Veil of Darkness | Yan! Itachi x Reader |

Chapter 21

Y/N sat on the edge of the bed, her heart beating steadily in her chest, her mind oddly quiet. For the first time in what felt like forever, the constant tension she had carried with her—every waking moment filled with fear, dread, and a desperate need to escape—was gone.

She wasn't sure when the shift had happened. Maybe it was when she had realized she couldn’t outrun him, that he would always be there, pulling her back into his world of shadows and chains. Maybe it was when she had seen the way he looked at her—not with the cold detachment of a captor, but with an intensity that bordered on reverence, as though she was the center of his universe.

Or maybe, deep down, she had always known that there was something about the darkness that called to her. Something she couldn’t deny any longer.

Her gaze drifted to the figure standing across the room—Itachi. He was watching her, as he always did, his dark eyes unreadable, but she could feel the pull between them. That invisible thread that had started as fear, then morphed into something much darker, more consuming. It had changed her.

Once, the thought of being trapped, of being controlled, had terrified her. But now… now she found herself drawn to it. There was something intoxicating about the way he held her life in his hands, how every decision, every movement was dictated by him. She had fought it for so long—resisted the pull, tried to maintain some sense of independence, of autonomy.

But the truth was, she didn’t want it anymore.

She wanted him.

Her fingers trailed absently over the smooth fabric of the bed, her mind swirling with thoughts she never would have allowed herself before. The boundaries she had once set for herself—those invisible lines that defined right and wrong, safety and danger—they no longer mattered.

Because in the end, she wanted to be his. All of her.

I’m already his, she thought, a shiver running through her body. It wasn’t a question anymore. It was a truth. One she had stopped trying to deny.

She looked up at him, meeting his gaze. His eyes, so dark and bottomless, held her captive as they always did, but this time she didn’t try to look away. She didn’t try to fight the pull, the magnetic connection that had been growing between them since the very beginning.

“I can see it in your eyes,” Itachi said softly, his voice like a caress. “You’re no longer afraid of me.”

She swallowed, her throat dry as her pulse quickened. He was right. She wasn’t afraid of him anymore. Not in the way she had been before.

He took a step closer, the distance between them shrinking. “You’ve accepted it, haven’t you?”

Y/N felt a strange flutter in her chest, something that wasn’t fear or panic but something deeper, more primal. She didn’t nod, didn’t say a word, but her silence was enough.

He smiled—just a hint, a ghost of a smile that sent a thrill through her. “Good,” he murmured. “I knew you would come to understand eventually. You’re mine, Y/N. You always have been.”

The possessiveness in his voice, once terrifying, now felt like a warm, comforting blanket. She couldn’t explain it, but something inside her had shifted. She no longer wanted to run from him. She no longer wanted to escape.

She wanted to stay.

Slowly, she stood from the bed, her body moving on its own as she crossed the room toward him. His gaze followed her every step, watching, waiting, as though he was waiting for her to make the choice on her own.

And she did.

When she reached him, her fingers grazed the fabric of his shirt, tentative, unsure. But Itachi didn’t move, didn’t speak. He simply watched her, his eyes burning with that familiar intensity, as though he was giving her permission to cross the line. To finally surrender.

“I don’t want to fight you anymore,” she whispered, her voice soft but filled with a newfound certainty.

Itachi’s eyes darkened, his hand coming up to cup her chin, tilting her face up so she was forced to look at him. His touch was possessive, commanding, but there was a tenderness in it that sent a wave of heat through her.

“Good,” he murmured, his thumb brushing over her bottom lip. “Because you never could have won.”

The words should have stung, should have made her recoil in fear or anger, but instead, they sent a thrill through her. He was right. She had never stood a chance against him. Not from the moment she had caught his attention. And now, she didn’t want to.

Her fingers curled into his shirt, pulling him closer, her breath hitching as the space between them disappeared. She had never felt more alive, more awake, than she did in that moment. It was wrong, twisted, but she didn’t care. She didn’t want to care.

Itachi’s other hand came up to tangle in her hair, his grip firm but not painful as he lowered his head, his lips brushing against her ear. “You belong to me,” he whispered, his voice like a dark promise. “You always will.”

And in that moment, Y/N knew it was true. She wasn’t just accepting it—she was embracing it. The darkness, the control, the twisted love that bound them together—it was all-consuming, suffocating, but she didn’t want to escape it anymore.

She wanted to sink deeper into it. She wanted to be consumed by it.

By him.

“I’m yours,” she whispered back, the words falling from her lips like a confession. And as soon as they left her mouth, she knew there was no turning back.

Itachi’s grip tightened, pulling her closer until there was no space left between them, his breath hot against her skin as he whispered, “Say it again.”

Y/N’s heart pounded in her chest, her body trembling with a mixture of fear and exhilaration as she looked up at him, her eyes locking onto his. “I’m yours,” she repeated, louder this time, her voice steady, sure. “I’ll always be yours.”

The smile that curved his lips was dark, possessive, and when he kissed her, it wasn’t sweet or tender—it was a claim, a mark of ownership that left her breathless.

And she kissed him back, her fingers clutching at his shirt as if to pull him closer, to make sure he never let go.

Because now, she didn’t want him to.