The Lycan King's Second Chance Mate: Rise of the Traitor's Daughter-Chapter 218: The Deal in the Dark

Griffin~

I had no idea how long I’d been out. Could’ve been a few minutes. Could’ve been hours. Hell, maybe even days. Time didn’t seem to exist where I was.

The only thing I knew for sure was the pain—sharp, searing, soul-deep pain. The kind that doesn’t just hurt your body but carves straight through your spirit. One moment, I was falling apart in the ruins of Zane’s estate, flames licking the sky, the world collapsing around me. The next... I was here.

Wherever here was.

Just black. Endless, crushing black.

No floor beneath me. No sky above. Just an infinite void stretching in every direction like the universe had forgotten how to exist—and somehow, I’d landed smack in the middle of it.

And I was alone.

Completely, terrifyingly alone.

My body wouldn’t stop shaking. Every breath I took felt wrong—like I was inhaling smoke or thick oil instead of air. It clung to my lungs, heavy and wet, making it hard to even think. I couldn’t see anything. Not my hands. Not my feet. Not even a flicker of light.

But something was there.

I couldn’t see it, but I felt it.

Watching me.

Listening.

Breathing.

The kind of presence that makes your skin crawl and your heart race for no reason your brain can explain. It was out there. Or maybe in here, in the dark with me.

Then I heard it.

A voice.

Silky smooth. Sharp as broken ice. It wrapped around me like cream dipped in frost.

"Welcome, Griffin Blackthorn."

My heart crashed against my ribcage like it was trying to escape. That voice didn’t echo—it slithered, curling through the darkness like a serpent with no face.

"Who—who’s there?" I croaked, my throat raw. "Where am I?"

The void responded with a low, almost amused chuckle. It didn’t feel like sound. It felt like something crawling beneath my skin.

"Where you are is meaningless," the voice said, smooth and certain. "Who I am... that’s what matters."

Silence follow after.

Thick. Suffocating. The kind that makes your thoughts loud.

Then it came again.

"I am Shadow. The god of darkness."

And just like that, everything inside me froze.

Jacob. Fox. Natalie—they’d all warned me. The legends weren’t legends. The boogeyman in the stories? He had a name. A purpose.

And now... he had me.

Not just to speak. Not just to threaten. He wanted more. So much more.

He wanted my body.

"No," I breathed, stumbling backward, even though there was nowhere to go. Just black. Endless, hungry black. "No, you can’t—You can’t have me. They told me what you want. My body. My soul."

He laughed again. But this time, it was colder. Hungrier. Like the sound had teeth.

"Oh, Griffin," he murmured, voice like silk soaked in venom. "You still don’t get it. Possession? That’s far too simple."

My voice cracked as panic clawed its way up my throat. "Then what? Why me?"

I forced the words out, even as my body threatened to collapse under the weight of fear. "You don’t want me. I’m broken. Damaged beyond repair. I wear pain like armor I can’t take off. I—I rejected Natalie, my mate. And now it feels like I’m dying a little more every day."

My hands were shaking. My entire soul was shaking.

"Please," I whispered, vision burning with tears I didn’t remember letting fall. "Find someone else. Anyone else. I’m already barely surviving."

Shadow didn’t answer right away. But something changed—the air, the dark, maybe the very fabric of the void itself. It bent around me like it was alive.

Then came his voice, smooth and sharp as steel.

"I don’t want your body, Griffin," he said, almost gently. "I want a deal."

A deal?

The word hung in the air like smoke. I blinked, confused.

"A deal?" I echoed.

"Yes," he replied, voice rich with something I couldn’t place—temptation, maybe. "I will give you what your soul aches for. Natalie. Yours again. All of her—her heart, her wolf, her body, her power. Freed from Zane’s corrupted hold."

That name hit me like a knife to the ribs.

Zane.

The golden prince. The father of her beloved Alex. The one she looked at like he carved the stars by hand.

And I... I wasn’t him.

But I loved her.

God, I wanted her.

"What’s the price?" I asked, voice small, mouth dry as ash.

Shadow’s tone dipped, low and intimate. "Information. That’s all. Tell me about The Mist. Her brother. The wolf spirit. Everything."

My skin prickled.

He wasn’t just asking for facts. He wanted truths. Weaknesses.

"Tell me what he fears. What he loves. What cracks his armor," Shadow continued. "You’re close to Natalie now. They protect you—because they fear I’ll claim you. Use that. Watch them. Listen. Learn."

My mind reeled.

This wasn’t just a choice—it was betrayal.

But it was also a second chance.

A shot at Natalie. At peace. At not being the broken one anymore.

My chest rose and fell with a tremor. "And if I say no?"

"You won’t," he said, like it was already decided. "Because deep down, you know—this is the only path that leads back to her."

Silence dropped again. He was right.

And I hated that he was right.

"...I’ll do it," I said, my voice flat, hollow.

In an instant, a crystal appeared before me—hovering in the void. Emerald green. Glowing like a caged flame. Beautiful. Dangerous.

"Take it," Shadow instructed. "Each night, place it beneath your pillow. It will let you walk in her dreams. It would undo Zane’s bond. Reclaim what was once yours."

My hand trembled as I reached out. The crystal was warm. Alive. It pulsed faintly in my palm, like it knew me.

"Hide it," he warned. "No one can see. Every three days, I’ll return. And you’ll give me information I need."

Then—just like that—the void cracked.

Shattered like glass under fire.

And I was somewhere else entirely.

I woke on a rotted wooden floor, coughing so hard I thought my lungs might give out. My body screamed in protest—every muscle aching, every bone sore, like I’d been chewed up and spit out by the universe. My skin was cold. My clothes torn. The air smelled of mildew and dust and time long forgotten.

Where the hell was I?

I forced myself up on shaking arms. My head throbbed like a war drum.

The place was a graveyard of memories—an abandoned house swallowed by the woods. Mold clung to the walls. Claw marks lined the doors. Windows broken. Nothing living in sight.

No idea how I got here.

Or how long I’d been gone.

Two days? Three? More?

"Natalie..." I breathed, barely a sound. "Fox. Jacob..."

Panic tightened my chest.

They must think I vanished. Worse—dead. Again.

I stumbled toward the door and shoved it open.

Outside, the forest was still. No birds. No breeze. Just silence so thick it felt like it was pressing on my skin.

I looked down.

The crystal was still in my hand.

Its glow had dimmed, but it was there. Real.

Proof.

Shadow was real.

And so was the deal I’d made.

Natalie.

I could feel her again—faint, distant, like a string tugging gently at my soul. The bond wasn’t gone after all. Just... bruised. Fading.

But still there.

Still mine.

And now... now I had a way to fight for her.

Even if it meant lying to the people trying to save me.

Even if it meant dancing with a god of darkness.

Even if it meant becoming something I swore I’d never be.

I slipped the crystal into the shredded pocket of my jeans and took one step toward whatever came next—when she appeared.

Natalie.

Real. Solid. Breathtaking.

I didn’t even think.

I staggered to her like a drowning man reaching for air—and collapsed into her arms.

And then everything went black.