Love or Fate

A world drenched in starlight.
A time before names, before packs, before destiny carved itself into my bones.

Magic hummed then. Wild. Alive.
Wolves howled under silver moons. Witches lit fires with whispers. The world breathed deeply and slept peacefully.

Until the silence broke.

The Darkness came like breath over a candle-soft, silent... and deadly.
It didn't roar.
It didn't rage.

It devoured.

Not flesh.
Souls.

I wasn't there.
Not really.
But something inside me remembers the screams.
The cold.

They say all the old enemies came together to fight. Witches. Vampires. Wolves. Even the fae.

They say they won.
They didn't.

The Darkness is still here.
Not out in the open.

Not yet.

But sometimes, when I close my eyes, I feel it moving beneath the earth...
Like it's waiting.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Layla reached out to touch it, heart fluttering.
"You kept these..."
"I couldn't not," Xavier said from behind her. "You're my mate. My everything. When I missed you, I found solace looking at your pictures."
She turned toward him, and he stepped closer, his arms sliding slowly around her waist, pulling her into his chest. He buried his nose in her hair and breathed in.
"I dreamed of this. You. In this room. In my arms."
His voice was low, reverent. She shivered.
"Are you nervous?" he murmured into her ear.
"Yes," she whispered.
He smiled against her skin. "Good. So am I."