Chapter 2

Elara's POV

There was a silence so thick you could almost hear everyone’s heartbeat without even trying. Andrew Galway’s gaze cut through the crowd like a blade, cutting away the jeers and smirks, leaving only the raw tension hanging in the air.

Mira, who’d been so confident a moment ago, faltered. She tried to recover, her voice losing a bit of its edge as she said, “Oh, Alpha Galway, it’s nothing. Just… handling a bit of discipline.”

Discipline. The word tasted bitter as I repeated it in my mind, feeling the sting of gravel still digging into my knees. She really would say anything to cover herself, twist anything to suit her version of the story. And if I tried to argue, to explain, she’d only use it against me. I knew how this game went; I’d lost too many times before.

Andrew didn’t seem convinced. His eyes moved from Mira to the others still gathered around, lingering on each of them just long enough to make them uncomfortable. There was something different about him, a low power that was both quiet and undeniable.

One of the younger wolves, sensing the rising tension, stepped back, eyes darting between Andrew and Mira like he was trying to decide if he could slip away unnoticed. But the Alpha’s gaze landed on him before he even moved an inch.

“And what discipline is needed here?” Andrew’s voice was steady, calm, but there was a weight to it, the kind that makes your pulse quicken just hearing it.

Mira swallowed, casting a quick look at her friends for backup, but none of them seemed eager to jump in. They looked as uncomfortable as she did, suddenly much less certain than they’d been just moments before.

“She… she was causing trouble,” Mira managed, though the words sounded weak even to my own ears.

Andrew’s brow arched. “Trouble? From what I saw, it looked like you were the one causing trouble, Mira.”

She flinched at the quiet accusation, her cheeks flushing as she struggled to find her balance. “Alpha, with all due respect, this is Grimshade territory. This is our business.”

“Business?” Andrew repeated, his gaze hardening. “Harassing a pack member is business?”

That’s when Alpha Dorian Gray stepped forward. He’d been silent until now, watching the entire scene with a bored expression, his arms crossed over his chest like he was only here because he had to be. His presence was imposing, the kind that made you feel smaller just standing near him. His reputation preceded him, and I wasn’t the only one who knew about his ruthlessness. Alpha Dorian ruled Grimshade with an iron fist, and I had never once seen him show even a hint of mercy.

“Galway,” he said, his voice low and dripping with authority, “it’s just a small matter. We’re only sorting out some issues in the ranks. Nothing that requires your intervention.”

“Sorting out issues?” Andrew’s eyes didn’t waver. “You call ganging up on one of your own wolves sorting out issues?”

Alpha Dorian shrugged, still wearing that indifferent expression. “Elara is… a complicated case.”

The words hit like a slap, though I was hardly surprised to hear them. Complicated. A convenient label for someone they didn’t want to understand, someone who didn’t fit in the box they’d put everyone else in. Complicated meant they didn’t have to bother with explanations or fairness.

Mira, sensing a way out, hung onto the idea. “Exactly, Alpha Galway. Elara’s… well, she’s been a problem for some time now.”

“And Caleb?” Andrew asked, his gaze now focused solely on Mira. “I heard he rejected her quite publicly.”

“Yes,” Mira said quickly, and I could feel her trying to turn the narrative to her advantage. “She wasn’t handling it well. Caleb… it wasn’t his fault. He was just… distancing himself from her.”

Distancing. Another convenient choice of words. They had a word for everything here, all chosen to push the blame back onto me, make me the villain in a story they’d retold so many times I’d almost started believing it myself.

Andrew turned to me, his gaze steady, his eyes softer than I’d expected. He didn’t say anything, but there was a question there, unspoken. Was it true? Did I deserve this?

My throat tightened, and I forced myself to look away, fighting back the rush of emotions that threatened to spill. I didn’t need his pity. I’d endured this long without anyone stepping in, without anyone caring whether I was innocent or guilty. But something in his eyes stirred a small hope, a dangerous, weak thing I wasn’t sure I wanted.

“Tell me, Elara,” he said quietly, his voice carrying a pressure that demanded honesty. “Is there truth to what they say?”

My heart pounded as I glanced at Mira, whose eyes flashed a warning, daring me to say anything that contradicted her story. But something inside me had snapped the moment he asked. The truth I’d kept buried, hidden away for so long, rose to my mouth, ready to be spoken.

“No,” I said, my voice barely a whisper, but it was enough. “There’s no truth to any of it.”

Mira scoffed, shaking her head. “Oh, please, Elara. No one believes you.”

But Andrew didn’t take his eyes off me. “If she says there’s no truth, then I believe her.” The words were simple, calm, but they sent a shock through the crowd. Mira’s mouth dropped open, her expression a mix of shock and fury.

Alpha Dorian rolled his eyes, clearly growing impatient with the whole affair. “Galway, really. This is nothing but a pack dispute. Leave it to Grimshade to deal with our own issues.”

Andrew’s gaze shifted back to Dorian, his expression suddenly colder. “If this is how Grimshade treats its own, maybe Grimshade isn’t fit to handle its own issues.”

Mira clenched her fists, the barely concealed rage in her eyes as she looked from Andrew back to me. “So what? You’re going to take her side over your allies?”

Andrew didn’t even flinch. “If taking her side is the right thing to do, then yes.”

There was a stunned silence as his words settled over the crowd. I could feel the stares, the disbelief. Andrew Galway, Alpha of the Salientmoon pack, defending me? It was more than unheard of—it was impossible.

Dorian looked as though he were barely containing his irritation. “Look, Galway, let’s not make a scene here over some… minor dispute. Surely, you have more important matters back in Salientmoon to worry about than this… outcast.”

A murmur ran through the crowd. Outcast. The word stung, more than it should have, but I kept my expression neutral, refusing to let them see how much it hurt.

Andrew took a step closer, his eyes locked onto Dorian’s. “Elara is no outcast. If Grimshade can’t see her worth, that’s your failure, not hers.”

The pressure was thick, like the air before a storm. Mira looked like she wanted to spit fire, but she stayed silent, her eyes narrowing as she glared at me with a venomous intensity that left little doubt in my mind. She would never forgive me for this.

Then, Andrew’s gaze shifted back to me, his expression softening just enough that I felt my breath catch.

“Since no one here seems to value her,” he said slowly, “I’ll take her. She’ll have a place in my pack.”

The words hung in the air, suspended between disbelief and shock. I could feel the gravity of every gaze on me, feel the energy in the crowd shift from anger to stunned silence. No one moved, no one spoke, and for a moment, the world felt as if it had stopped.

Mira’s mouth opened, then closed, and I could see the fury, the disbelief, the sheer outrage in her eyes. But there was nothing she could say, nothing she could do to take back the last few minutes.

And then, as if to drive the point home, Andrew’s voice rang out, steady and clear, a declaration that left no room for argument.

“Elara will come with me,” he said, his gaze sweeping over the crowd. “If you don’t want her, then I’ll give her a place in Salientmoon.”

The silence was shattered by gasps, by whispers that rose and fell in waves around us, like the shock itself was too big to contain. And as I looked up at him, meeting his eyes, I felt something stir in my chest—a tiny bit of hope, fragile and new.

For the first time in forever, someone had chosen me.