Shadow bound: The beast within
Luca Blackthorn lives on the edge of two worlds, the human and the monstrous. Cursed with a power that can devour him from within, he struggles to control the beast that lurks beneath his skin. When Emilio, a ruthless mafia lord with a blood stained empire, resurfaces, Luca faces an enemy who will stop at nothing to destroy him.
Enter Grace Veyre, a lethal and unpredictable force from Emilio’s past. Once trained as his elite enforcer, she knows the darkness better than anyone and carries secrets that could either save or doom them both. Forced together by circumstance and survival, Luca and Grace navigate ambushes, betrayal, and relentless enemies, learning to trust each other in the shadows.
Every encounter is a test of skill and will, every decision a gamble with life and death. As the body count rises and Emilio’s schemes tighten like a noose, Luca must master his curse, and Grace must confront her past before it destroys everything.
In a city of fire, blood, and deceit, loyalty is fleeting, danger is constant, and only those who can fight together,and trust the untrustable, can survive.
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Chapter: Chapter Sixty: Ashes and Reckoning The battlefield lay in ruins. Smoke rose from broken tents, smoldering supplies, and the scorched earth beneath the northern ridge. Soldiers moved among the debris, exhausted, eyes haunted by the blood and fire they had survived. But Luca saw none of it clearly. His world was narrowed to two flames: Grace and Valeria. Desire, guilt, love, and fury coiled inside him like serpents, twisting and tearing at his heart.Valeria emerged from the shadows, eyes glinting like molten steel. “You cannot resist me, Luca,” she whispered, stepping close, pressing herself against him. “Even after everything, you crave me. You will not hide from it.”Luca’s hands clenched, shadows flaring violently, restless, alive with his turmoil. “Valeria…” he groaned, torn between the fire she ignited and the loyalty burning inside him for Grace. “You should not have… I should not”Grace appeared then, silent and fierce, eyes blazing, chest heaving with every emotion she could not speak. “Stop,” she hissed, voice
Last Updated: 2025-09-11
Chapter: Chapter Fifty-Nine: Fractured LoyaltiesThe northern ridge smoldered under the weight of fires and smoke. Luca moved through the chaos like a phantom, shadows snapping, striking, protecting. Yet the battle outside was nothing compared to the war inside him. Desire, guilt, and need twisted inside like a knife.Valeria’s presence had become impossible to ignore. Even now, with Grace pressed to his side, he felt the pull, the temptation, the forbidden fire she represented. She moved with the precision of a predator, eyes locking on him, lips curving in slow, deliberate seduction.“You are mine too,” she murmured, brushing a finger along his chest. “You cannot deny it. Not even with her here.”Luca faltered, shadows flaring as his control cracked. The memory of her lips, the heat of her touch, he had given himself once, and he could not stop wanting her again. Desire twisted with grief and pain, a hunger he could not suppress.Grace’s hands gripped his arms, trembling with fury and desperation. “No!” she whispered, voice low, r
Last Updated: 2025-09-11
Chapter: Chapter Fifty-Eight: Betrayal in ShadowsThe northern ridge smoldered under the glow of torches and fires, the air thick with smoke and the stench of blood. Luca moved like a phantom through the chaos, shadows flaring around him, striking enemies before they even realized he was there. But the battlefield was not the only war raging. Inside him, desire and guilt battled like feral beasts.Valeria had not left. Her eyes had followed him since the first clash, hunger and challenge mingling in her gaze. The memory of her touch still burned on his skin, lingering, impossible to forget.Grace’s hand found his arm again, steadying him, grounding him in the swirling storm of battle. Her eyes were sharp, burning with jealousy and fury. “You cannot keep doing this,” she hissed, voice low but lethal. “Not here. Not ever. You are mine, Luca. All of you.”He swallowed hard, shadows twitching like serpents, instinct pulled between the two flames of passion. Desire for Valeria burned hot, reckless. Love for Grace was fierce, unyielding, a
Last Updated: 2025-09-11
Chapter: Chapter Fifty-Seven: Forbidden FiresThe night was heavy with smoke and the cries of battle from the northern ridge. Luca moved like a shadow among his soldiers, every sense alert, every muscle coiled, yet beneath the adrenaline of war, a different fire burned, one that had nothing to do with steel or blood.Valeria had slipped through the chaos again, appearing at the edge of his command post, silk swaying, eyes smoldering. Her presence was impossible to ignore. Even now, with the clash of swords ringing in his ears, he felt her pull, a magnetic force that made his pulse quicken and shadows twitch with awareness.“Luca,” she murmured, voice soft and deliberate. “Even in fire, in blood, I am here. You feel me, do you not?”His jaw clenched. Desire and guilt collided inside him. He had promised Grace, yet the pull of Valeria was relentless, intoxicating, dangerous. Every nerve screamed for her, every instinct threatening to betray his vow.Grace’s sharp voice cut through the haze of temptation. “Do not,” she hissed, stepp
Last Updated: 2025-09-11
Chapter: Chapter Fifty-Six: Shadows of ReturnSmoke still hung low over the northern camp, mingling with the smell of burned tents and scorched earth. Luca moved like a phantom, shadows clinging to his heels, every sense alert, every nerve stretched tight. The taste of Valeria lingered on his skin, a reminder of temptation he could not fully resist, even as Grace pressed herself to him, need and fury mingling in her touch.Then he heard a voice, sharp and unmistakable, cutting through the haze of battle cries and distant fires.“Luca!”He spun, shadows flaring instinctively, and froze. Standing at the edge of the perimeter, framed by the glow of torches and embers, is Emilio. His eyes were hard, unreadable, but his presence carried the weight of history, of secrets, of war. Luca’s chest tightened. He had not expected to see him, not now, not after everything.Grace’s hand went to his chest, grounding him. “Emilio?” she whispered, suspicion and relief tangled in her tone.Emilio stepped closer, shoulders squared, eyes locked on L
Last Updated: 2025-09-11
Chapter: Chapter Fifty-Five: Shattered ControlThe northern fires burned brighter than ever, lighting the camp in an ominous glow. Smoke twisted into the sky like dark ribbons, carrying screams and the clash of steel. Luca moved through the chaos, shadows snapping forward like whips, striking enemies, protecting soldiers, and keeping Grace close at his side.But the battlefield was not the only war. Valeria lingered at the edges, watching him, her presence like a slow, unrelenting pressure, impossible to ignore. Her eyes were fire, voice a soft caress even in the distance.“You are mine too,” she murmured, voice cutting through the noise. “Even in this chaos, even with her at your side.”Luca’s chest tightened. He clenched his fists, letting shadows whip forward, striking down attackers with brutal efficiency. But even as he fought, a part of him, the part he never admitted, never let surface, quivered with the pull of her words.Grace pressed herself against him, blade ready, lips brushing his ear. “Do not falter,” she whispered.
Last Updated: 2025-09-11
