DariusHe stands waiting for me to agree, but I can't. No part of me can agree to walk away from her."Your children with her become a new species. The wolves you see now will forever change Darius. This was all to protect you.""Fuck you! This was all you manipulating us, using us to gain what you want." I'm not doing it."You will not choose her." He steps closer.Laughing, I nod. "You're too late. I already have. You can't stop me.""If you choose her, I will have an army within this palace that will instantly ensure she doesn't breathe. Then Kellan, just for fun." Growling, I step closer to him, and he laughs."You dare to threaten her and Kellan!""I was nice and let her stay with Kellan. You pick Lyra and leave the mutt alone!""No!" The word roars from within me, and I step closer. "You're not strong enough to force me to." I'm stronger than him. He moves and grabs me, my body slamming into the piano and smashing it."You were stronger, not now." His words are full of humour. J
Breakfast was quiet; no one spoke, and I feel like it's because we're all mentally preparing ourselves for today. While they are mentally preparing to face people and have to decide if they should offer them help or not.I'm preparing myself for that, along with the fact someone might actually take a shot at me. I'm also preparing myself to control Winter, who likes freedom and being wild. I feel that's more because she has spent twenty years in a cage. Then, I'm also preparing myself for the overwhelming feeling of being close to Kellan or Darius."Okay, ladies, I will select the first person now." William picks up a box and opens it. "Callista." He points towards a door. "The king is waiting on the other side for you." She nods and walks out. We now have to sit and wait an hour before finding out who is next."How are you feeling about this?" Sage looks at me."Nervous, it's a risk." It's a very big risk, but I guess I can't avoid it."There will be plenty of guards in there." Willi
William calls our attention to him, and Kellan is still sitting beside me, looking far too happy.“Elara, you’re next. We will have the TV on so you can watch it here. It gives you all something to do as you wait.” William smiles at us.“Come on, I will escort you.” Kellan jumps up.“It’s in the other room.” I don’t need escorting. I watch as he does anyway. He guided me through, and I found myself sitting next to Darius.“They will come up, express what they need, and you decide. Then I will confirm whether I agree or not.” He keeps his eyes forward.“That is fine. Are you okay?”“Totally, now concentrate.” His words are quiet, and I nod.I watch as people come up and speak to us. They ask for a range of things, from permission to open a new business to help with projects. I’ve seen parents come up asking for help with money or renovations on their homes that cost too much.Darius barely says anything. A simple nod or hum. Even when people start conversations and are genuinely friend
I’m bored, and I need something to do. Walking to the door, Yori looks at me.“I want a laptop, please, Yori.”“Erm, you’re not meant to have access to one. You shouldn’t see about the Luna Battle Elara.”“I don’t care about that. I want to look up my parents and find out more about my family, my pack, and everything else. I know nothing, and I’m fed up with it. How can I agree to be called Xenia when I have no idea about her?”I watch him smile. “I will get you a laptop. Just promise me that you will not look through competition things. I will get in trouble if you do.”“I swear.” My fingers are crossed. I need to watch and see if I can figure out why he’s acting differently. I walk back in and wait. Ten minutes later, he knocked and handed me the laptop.Walking back through, I sit down and open the laptop. I pull up the website with videos of today. Each one begins when we are sitting and ends as we walk out.He’s entirely different with me. Why? I continue to scroll through and lo
Walking in, I sit down. I have Kellan on one side and Sage on the other. Opposite us is Darius. He has Callista and Lyra on each side of him.“You left early, why?” Kellan looks at me.“I just didn’t feel like doing it anymore.” He sits, confused by my words. “Forget it, Kellan.” Maybe I did overreact, and Sage is right. Darius is making it look like he’s indifferent to me so people don’t suspect he’s choosing me.That thought washes away when I see him and Lyra laughing and talking. She’s leaning into him and touching him a lot. There are no cameras now, so why?Winter is still quiet, and I don’t understand why.“I’m not hungry.” Standing, I push the chair away from the table and walk away, hearing Kellan shouting at Darius. I don’t care. I shouldn’t care.“Elara.”“No, Yori, don’t make fucking excuses, or I will stab you.” He nods and continues following me. There’s no reason other than he’s back to picking Lyra.As I stepped into my room, Kellan joined me.“Okay, something is going
I barely slept last night. Kellan had come by, but I insisted he leave me alone more so I could consider the way forward. I don’t want to stay here and have Darius as my mate. That needs fixing. Walking down, I join the others for breakfast.Today, I need to update Sage. She has no idea what is happening, but hopefully, when I speak to her, she can give me advice. We eat in silence, or rather, I do. Lyra goes on and on about how Darius kissed her. Sage is clearly confused, and I don’t blame her.Last she knew, Darius and Kellan were choosing me. Darius was also trying to help the situation between her and Tony. Everything has changed now, though.As everyone finishes eating, I look at William. Walking to him, he smiles at me. He tried to warn Kellan not to go into that room with me so he knew about Lyra. He was all up for me, fighting to get Darius to let his guard down. Now I feel he’s team Lyra as well.“How are you, Elara?”“Fine, I need to speak to Darius.”“He’s in the music room
KellanAs I step back, Elara runs, I watch Yori chase after her, and I shift following. I should have known she would bolt. I kept running before catching up with Yori, but I couldn't see Elara. Focusing, I try to feel her, but the connection is weak.I begin to search for her while Yori and the others do. I get she wants to hide from this, hide from the pain, and I would usually let her if it were safe. It isn't safe, though. My only reassurance she is safe is that she can't go past the border.After running around for a while, I shift back. It's been hours. I still can't sense her, and right now, I hate how fucking quick she is."How far do you want us to search?" Yori looks at me."She shouldn't get past the border.""Shouldn't, but the magic didn't affect her like it should others. Does that mean the border won't stop her?"I don't want to consider that. If Elara makes it past the border, she's gone."Search to the border and back, I will go get more people to come help find her."
I wake up hearing a noise. Raising my head, I see Hades, and I turn, running away. I'm so busy watching him chase me that I don't realise when I slam into something hard and fall down the hill.Hearing a groan, I open my eyes and see Kellan. Shifting back, I stare at him.“Kellan?” Did I run into him while he was unshifted?“Don’t fucking run again!” His arms wrap around me. He looks exhausted. “It’s been three fucking days, Elara!”My head shakes. It can't have been."We couldn't find you. We searched and couldn't. You somehow passed the border." He stares at me."No, I was running in circles so I wouldn't go too far out."His body deflates slightly. "No, you weren't. Maybe you thought you were, but you went past the border. Only me and Darius can go past it, and you, apparently." He sits staring at me."I'm sorry." My head falls, and I cry."Don't apologise; it was my fault. I should have realised that shifting at that moment was wrong. You weren't in the best mind space. We have a