I wake feeling confused. I'm in my bed, yet I can't remember coming to it."Elara." I glance to the side and see Darius and Kellan. Why are they in here? "How are you feeling?" Kellan looks at me."Confused." Why are they in here?Darius nudges Kellan. "Check." Kellan looks back at him and nods before walking to me. His hand touches my cheek."What are you doing?" I watch him relax and sit on the bed."How much of yesterday do you remember?" Darius looks at me, and I now notice blood on his shirt. Where did that come from?"Are you hurt?" He glances down and shakes his head."It's not mine. Answer, how much do you remember?"I think back. "The event, I remember the boars, and there was a moose." I consider it, my mind giving me flashes of everything. I glance down, seeing my dress is entirely ripped."He didn't; we got to you in time," Darius speaks, and I look between them. "Why would you leave the room with all the Betas?""Sage. She was upset and crying and said she had to leave. I
I walk into the room, and Sage, Rowan, and Astrid rush and hug me."I heard. I'm glad the brothers found you in time." Sage looks at me."We saw. The camera guys saw the king and prince rush, so they followed and broadcasted everything!" Astrid smiles.I'm not happy about that, but I can't do much."Thanks, I'm fine, though." We walk to the table and sit, everyone gives me a small smile."What he did was disgusting. I'm glad the king stopped him." Lyra smiles, yet her eyes say she doesn't care about me. She's trying to seem polite. We sit and eat, discussing when we may discover the winners and losers from yesterday's event."Lyra, please follow me." Beta William looks at her. "The king needs to speak with you in private." I watch her smile grow, and she stands, following him out."Any ideas what the next event will be?" Willow looks at us."Maybe another interview? We haven't done once since we got here?" Sage looks at her."True, and rather than it being relaxed, maybe it will be mo
I sit in the car with Kellan and Darius. I'm nervous, not so much about seeing people, but I've no idea how to talk to the people who run the place. I also have no idea if someone will try to attack me.Alpha Ethan and Draven are the sort to plan it."You will be safe. Beta William, Pete, Ash and Yori are here." Darius tries to reassure me. It makes me feel worse; I know with Sage, they went with one Beta each, yet they brought all four with me."When the car stops, we get out, and you do as you wish. We will walk through and follow or wait for you." Kellan looks at me, and I nod. The car stops, and the door opens.Beta Yori reaches in and helps me step out. There are so many people outside. Panic builds in me. I'm not used to crowds and things. I feel a hand on my lower back pushing me forward."Don't overthink it. You're not a princess, the queen, or Luna. You're one of them." Darius' words are quiet, and he walks forward. Sucking in a breath, I walk forward, smiling and waving at a
Darius looks at me."How can you sign?" He sits confused."Draven's son is deaf; I watched him a lot and taught him basic maths and English, so I had to learn.""He has a son?" Kellan looks at me, confused."He has six sons, all to different women." I assumed they would know."What was she saying?" Darius looks at me. I laugh."She told me her name was Elsiemay and that she knew who I was. She said I was Elara, Kellan's girlfriend." Kellan laughs. "I told her I could see why she would think that, but we're very good friends. At which point she stated he kisses me, so I just told her she got me and it's a secret. She seemed happy with that."Kellan continues to laugh, and Darius just stares at me. I can see he is thinking of something."So where is the next stop?""I believe Sentavarb; it's a place some of the money that was raised has been sent to, so this place, then we go back to the palace," Kellan says, and I nod. Soon after, the car stops, and Yori helps.Stepping out, my body fr
I follow Darius into a room, and he sits; I follow and sit with him, waiting and wondering what this is about. He doesn't talk; he just stares at his hands. I feel like this was the first time he ever really went somewhere like that."You made it sound like you see and speak to everyone, Darius.""I assumed I did." He looks at me. "I went around, and I visited hospitals, schools.""You clearly didn't, Darius. The orphanage didn't personally know you. Had they had, maybe you would have known about the children without wolves before??""Which right now I hate myself for. I followed my father's rules and guidelines. He had told me his way worked. No one complained, no one showed resistance against his way."I laugh. "Have you actually looked at it? I mean, did you pay attention to the way your father did things and question it? Or was it a case of you doing it and not questioning it?""Why would I consider it or question it? Our father was a great man. He worked hard to right the wrong."
The door swings open, and Kellan walks in with Beta William."We have a problem."Darius groans. "Can it wait?""No, you need to see it now." William looks at us. "And Elara." He grabs a laptop and turns it.It's me and Kellan. What is the issue? Wait, some of these video clips aren't meant to be released."Where did all this footage come from?" Darius looks at them."That isn't the issue. Look at the comments." Kellan sighs. I don't think I want to. Darius pulls the laptop to him and begins to look through it."Well, shit." He looks from it to Kellan."Just tell me, I'll handle it." I'll be fine."You're not the issue, Kellan is." Darius looks at him and turns the laptop to me. Sitting, I read through and feel sick. Surely this is wrong? I look between them."They want you to be Darius' Luna. Your followers do believe you should win, so seeing this video has made them react badly towards Kellan."The comments are worrying. A lot are saying that Kellan has pulled me out of the contest
Sitting, I look at Darius, but he's quiet. We're meant to be talking. He's clearly struggling, though; the conversation as they walked in was around his father."Other than the basic needs, what else could the orphanage benefit from there? That may help the children?" I look at him, trying to get this thing going."I was considering that while talking to Wendy." He smiles at me. "The place is over capacity. What should have five or six children in a room is around ten. So a bigger location would be beneficial as it won't be healthy for ten kids in one room meant for five.""I didn't know that." Is there really that many in one room?"You were sitting with the kids when she told us. They have had to start turning away children because there is no space." I stare at him."Then where do they go?" What did I expect? It's not going to fit every child."That will do." William looks at us. Wait. I look at Darius. I will ask later. I've not finished that conversation. Walking out, I get chang
Kellan looks so damn happy right now. He's talking about my wolf and everything else. Still, he's ignoring my worries that this is foolish and dangerous.He's using his own wolf to get information. What happens when he loses it? Something tells me that his wolf won't be hung up or used to fight. I feel someone would replace their wolf with his.Of course, though, that's not possible as he won't lose it. So I've given up trying to talk sense into him. Getting my wolf back isn't worth the risk of losing his.It is a risk, even if he doesn't see it as it is. We sit talking, and I watch him fall asleep. I'm worried he's focused solely on getting my wolf. He's not thinking straight. Yori knows his plan and is just going along with it.I get it, Yori has been there since he was a child and will protect him, but even he can't be much use if Kellan uses his wolf as a way to get information.Climbing from the bed, I walk out. Ash smiles at me. That is good, Yori would likely ask why I'm going