Thanks for your review EC Brenway - a forced bond on Chloe? Cody? Shaun? Oooh it could happen...it also very well may not...keep reading to find out!

The Chemistry In Darkness

Chapter Ninety-Seven

Saturday 26th July 2025

Chloe sat there leaning on the edge of the bed in the bedroom where Shaun was keeping her captive, trying to wrap her brain around what Shaun was planning to do to her.

"You're going to turn me into a werewolf, aren't you?" Chloe asked bewildered by the prospect, "You think that's the way to get me out of Elly and Aster's life and have you swoop in to save them? You think turning me into a werewolf is going to make Elly concentrate on me and forget about Aster so you can find a way to claim Aster for yourself? Or are you that naïve that I'm not prepared to become a werewolf for Elly? That it hasn't been something that I've been thinking about since the moment that I wanted to spend my life with the pair of them and our baby so Elly and I can be together for all eternity? You make me a werewolf…that's not going to tear Elly and I apart to allow you to get to Aster?"

"Turning you into a werewolf, Chloe? Is that what you really think I'd do? Cody has held you captive for more than a day, if that was the plan then you'd be one of his kind by now and he'd have done it in front of Elly to show her she couldn't stop him without her powers yesterday to really hurt her," Shaun shrugged at Chloe.

Chloe frowned in even more confusion, then remembering, "Wait…Cody had his powers yesterday during the New Moon…? That's not possible…I've seen for myself what the werewolves go through that day each month…they revert back to their human selves…no powers, no strength, no speed…but Cody he…"

"Cody doesn't lose his powers on the New Moon, he's not like other werewolves…thanks to me," Shaun hinted coldly, "The plan was for Cody to take you on the New Moon at the wedding when Elly couldn't stop him and that I'd swoop in and take Aster without them even knowing I was back. Until after I sent you back to them…if you chose to return…I mean I'd trust you to at least let them know about me been the one behind this but by that stage Aster and I would already be on my private jet halfway across the world and you'll never be able to trace me. But then Bea went and posted that photo and what can I say…? I couldn't resist spending a week or two getting to know my daughter so she'll trust me and I'll hardly need to abduct her when the time is right because she'll…walk into my arms…then straight out the front door to our new life…"

Chloe shivered at the mere idea of Elly been betrayed by Shaun and losing Aster to him that way, or anyway because she knew it would destroy her mate and she'd do anything possible to get Aster back, worrying if Elly would be split between saving Aster and been there for her and their baby.

Chloe could only focus on Shaun's hint that Cody wasn't like other werewolves thanks to him, "What did you do to Cody?"

Shaun smirked at Chloe's insistence of ignoring his plans for Aster, "There's a little something that Elly forgot about me…or perhaps she didn't even know because she was so focused on fixing her marriage to Mark that she never gave me a chance to get to know me…I'm pretty good at science."

"And that means what?" Chloe sat dumbfounded.

"Cody is my science experiment. Took me a while to convince him of course but we got there in the end. I've been working on Cody since Elly returned to Erinsborough last year and I knew for sure that she was a werewolf. It's been beneficial for Cody as well as for me. I won't bore you with the details of how I managed it but…Cody is a full-time werewolf, every day of the year. The New Moon doesn't affect Cody like it does all other wolves," Shaun told her.

"You going to do the same to me? Get Cody to turn me into a werewolf then set me loose on Elly next New Moon when I'm not in control of my powers?" Chloe assumed.

"Have I been telling you that I'll be keeping you here for a month 'til the next New Moon?" Shaun pointed out.

Chloe blinked her eyelids wildly, "Just tell me what you plan on doing to me."

Shaun placed his hand in his pocket, not the one holding his phone with his photo of Aster, soon producing a syringe, smiling gleefully at Chloe, "This."

Chloe's eyes widened as she stared at the syringe, "What is that?"

"You know exactly what this is," Shaun shot back, before launching forward at Chloe, grabbing her by the shoulder and holding the syringe in front of her face, "You're my next experiment, Chloe, and when I'm done with you…you won't want to go anywhere near Elly ever again…for her own safety…of course."

Chloe sat there struggling against Shaun but he was too powerful for her, she couldn't fight back as he jammed the syringe into the side of her neck, injecting the full contents of the liquid into her.

Just as soon as Shaun had launched himself at her, Shaun withdrew from Chloe and fled the bedroom, locking the door behind her, leaving Chloe to crawl herself onto the bed, curl up on it, crying uncontrollably at the thought that Shaun had made sure she might not be able to return to Elly without hurting her.

The following morning, Elly groaned as she heard the knock on the front door. She knew it was Shaun from the smell of him wafting by the front door. He wasn't Chloe and Elly didn't care for Shaun's return when she had now spent two nights without Chloe and their unborn baby by her side.

They were no closer to finding Chloe. The police through Mark and The Pack through Romulus, Clarke and Lexa had come up with nothing as to Chloe's whereabouts. Elly wondered if Chloe would think that she was abandoning her by not been able to go out searching for her herself. Elly was completely torn. She knew she had people to watch over Aster for her and that Aster would understand why she needed to leave her to go try to bring Chloe home to them.

A second knock at the front door interrupted Elly once more.

Oh…Shaun's still there…

Before Elly could get up from the dining table where she had been sitting all night long, praying Chloe would walk through the door, Aster ran down the hallway from their bedroom.

"I'll get it! It's Daddy!" Aster screamed loudly.

Elly sighed.

Daddy…Aster's spent half an hour with Shaun and she's 'Daddy'-ed him… I can't blame Aster for wanting to get to know her Dad…but she could do so at a slower pace because I'm already freaking out about having to include Shaun in decisions about Aster…I liked it better when it was Chloe, Aster, our impending baby and myself…

Aster swung the front door open, launching herself around Shaun's leg and hip as he curled his hand into her hair, pulling her to him. Aster was about to ask Shaun to pick her up before she spotted that he had a pair of coffees in his other hand, sitting together neatly in a cardboard box.

"Hi Daddy!" Aster enthused up at him.

"Hey Aster, my little princess, I missed you last night. Did you sleep well?" Shaun was just as happy and enthusiastic as Aster was, then paused as he glanced at Elly, "Good morning, Elly. Sleep well? Brought you a coffee…I vaguely recalled this is how you took your coffee…I didn't actually get your number last night to be able to get in contact with you to let you know when I was headed over here to spend more time with Aster…I hope it's still okay that I do…"

Elly's eyes fell to Aster and the look of pleading on her daughter's face to want Shaun there like she did. Elly was more than bewildered how quickly Aster was enticed by wanting to know Shaun. She couldn't deny her the right to want that or to do so but she was hurting so badly missing Chloe and their unborn baby that this hurt her even more.

Elly looked up at Shaun, still standing in the doorway, "I didn't sleep at all. I'm waiting here for Chloe to come home to me. Thanks for the coffee, I'll pass, I don't need it. Why don't you…come in? You can…spend some time with Aster…I'll write down my number, that way we can better arrange you…popping by to see Aster."

Shaun stepped inside the house, closing the door behind him, smiling as Aster still clung to him but as Elly got up to find a piece of paper and pen for her number, he moved towards the dining table. Placing the coffees down, Shaun then swooped down and scooped Aster into his arms, lifting her back up.

Shaun watched as Aster giggled at him, then brought his attention back to Elly, the woman he hated with a vengeance yet couldn't allow her to see it, "Didn't sleep at all? No word on Chloe, I take it?"

Elly tried to stop herself from shaking when she was writing down her number for Shaun, before looking at him sadly, "No word at all…I don't think I can sleep until I hear something about them."

Shaun juggled Aster in his arms, "Sure you'll hear something soon. Hey, why don't you go have a nap for a couple hours? I can mind this one, take Aster out for a meal at that café in the complex near the hotel."

"Absolutely not," Elly immediately snapped in response to Shaun wanting to take Aster away from her, even as simple as a few blocks away from her.

"Okay…something wrong? I thought we agreed I could spend time with Aster?" Shaun pointed out, knowing he was already testing Elly to see how quickly he was going to be able to gain her trust with Aster and if his abduction of Chloe might need to take longer than planned.

"Mama, I want to spend time getting to know Daddy," Aster piped up.

Elly took a deep breath, her heart breaking at how quickly Aster was falling for Shaun and how complicated her life could get when Chloe returned to them. Elly threw the piece of paper with her phone number on the dining table in front of Shaun, then turned to the lounge, sitting down on the couch without another word.

Shaun smiled at Aster before carrying her over to sit down on the couch, sitting next to Elly, "Elly, I can't begin to understand how stressed out you are. But I am here to help you with Aster. Let me in so I know my daughter."

There's a whole other couch over there, Shaun…

Elly sighed heavily, nodding sadly, "Shaun, you can spend time with Aster to get to know her…and her you. But you do not let her out of my sight…I let Chloe out of my sight and now she's… You can spend as much time today together as you want…today…tomorrow…however many days Aster and I are here waiting for Chloe to come home to us… You do it here, you don't take Aster out of my sight. Got it?"

"Well, I still think you could do with some rest and a-" Shaun found his suggestion to get time alone with Aster wasn't going as easily as he thought it could when Elly shot him down with the look in her eyes before finding her voice.

"I've already lost Chloe for the last two days…I don't have time to rest…or have the other person in the world that means everything to me out of my sight. You either got it or you don't? The front door is over there if you don't feel comfortable spending time getting to know your daughter right here where I can make sure Aster is safe," Elly told him furiously, pointing towards the front door.

Aster reached out her hand to take Elly's pointed hand in her own, "I'm okay with Daddy, Mama. I miss Chloe, too, every minute," then looking at Shaun, "We can stay here with Mama, can't we?"

Shaun planted another smile on his face, "Of course we can my little girl. I will do anything I can to get to know you and I know you're both hurting without Chloe around. Whatever you want me to do to help you both until Chloe comes home…I'll do."

"Thanks," was all Elly could whisper back to Shaun, still not believing that the father of her daughter had arrived back in their lives at a time like this.

When Shaun turned back to Aster and began asking her questions about her life, he leant back against the couch. Elly frowned when a necklace Shaun was wearing slid into view and she immediately shifted away from him on the couch until she was closer to sitting on the edge of the couch.

"Something wrong?" Shaun asked at Elly's movement.

"Uh…no…" Elly insisted before clearing her throat, "Uh…that necklace is…interesting. Is it made of…?"

"Silver?" Shaun hid his gleeful smile as he dropped one hand off of Aster's side to touch his necklace, "Sure is. Found it at the bottom of my suitcase when I was going through it at the hotel. I've barely touched my suitcase since the last time I was in Erinsborough, didn't remember I had this necklace. It's cool, isn't it?"

Totally cool…things made of bloody poison to me! Good excuse to keep my distance from Shaun…nothing will happen to Aster if she accidentally touches it, right? She's not a werewolf…yet…

"It's cool, it's just…" Elly stumbled over her words, trying not to let Shaun know that necklace had the power to kill her.

Shaun placed a grimacing look on his face, "It's just not me, is it? It's all big and chunky silver which isn't me. You're right. I should take this necklace and get it melted down into liquid silver so I can…"

"Daddy, you can melt it into something else like a smaller necklace or earrings," Aster enthused.

"A pair of earrings for my little girl? I like the sound of that," Shaun winked at Aster, then glanced at Elly, "Silver's like gold, right? Melt it down…make it anything you want…pretty powerful element, isn't it? Guess the question is…what is it that I want this silver to do for me?"

As Aster engaged Shaun in her idea of him turning the necklace into a pair of earrings for her, Elly sat there next to the pair of them. Unable to realize that Shaun could ever have figured out her secret life as a werewolf when he had only just found out she and Aster were alive less than 2 days ago and it was merely a coincidence that he was wearing a silver necklace.

Let alone think that Shaun had been behind abducting Chloe.

Or that Shaun was experimenting on her mate with doses of melted silver.

With Shaun hoping that before long the silver he infected Chloe and her unborn baby with would ensure that neither would ever be able to be near Elly for the rest of their lives.

Chloe staying away from Elly would be the only way to keep the werewolf safe and ensure Elly spent her future without all the people she loved…

Next time - He did it! He really did it! Shaun has found the one way to break Chelly's mate bond by his attempts to make Chloe and the baby pure poison to Elly! How will it sink in to Chloe what Shaun is doing to her and her family?