Page 13 of Hitched to the Shadow Creature (Monster Matchmaking #3)

V arkolak

I paced the dark recesses of my chambers with the shadows swirling around me like anxious pets sensing their master's distress.

Aya and I burned with the concrete evidence we had gathered against Umbra: forged documents, manipulated blood work results, and the names of countless beings separated from their true mates.

"They've been playing god," I muttered to the darkness, feeling it respond to my anger, tendrils of shadow reaching out from my fingertips.

Three days had passed since our discovery, and I'd barely slept. Aya occupied the guest quarters down the hall, her human warmth a constant presence in my awareness. Even separated by walls, I could sense her heartbeat, smell the salt of the sea that never quite left her skin.

I needed allies. Powerful ones.

The midnight gathering I'd called would begin soon. I'd sent word to the shadow faction elders and representatives from other monster tribes affected by the conspiracy. Many had already lost mates or had their bloodlines manipulated. Others simply feared they would be next.

A soft knock interrupted my thoughts.

"Come in, Aya."

She slipped through the door, her brown hair loose around her shoulders. The sight of her still hit me like a physical force.

"You're brooding again," she said, the corner of her mouth lifting. "I could feel it from down the hall."

"I'm preparing," I corrected, but couldn't help the slight smile that formed in response to hers.

Aya crossed the room, her bare feet silent on the stone floor. She wore simple clothes I'd provided, dark leggings and a loose tunic that couldn't quite hide the delicate curves of her body.

"The others will be here soon," she said, reaching out to straighten the collar of my formal attire. Her fingers brushed my neck, and I fought the urge to catch her wrist, to pull her against me.

"Are you ready for this?" I asked instead.

Her eyes met mine, determination hardening her gaze. "I've spent my whole life thinking I was alone. That I didn't belong anywhere." She took a deep breath. "I won't let them do that to anyone else."

I nodded, chest tight with a feeling I was still learning to name.

A bell tolled in the lower chambers, announcing the first arrivals.

"It's time," I said.

The council chamber beneath my fortress filled quickly with beings of shadow and darkness.

Some took humanoid form like myself, while others remained as swirling masses of inky blackness.

Representatives from the Nocturn Pack, the Void Walkers, and even a delegation from the reclusive Blood Moon tribes had answered my call.

I stood at the head of the ancient stone table, Aya a step behind me. I felt the weight of curious gazes upon her, the only human in a room full of monsters.

"Brothers and sisters of the dark," I began, my voice carrying through the chamber. "I've called you here because a threat exists that endangers all our kind."

Elder Morokh, oldest of the shadow faction, leaned forward. His form was barely corporeal, age having made him more shadow than substance.

"Speak plainly, young Varkolak. Why have you brought a human to our sacred halls?"

I felt Aya stiffen behind me but continued.

"This human has helped uncover a conspiracy within the Integration Program. Director Umbra and his associates have been falsifying blood tests, separating true mates, and manipulating our bloodlines for generations."

Murmurs rippled through the gathering. I gestured to the evidence we'd arranged on the table, documents, blood work records, testimonies.

"I don't make these claims lightly. See for yourselves."

As I passed the evidence around, I continued. "The Integration Festival is in three days. It's our chance to expose this corruption to all the tribes at once."

"And risk open war with the human colonies?" challenged Lyra of the Nocturn Pack, her yellow eyes gleaming. "Humans already fear us. This could validate their worst suspicions."

"Humans are victims too," Aya spoke up, stepping forward. All eyes turned to her. "I was told I had no match, that I would never belong. How many humans have been denied their true mates? How many of us live alone because of these lies?"

She didn't flinch under their stares. Pride swelled in my chest.

Elder Morokh drifted closer to Aya, studying her. "You claim to be this shadow walker's true mate?"

"I am," she answered without hesitation.

The elder's gaze shifted to me. "And you, Varkolak? Do you claim this human?"

I moved to Aya's side, letting my shadows entwine with her fingers. "With everything I am."

Silence filled the chamber as Morokh considered us. Finally, he drifted back.

"I have lived nine hundred years," he said slowly.

"And in that time, I have seen the pattern of true mates unmistakably.

The energies don't lie." He turned to address the gathering.

"This pairing is genuine. If Umbra has been interfering with such bonds, it is an abomination against nature itself. "

Relief washed through me. Elder Morokh's support would sway many.

"What would you have us do?" asked Seris of the Void Walkers, his voice like gravel.

"We move at the festival," I replied. "We bring the evidence forward during the opening ceremony when all tribes are gathered. We demand a full investigation into the Integration Program."

Lyra shook her head. "Umbra won't just stand by and let this happen. He has allies in every faction."

"That's why I've gathered you all," I said. "We need to stand united. Any tribe that has suffered from this manipulation must join us."

The discussion continued late into the night, strategies formed and alliances secured. One by one, the representatives pledged their support. By dawn, we had a plan.

As the gathering dispersed, Elder Morokh lingered, his shadowy form hovering before me.

"You've chosen a difficult path, young one," he said quietly. "Your father would be proud."

I stiffened at the mention of my father.

"Your father feared what he didn't understand. You were always different, Varkolak—stronger in some ways, more human in others." Morokh's form rippled. "Perhaps that's exactly what our kind needs now."

He drifted away, leaving me with thoughts I'd buried for decades.

Aya's warm hand found mine in the emptying chamber. "Are you okay?"

I looked down at our intertwined fingers, light and shadow, human and monster.

"I will be," I answered truthfully.

The night before, the festival found me alone in the ancient meditation chamber deep within my fortress. Circles of black candles cast flickering light across stone walls etched with the history of my kind. I knelt in the center, stripped to the waist, trying to quiet my mind.

For centuries, shadow walkers had used this place to commune with the darkness within. To embrace our true nature. Yet I had avoided it since the day he'd told me I was too weak, too human in my emotions to be worthy of our bloodline.

The shadows responded to my turmoil, writhing around me, reaching toward the candles as if hungry for their light. I closed my eyes and let myself sink into the darkness.

My father's voice echoed in memory: "Emotions are weakness. Love is a human frailty. Embrace the void within you, or you will never be worthy of your heritage."

I had believed him once. Had spent years suppressing every emotion, every connection, becoming the cold, feared creature others expected.

Until Aya.

The shadows twisted violently as her face appeared in my mind. I felt the pull of her even now, several floors above me, probably sleeping in her chambers. The urge to go to her, to wrap her in my protection, was nearly overwhelming.

"I thought I might find you here."

My eyes snapped open. Elder Morokh hovered at the chamber's entrance, his form more substantial in the darkness.

"I haven't used this place in years," I admitted.

"I know." He drifted closer. "Your father was wrong about many things, Varkolak."

I tensed. "You don't know what?—"

"I knew your father better than most," Morokh interrupted. "I watched him drive away your mother with his coldness. I watched him try to purge the humanity from you."

The surrounding shadows reacted to my spike of anger, lashing at the nearest candles. Several went out.

"He failed," I growled.

"No," Morokh said softly. "He succeeded for a time. You became what he wanted—isolated, feared, denying the part of yourself capable of connection."

His words cut deep because they were true.

"Our kind has always feared emotion because it makes us vulnerable," Morokh continued. "But it also makes us powerful in ways the void alone cannot. Your father never understood that."

The elder shadow moved to the wall, gesturing to ancient carvings I'd never paid attention to before. They showed shadow beings intertwined with creatures of light.

"The first of our kind were not solitary creatures," Morokh explained. "They formed bonds: deep, unbreakable connections that made their shadows stronger, not weaker."

I stood and moved closer to examine the carvings. "Why was I never taught this?"

"Because those who fear connection will always try to destroy its history." Morokh's form rippled. "Your father was afraid of what you might become if you embraced both sides of your nature."

I pressed my palm against the carving, feeling the truth resonate through me. "And what is that?"

"Something neither shadow nor human alone could be," Morokh answered. "Something powerful enough to change everything."

The realization settled into me, not as a shock but as a recognition of something I'd always known. My shadows responded, no longer thrashing but flowing smoothly around me.

"Tomorrow will test you," the elder said. "Not just your strength or courage, but your capacity to embrace all that you are."

I nodded, understanding finally what I needed to do.

"Thank you," I said, but Morokh had already faded into the darkness.