Home / Mafia / Shadow bound: The beast within / Chapter Thirty-Six: Shadows of Treachery
Chapter Thirty-Six: Shadows of Treachery
Author: SG QUINN
last update2025-09-11 19:06:44

The cavern felt colder after Leo’s words, as though the betrayal itself had drained the warmth from the stone. I stood in the silence that followed, my chest tight, my throat raw. Leo had been more than a comrade, he had been my brother in every way that mattered. And now, he had torn that bond apart.

Grace’s hand brushed against my arm, grounding me. Her voice was steady, though I could hear the tremor beneath it.

“Luca… we can’t let this break you. Not now.”

I wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it. Break me? I was already broken. I had trusted Leo with my life more times than I could count. He had bled beside me, feasted with me, whispered secrets in the long nights when the weight of leadership threatened to crush me. And now, he was the knife at my throat.

“I let him in,” I said, my voice rough. “I gave him everything. And he…” My words collapsed under the weight of grief.

Grace didn’t flinch. She stood close, eyes sharp with the steel I’d come to lean on. “That’s exactly why he
Continue to read this book for free
Scan the code to download the app

Latest 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

  • Chapter Fifty-Nine: Fractured Loyalties

    The 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

  • Chapter Fifty-Eight: Betrayal in Shadows

    The 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

  • Chapter Fifty-Seven: Forbidden Fires

    The 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

  • Chapter Fifty-Six: Shadows of Return

    Smoke 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

  • Chapter Fifty-Five: Shattered Control

    The 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.

More Chapter
Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on MegaNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
Scan code to read on App