The Abyss shivered under a strain Seris had never felt before.
Not like the tremors of predators testing her or entities probing boundaries—this was different. The very fabric of the realm quivered as if some invisible hand sought to bend it, stretch it, and tear it apart. Shadows flickered unevenly, the silver glow of her mark pulsing against her chest like a heartbeat stretched too thin.
Mason's presence pressed against her back, heavy and protective. His shadows flared violently, slicing through the instability, coiling around them both in protective arcs. He didn't speak at first; he didn't need to. Every movement of his body, every twitch of his fingers, every flare of shadow carried warning, desire, and obsession.
"It's… breaking," Seris whispered, voice tight with tension. She pressed a hand to the Abyss, feeling its pulse wobble beneath her fingertips. "Not just tested… it's fracturing."
Mason's silver-black eyes were sharp, dangerous, locked onto her. "Then we stabilize it," he growled. "Whatever it takes, we fix it."
She shook her head. "No. It isn't just about force this time. If we try to overwhelm it, the Abyss itself will tear apart. We have to act differently."
He stiffened, frustration flaring in shadows. "Act differently? You mean… let it happen? Let it threaten you?"
"Yes," she said firmly. "Because we survive by restraint. By trust. By choice. Not by consuming everything in sight."
Mason's jaw clenched. "And you expect me to watch?"
"I expect you to trust me," she said, meeting his gaze. "To let me define the limit of this fight without losing myself—or you."
The Abyss shivered again, more violently. A shadow, darker than anything she had encountered before, surged from the edges of reality, writhing like living smoke. Its form was impossible to define, constantly shifting, as if it were made of fractured thoughts and sharp regrets.
Seris inhaled slowly. "It's testing everything. Not just me… not just the Abyss… but us. Our bond."
Mason's fists clenched. "It won't get away with threatening you. Not while I breathe."
"Then don't act yet," she said. Her voice was low, firm, threaded with authority. "Not until I signal. Not until I anchor myself fully."
He exhaled slowly, controlling the surge of shadows that licked toward the disturbance. He wanted to tear it apart. Wanted to consume it, erase the threat from existence. But he obeyed. He restrained himself, tethered by her trust, by the bond, by the weight of choice.
Seris stepped forward, silver mark glowing brightly, shadows rippling at her feet. The Abyss responded to her, bending and folding around her presence, stabilizing the fractured space. The entity surged forward, probing, pushing against her essence, testing her will, testing her autonomy, testing Mason's restraint.
Her heartbeat thundered. Her vision narrowed. Every instinct screamed retreat, every shadow urged aggression. But she didn't yield. She anchored herself fully into the Abyss, her essence threading through the fractured space, bending it without breaking it, containing the entity's force without destroying it.
The predator hissed—fractured, fractured thought like jagged glass scraping against her mind. "Anchor… tether… fragile… inevitable—"
"I am neither fragile nor inevitable," Seris said firmly. "I am choice. I am will. And I am anchored by me, not you."
Mason's silver eyes softened, shadows coiling protectively but restrained. He exhaled, voice low, dangerous, feral. "You terrify me more than anything, Seris. And I… I cannot stop wanting to protect you. Even when you don't want me to."
"And you won't," she said softly. "Not entirely. You'll fight for me… but you'll also let me define my own survival."
The predator recoiled slightly, confused by the bond between them, the restraint, the shared strength. It had never encountered a tether like this before—two beings intertwined by trust, restraint, and choice, rather than fear, need, or domination.
The Abyss pulsed, stabilizing fully. The fractured shadows began to smooth, edges bending back into alignment. The predator hissed again—less confident this time—and withdrew slowly, retreating into the void beyond, but not without leaving a ripple of unease in its wake.
Seris collapsed slightly into Mason, letting the shadows around them settle, letting the bond pulse quietly between them. "We survived," she whispered. "But it wasn't easy."
"No," Mason admitted, holding her tightly. "It's never easy with you." His voice was low, almost a growl, shadow and obsession mingling with tenderness. "And I… I don't want easy. I want you. Even if it's hard."
Seris lifted her head, brushing her lips against his briefly. "And I want you too. But not as a cage. Not as an anchor to restrain me. We survive together—or not at all."
The Abyss pulsed again, steady and deliberate, acknowledging the bond, the restraint, the choice. Outside, the predator lurked still, learning, waiting for the next fracture, but for now… they were whole.
And Mason—relentless, obsessive, dangerous—held her close, knowing that some battles were fought not with claws, but with trust, choice, and the terrifying strength of a bond neither time nor predator could break.