[BL] I Didn't Sign Up For This-Chapter 108: In Which Void Learns a Hard Lesson

I felt him approaching before I saw him.

The binding pulsed with awareness as he stepped off the boat and climbed the path toward the fortress entrance.

The wards recognized him, assessed him, and let him pass without challenge.

I opened the door before he reached it.

And then he was there.

Real and solid and present in ways that spiritual phone calls couldn’t match.

"You’re here," I said, because apparently my brain had decided eloquence was optional.

"I’m here," Azryth agreed.

I crossed the space between us in three steps and wrapped my arms around him, holding on like I’d been barely keeping it together and finally didn’t have to anymore.

Azryth pulled me closer, one hand in my hair, the other at my back. The binding settled into something complete, both of us present, physical, together.

"Don’t do that again," I said against his shoulder.

"Separate for days?"

"Yes."

"I don’t plan to."

"Good."

Void hissed from somewhere near my feet.

I didn’t pull away, too focused on the fact that Azryth was actually here to worry about Void’s territorial issues right now.

The hiss came again, louder and more aggressive.

I felt Azryth’s attention shift downward, his body tensing slightly even though he didn’t move.

I pulled back to look down.

Void was staring at Azryth with unmistakable hostility, eyes blazing brighter than I’d seen them in days. Purple-black energy started manifesting around its small form, crackling with intent.

"Void," I said, warning in my voice. "Don’t—"

The furball’s eyes flared.

Energy condensed around it, building fast, concentrating into something solid and vicious.

My heart jumped, my whole body jerking backward instinctively. "Void, NO!"

The energy lashed out.

A concentrated burst of purple-black force aimed directly at Azryth’s chest, fast and brutal, meant to hurt, meant to knock him away from me, meant to establish that I belonged to Void and Azryth needed to back off.

Azryth’s hand came up.

Amber fire manifested instantly, a shield that caught Void’s attack and dispersed it like swatting away smoke.

The power radiating from him hit me like a physical wave. Stronger than I’d ever felt from him, more controlled, the kind of presence that made reality feel heavier just standing near him.

The discharge of energy pulsed through the fortress wards, sharp and violent.

My ears rang.

Azryth stood there completely calm, hand still raised, power humming just beneath his skin ready to respond if Void tried again.

But all I could process was that Void had just attacked him.

Had just tried to hurt my husband.

Had just decided that violence was an acceptable response to jealousy.

Something cold and furious settled in my chest.

Footsteps echoed down the corridor...running... and Mara burst into the entrance area with Henrik and Ryota close behind, scanner already beeping frantically.

"What happened?" Mara demanded, then saw Void with residual energy still crackling around it, saw Azryth’s raised hand with amber fire fading, saw my expression.

"The furball attacked him," Ryota said flatly, hand moving to his weapon.

I looked down at Void.

At the small black creature that had saved my life from the Equilibrium Emissary. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

At the thing I’d been patiently training for three days, teaching boundaries, making progress with.

At the furball that had just thrown all of that away because it didn’t like Azryth being close to me.

"What the hell was that?" I said, voice shaking.

Void’s eyes were still glowing with purple-black energy, still locked on Azryth like it was considering a second attempt.

"You just attacked him," I continued, anger building in my chest. "You just..."

I stopped, feeling the absurdity of asking questions to something without a mouth, something that couldn’t explain itself even if it wanted to.

Warden energy flickered around my hands without me consciously calling it. My control was slipping because I was furious and shocked and trying to process that this thing I’d been trusting had just tried to hurt the person I cared about most.

"Don’t even try to follow me anymore," I said, voice cold and flat in a way I’d never used with Void before.

I turned toward the corridor that led to the quarters, hands shaking, heart pounding.

Azryth’s hand touched my shoulder briefly. "Riven..."

"I need a minute," I said, not looking back.

I felt his understanding ripple across the binding, felt him letting me go even though I could sense his concern.

Mara shifted slightly, like she was considering following, but Ryota’s hand on her arm stopped her.

I walked away.

Void rolled after me immediately.

Like it had the right.

Like it hadn’t just done something unforgivable.

I spun around. "I said DON’T FOLLOW ME."

Void stopped, eyes still burning with that aggressive glow.

Made a sound that was pure defiance, like it was furious that I was furious, like it couldn’t comprehend why I was upset when all it had done was try to remove a threat.

Then it rolled forward again.

Directly toward me.

Ignoring my command like I hadn’t just given it.

Something in me snapped.

I didn’t move, didn’t step back, I just stood there with warden energy crackling around my hands, expression locked into genuine fury.

"STOP."

The word came out sharp and cold, backed by enough warden energy that the air shimmered.

Void stopped a foot away.

Its eyes flared even brighter, purple-black energy pulsing around it. For a second it looked like it was considering pushing past me anyway, like it thought it could ignore this boundary the way it had ignored every other one I’d tried to set.

I didn’t soften.

Didn’t back down.

I stared at the furball that had melted through doors and blasted through training room barriers and followed me everywhere for three days.

The furball that had just attacked Azryth.

"You don’t EVER do that again," I said, voice shaking with rage. "You don’t attack him, you don’t hurt him, you don’t threaten him. Do you understand me?"

Void’s energy pulsed brighter, and for a second I thought it might attack me too.

Then something in its posture changed.

The aggressive glow dimmed.

The purple-black energy started to fade.

It rolled backward a few inches, eyes still fixed on me but no longer blazing with defiance. Backing down. Recognizing that I was serious, that this wasn’t negotiable, that it had crossed a line.

"Stay away from me," I said quietly, feeling tears of anger prickling at my eyes. "Don’t try to follow me at all."

I turned and kept walking.

Void didn’t follow.

I felt its presence behind me, hovering in the corridor, but it didn’t roll after me.

It stayed where it was.

Finally respecting a boundary.

***

The quarters felt too quiet.

I sat on the bed, trying to get my hands to stop shaking.

Void had attacked Azryth.

Not with intent to kill...I didn’t think it wanted him dead.

But it had tried to hurt him. Had lashed out with enough power to knock him back, to make him leave, to establish that I was Void’s and Azryth needed to stay away.

That wasn’t okay.

That was never going to be okay.

Footsteps in the corridor, Azryth’s presence getting closer.

He appeared in the doorway, looked at me sitting there with my hands still shaking, and crossed the room to sit beside me on the bed.

"...Are you alright?" he asked quietly.

I turned and wrapped my arms around him, holding on so tight my hands hurt.

"I’m sorry," I said against his chest. "I’m so sorry. It shouldn’t have....I didn’t think it would..."

"Riven." Azryth’s arms came around me, solid and grounding. "I’m fine, it didn’t hurt me."

"It tried to."

"It did," he agreed. "But I deflected it."

I pulled back to look at him, searching for any sign of injury, any indication that Void’s attack had actually landed.

Just Azryth. Calm and whole and completely unbothered.

"You deflected it like it was nothing," I said.

"It wasn’t trying to truly hurt me," Azryth said quietly. "That wasn’t the eye laser it used against the Emissary. That was just a territorial display, enough to make a point, not enough to do real damage. It knew I could deflect it."

"...You think it held back?"

"Of course. I think it’s smarter than we’ve been giving it credit for. It wanted to establish dominance without actually starting a fight it might lose."

"That doesn’t make it better."

"I know," he agreed. "But it means the creature understands consequences better than we thought."

I pulled back to look at him. "If it hadn’t held back..."

"But it did. And I’m fine." His thumb brushed my cheek. "You’re shaking."

"I’m angry."

"I know."

"At Void. At myself for not seeing this coming." I stopped, feeling tears threatening. "I thought we were making progress."

"What kind of progress?" Azryth asked.

"Teaching it boundaries. It’s been..." I took a breath. "It’s been following me constantly since, it wouldn’t let me train alone, it even melted through the bathroom door when I tried to shower in peace. I’ve been setting boundaries, and it was actually starting to listen. By today it could wait a full minute before following me. And then you show up and it just...throws all of that away."

"I see, it probably saw me as a threat to its proximity," Azryth said quietly.

"That’s not an excuse."

"Yeah," he agreed. "It’s not."

I leaned into him, forehead against his shoulder, trying to calm down.

"At least it backed down when you held your ground," he said after a moment. "That matters."

"Does it?"

"Yes. The creature values your approval, when you made it clear that attacking me had consequences, it chose your approval over proximity."

I wasn’t sure that was comforting, but I also wasn’t sure it was wrong.

We sat there for a long moment, just holding each other.

Eventually I pulled back. "I’m exhausted."

"So am I."

We moved to the bed without discussing it, I pulled off my shirt, climbed in, and Azryth followed.

The moment he settled beside me, I pressed against him. One leg over his, arm across his chest, head on his shoulder.

Maximum contact.

"Comfortable?" Azryth asked.

"Very."

"You’re practically on top of me."

"Got a problem with that?"

"Not even slightly."

I stayed awake a bit longer, just confirming he was real and here and safe.

And fell asleep pressed against my demon husband in a fortress built by my bloodline on a volcanic island in Alaska.

Normal life.