void
The campus feels like it’s holding its breath, waiting.
Or maybe that’s just me, aching with the need to finally claim what’s been mine since that first day in his class, when he looked at my shadows and saw not a broken thing, but something beautiful.
I find him in one of the warded practice rooms, and for a moment I just watch, letting my heart fill with the sight of him. His Guardian marks blaze as he works through combat forms, new oath runes spiraling up his arms in patterns that mirror my own shadow marks. Every movement is precise, controlled, beautiful in their deadly grace. Just like everything else about him.
Just like everything else about him.
“You should be resting,” he says without turning, because of course he sensed me. The potential bond between us hums with awareness, with need barely contained.
“Probably.” I lean against the doorframe, watching shadow essence respond to his power. “But something’s changing. Can you feel it?”
He stills, power shimmering beneath his skin. The air grows thick with possibility as he finally turns to face me. Moonlightcatches on his oath marks, making them glow like captured starlight.
“The bonds,” he says, his voice carrying that careful control I’ve known since I was his student. Since I first felt the pull between us and thought it was just attraction. Just desire. “They’re stronger since Finn’s return.”
“Not just stronger.” I push away from the doorframe, letting my shadows reach for his. They dance together in the space between us, eager for connection. “Different. Like his light somehow... completed something. Made space for?—”
“More,” he finishes. Through our potential bond, I feel his understanding. His own need matching mine.
One of my wolves circles him, testing. Bishop doesn’t flinch, doesn’t back away. Just watches me with those intense eyes that see too much. Have always seen too much.
“You’re not here just to tell me about the bonds,” he observes. A statement, not a question.
“No.” I move closer, drawn by the power humming beneath his careful control. By the way his shadows reach for mine despite his rigid posture. “I’m here because it’s time. Because these potential bonds aren’t enough anymore.”
“Frankie.” My name falls from his lips like a prayer, like a curse, like every forbidden thing we’ve denied ourselves. “Once we do this—once you mark us—there’s no going back. The pack will be permanent.” His control wavers as I step closer, close enough to feel the heat radiating from his skin. “Are you sure?—”
“That I want you?” I cut him off, letting him see everything I feel in my eyes. “That I want all of you? I’ve been sure since that first day we met at Andy’s, when you looked at the broken girl and saw something more.”
His breath catches. “I also hurt you that summer.” Through our potential bond, I feel his careful control starting to crack.Feel years of wanting, of holding back, of putting duty first beginning to shatter.
I nod sadly. He did. He hurt me.
But the end of the world is strange like that. It really puts things into perspective.
And I?
I can’t live without this man.
“I’ve already chosen,” he says softly, finally, finally reaching for me. His hand cups my face like I’m something precious, something worth breaking every rule for. The touch sends electricity through our connection. “When I took the new oath, when I chose pack over tradition... I was choosing you, firefly. All of you.”
Heat floods me at the old nickname—the one he used to whisper to me that summer wrapped up in his arms.
“Show me,” I breathe, and his control finally breaks.
He moves like the warrior he is, backing me against the training room wall with fluid grace. His mouth claims mine with none of his usual restraint, all that carefully leashed power finally unleashed. I feel the moment his control shatters completely, feel how much he’s been holding back all this time.
“No more waiting,” I gasp against his lips as his hands map my body like territory he’s dying to claim. My fangs descend, responding to the need building between us. “No more careful distance.”
“No more pretending this isn’t exactly where I want to be,” he agrees, and finally, finally lets his power flow freely into our bond.
His shadows tangle with mine as we stand breathing each other’s air, the space between us electric with years of wanting. Slowly, I reach up to trace his jaw, feeling how he trembles at my touch. Here is my controlled Guardian, my proper professor, coming undone for me.
“I used to dream about this,” I confess against his throat. “During your lectures. The way you’d move, explaining shadow theory like it was poetry...”
“I knew,” he growls, his hands sliding under my shirt with possessive heat. “Could feel your shadows reaching for mine. Had to grip my desk to keep from reaching back.”
His oath marks pulse up his arms, as I push his formal robes off his shoulders, revealing more of those beautiful runes that prove he chose us over everything. Each one is a declaration of love written in ancient magic. I trace them with my fingers, my lips, my tongue, feeling his power surge in response.
