Elara’s POVI lay on the ground, my breath ragged, and my body weak from exertion.Andrew’s weight lifted off me, and for a moment, I didn’t move. The loss of his warmth sent a shiver down my spine, and something inside me clenched—something that had nothing to do with the fight.A hand appeared in my vision, fingers open, waiting.I looked up.Andrew stood over me, his expression almost distant, but there was something in his eyes—a look of pride.His head cocked to the side as if challenging me to take his hand.I didn't know how he managed to give off two different emotions at the same time, but it had me wanting to add another emotion to them. One that promises to come from mutual pleasure.I hesitated, but only for a second. Swallowing hard, I reached up and placed my hand in his.The moment our skin connected, pain exploded up my arm. I screamed, jerking back, but it was too late. The fire had already latched on.Searing heat raced through my wrist, branding me from the inside
Andrew’s POVThe room felt colder after the seer’s words."You are the key to destruction or salvation."Elara stiffened beside me, her breath shallow. I felt the way she tensed, the way her fingers twitched slightly, as if resisting the urge to reach for the burning marks on her wrist.I couldn't help but blame myself for the turn of events. I should've listened and let her be as she wanted.But no. I wanted a strong and powerful mate who could fight and protect herself when I can't do it.Now it seems everything just escalated.The seer, an old woman cloaked in shadows, let the silence stretch. The weight of her words pressed down on all of us.Michael shifted, his jaw tightening. Lora looked between us, her brows furrowed, ready to argue.But I beat her to it.“Explain.” My voice came out sharper than intended, but I didn’t care. I needed answers. And I needed them like yesterday.This was supposed to make our fight with Dorian easier between now and when the Blood Moon comes.The
Andrew’s POVElara hadn’t spoken since we left the seer’s cabin.She walked beside me, eyes fixed on the ground, her arms wrapped around herself. The tension rolling off her was almost tangible. I wanted to say something, anything to make her feel better, but I had no words. What could I even say after what we’d just heard?"You may have to kill her to stop her."The sentence had lodged itself deep in my mind like a blade I couldn’t pull out. We had thought of this scenario before we started the training. But hearing from someone else only made it more likely.And I didn't want that.Elara wanted to keep training. I wanted to believe she could control whatever this was. But doubt had burrowed into my chest like a parasite, feeding on every fear I had.If she lost control, would I really be able to stop her? Would I really be able to kill her?I doubt I could even lay a finger on her as it is. My wolf won't allow it.I clenched my jaw. No. I wouldn’t let it come to that.She would lear
Elara’s POV"Embrace the power. Let me in."The whisper curled around my mind like smoke, slipping through the cracks of my exhaustion.It tried to overwhelm my mind and bring it under its subjection. It felt so strange that I jerked upright, heart hammering. My eyes darted around the campfire, searching for… something. But there was nothing. Only Andrew watching me with wary eyes, Michael staring into the flames, and Lora pretending she wasn’t stealing glances at him.The voice had sounded so real.“Elara?” Andrew’s voice was low, careful.I forced my expression into something neutral. “It’s nothing.”It wasn’t nothing. I had been hearing this voice ever since we returned from the seer's cabin. I had let it slip earlier and since then, Andrew has been watching me like a hawk.It made me uncomfortable but there was nothing I could really do about it. So I decided instead of heightening the tension I will just keep it inside.—That night, I barely slept.Every time I closed my eyes,
Andrew’s POVElara’s dagger had nearly sliced my throat.I could still feel the rush of air against my skin, the fraction of a second between life and death. And the way her eyes—dark, wild—had looked right through me before she stumbled back in horror.She hadn’t meant to.That should have made me feel better. It didn’t. It only meant we've a big problem on our hands. It's good thing we didn't go back to the pack. She might get tripped off and mistakenly kill someone.“Elara,” I said, my voice sharp. “Tell me what the hell is going on.”She shook her head, backing away, hands trembling. “I—I don’t know.”This was what she kept doing since yesterday. Whenever I got too close, asking her if she is okay, she will retort fine.Now, it was more than obvious that she lied.I strode toward her, heart still hammering, fear burning behind my ribs. Not for myself. For her.“You almost killed me.”Her breath hitched. “I didn’t mean to.”I knew she didn't mean to but it does not dispute the fac
Elara’s POVThe voice comes mostly at night. That's why I now find it difficult to sleep. I've been up most of the night refusing to shut my eyes for a second.But there was only so much my body could take, despite being a werewolf. I had done some intensive training that has my muscles screaming. Soft. Seductive. Twisting through my mind like smoke, slipping into the cracks of my thoughts before I can push it away."You’re afraid, aren’t you?"I squeeze my eyes shut, gripping the edge of the blanket, willing it to stop. I've already had enough of this damn voice in my head."You’ve seen the truth. You know how this ends."I shake my head, burying my face in the pillow, as if that will drown it out. But it doesn’t. Andrew had promised everything was going to be fine. I wanted to believe that."He’s going to die, Elara. Unless you do something about it." Die? I would never let that happen. I would never let such a thing happen, even if the last thing I do.My breath shudders out of
Elara’s POVThe fire crackles between us, throwing flickering shadows against the trees. Andrew and Michael went somewhere together, leaving just Lora and I, wrapped in silence. She watches me carefully, her sharp blue eyes searching my face like she’s trying to piece together a puzzle.“You’ve been different lately,” she says finally, shifting on the log beside me.The memory of the day the being spoke to me flashed in my mind. His proposal and and my choice.I force a small smile. “Not sleeping well.”It wasn't a lie after all. The voice’s appearance has been bothering me for a long time. Making sleep a bit difficult.Lora snorts. “Try again.”I glance down at my hands, flexing my fingers. I can still feel it—the voice curling around my thoughts, waiting, whispering. I’ve kept it at bay for now, but it’s getting harder.He was adamant to get his way and I was losing. In the game of wills, I was losing and I was scared of what I would do when everything gets out of hand.She leans fo
Andrew’s POVThe moment I heared the commotion some distance away, I knew something was wrong.I had decided to go for a walk with Micheal to discuss matters concerning Elara, the Blood Moon and Dorian.I didn't want to involve Elara because I was worried it will be a trigger to her volatile self, and the last thing I wanted was her getting upset or worked up.That was why I left her in Lora's care but it seems that was just a waste a time. Even though I had left the vicinity of our space, I paid attention to my surrounding and that included where Elara was.That was why, when I heard unusual noise that sounded like a fight, sprinted through the woods right back to our camp.What I didn't expect was the sight in front of me; where Lora was on her hands and knees, coughing. Michael was already beside her, gripping her arm as she struggles to push herself up.His face was cloudy, anger filling his expression. It had all the signs that if it wasn't Elara, he would've personally hunted th
Andrew’s POVI couldn’t sleep again. Not after that message.The relic belongs to me now.Dorian didn’t have to sign his name—we all knew who sent it. The words were enough. No other person knew about the relic we had in our possession. Elara hadn’t said a word since we returned. She sat at the edge of the firepit behind the west wing, where the grass still bore bloodstains from last night’s attack. She stared into the flame like she could will herself to burn, or maybe disappear into it.I stayed back at first. Watching. Thinking.Then I finally walked over, crouched beside her.“You don’t have to go.”She didn’t even look up. Just flicked her eyes toward the flame, lips pressed tight.“Elara,” I tried again, softer this time. “You don’t have to leave.”She turned slowly. There was something unreadable in her face—tired, proud, uncertain.“You saw what the council did,” she said quietly. “They made up their minds before I even walked in the room.”“I don’t care what they decided,”
Elara’s POVWe didn’t win that night. We survived it but barely.The next morning was colder than it should’ve been. The scent of burnt wood clung to everything—my hair, my clothes, the inside of my mouth. Ash coated the ground, making it look like snow had fallen during the night. The council chamber was gone. Just blackened beams and smoldering rubble now.We’d spent the night counting our wounded and burning the dead.I didn’t sleep. None of us did.And we didn’t catch Mara or Rhea. Not a single damn trace.They vanished into the forest with whatever they stole—leaving behind bodies and a mess none of us were prepared to clean up.I sat on the flat edge of a broken pillar just outside what used to be the vault room. My limbs ached. My mind hadn’t stopped spinning since the explosion. My blade rested on my lap, stained dark red. I hadn't had the energy to clean it.Andrew crouched beside me, holding a cracked piece of the council vault door in his hand.“It wasn’t just the ledger,”
Andrew’s POVSmoke curled through the air forming dark clouds above us.I didn’t have time to think. One second I was reaching for Elara, the next, the ground shook beneath us. Flames erupted near the council chamber. The building shuddered as an explosion cracked through its foundation. Shouts turned to screams.“Elara!” I yanked her back just in time as a burning beam crashed down inches from where she’d been standing.We spun, backs pressed together.More masked wolves rushed out of the commotion; Dorian’s spies. At least six. Maybe more.“Go!” I barked. “Get to the council!”“I’m not leaving you!” she snapped.A blade slashed through the smoke toward me. I caught the arm mid-air, twisted, and drove my elbow into the spy’s throat. He crumpled.“Elara—”“No!” she shouted. “We do this together.”I should’ve known better than to argue.She grabbed the fallen blade and launched into the next enemy before I could stop her. Her movements were fluid, and controlled, just like they always
Elara’s POVThe silence in the chamber was absolute. I could hear the tick in my jaw from how hard I was clenching it.Tobias raised his hand. “We begin the vote now.”One by one, the elders stood. Each step, each movement, felt like I was getting steadily to death.“Guilty,” Mara said first, her voice sharp, smug.“Guilty,” Rhea followed, without hesitation.I screamed inwardly.How could they give them an opportunity to vote? They aren't even elders.Elder May shifted uncomfortably, then said, “Not guilty.”Greg hesitated, looked straight at me, then said, “Not guilty.”I swallowed hard.Two to two.Then Elder Harrow rose. His cane thudded on the stone floor as he walked forward. His eyes swept over the room before they landed on me. Old, and tired.“I find her guilty,” he said.A gasp rippled across the chamber.Tobias didn’t speak immediately. His face looked carved from granite. Then finally, he gave a single nod. “The council has decided. By a narrow margin... guilty.”I felt th
Andrew’s POVI stood outside the council chamber, my hand clenched around the carved wolf’s head on the door.Behind it, silence filled the room. I hadn’t slept. Not since I made the announcement. Not since I watched the light in Elara’s eyes go dark right in front of me. That moment had shook something deep inside me—something I didn’t know how to fix.I told myself I did it for the pack. For peace. For fairness. But the way she looked at me…It felt like the worst mistake in my fucking life. I hated the fact that I was being indecisive.Ever since she broke the mate bond, it's like I couldn't come up with a sensible decision when it comes to her.With the mate bond gone, I shouldn't be feeling any attachment to her but it seems like I was wrong.From the look on her face, it was like she didn’t believe in fairness anymore.And whose fault was that?The doors opened with a low creak, and Tobias gave me a short nod from the other side. The other elders were already seated in their c
Elara’s POVThe masked figure lunged.I barely had time to react. My instincts kicked in, sharp and immediate. I twisted my body sideways as his arm slashed through the air where my neck had been seconds before. I slammed my shoulder into his ribs, hard enough to stagger him, then dropped low and kicked his legs out.He stumbled but didn’t go down.I backed toward the dresser, grabbing the first heavy object I could find—a silver candlestick Andrew had left me to see in the dark before everything went to shit. I raised it like a weapon.“Who sent you?” I demanded, my voice harsh and steady.The figure said nothing. Just adjusted his stance like he was waiting for my next move. His presence filled the room, tall and calm. That unnerved me more than if he had charged again.I struck first. I wasn’t waiting around for answers anymore.I feinted left, swung from the right, caught his shoulder. He grunted, staggering slightly, then caught my wrist mid-swing on the second try.His grip was
Elara's POVThe name on the note stared back at me like a ghost from the past. Kieran. There was something about it that set me off. Was the veiled sight reacting to the name?My pulse pounded in my ears like I had been running some kind of marathon. I tried to concentrate on the way I was reacting to this but I came up blank.What was it with this name?I had never met him, and the name looked as foreign to me as a language I had no idea even existed. But judging from their faces, they knew who he was. “Mind telling me who this Kieran guy is?” I asked holding up the paper to them. “I've never heard of him before but for him to get you in this mood, he must mean something.”Despite the turmoil going on inside me, I had opted for casual tone to avoid getting them any more agitated.Lora nodded like she knew who this guy was. Was I the only one who didn't know him? I came to this pack before her yet she seemed know more than I ever did.But my guess was Michael had filled her in on who
Elara’s POVThe tension in the air was thick enough to choke on. After the council had made their decision, it felt almost irreversible.But then Andrew stood at the center of it all—torn, conflicted, silent when I needed him loud. His hesitation was a wound that cut deeper than the accusations against me.Apart from the time he spoke up about me being watched closely, he hadn't said much. Not that it mattered now.I didn’t have time to dwell on it. There was so much to think about than a broken bond and a falling relationship.Three days. That was all I had before the trial, and I wasn’t going to sit around and wait for them to decide my fate.I needed answers. And I needed them fast. It's a good thing I enlisted the help of Micheal and Lora. With me under the kind of scrutiny I was, it would be difficult to look into certain matters without getting in trouble.It seems the troublesome duo didn't account for the fact that I would still have people willing to assist despite the accus
Andrew’s POVThe council chamber was suffocating. I can't remember the last time I had entered this place.If I was being sincere, it was probably my father died and I kicked Mara out. The council wanted to put me under trial but after some thought, they dropped everything.The former alpha had been acting off in recent times but none of them had the gal to call him out.I just had to take matters in my hands.I stood at the front, Elara beside me, but we felt miles apart. She hadn’t looked at me since last night. Not really. Not the way she used to.I didn’t blame her. I kind of—okay I actually let her down when I couldn't back her up when she needed me.But then I was still confused about how I felt about her. The bond between us was broken, and I felt the absence of it like a missing limb. But that wasn’t an excuse for my silence. I should have fought harder for her.I would. I had to. At least to make for yesterday. I just hope this turns out. At the end, It was my fault we were h