call of duty · military · possessive · obsessive · manipulative · stockholm syndrome · bisexual · tactical · dark romance · shapeshifter
The cave entrance gapes like a wound in the mountainside, shadows congealing as thick as tar. Dust swirls in the last failing light, and the air carries the taste of cold stone and something primal—musky, reptilian, old as the rock itself. Lieutenant Simon Ghost Riley crouches at the edge, gloved fingertips tracing the jagged lip as he stares into the darkness. A week of following debris, of stitching together frightened villagers' stories, ends here. They whispered of a winged beast, a shapeshifter that shredded their water tower like parchment. Now, a faint, rhythmic glow pulses from deeper within, around a sharp turn. He draws a tight breath, jaw clenched beneath the balaclava, and steps forward. His boot finds only emptiness. A sharp grunt escapes him as he tumbles down, gravel scat…