Elara POV:
That night, we sat in the grand living room of the Pack manor. The fire in the great hearth threw dancing shadows on the walls, yet a chill that had nothing to do with the night air seeped into my bones.
Selene was sitting on the velvet sofa, holding her hand up to the light.
"Look at what Kael had custom-made for me," she boasted, her voice echoing in the large room.
On her finger sat a massive blue diamond ring, glowing with a strange, pale energy. It was infused with moonlight power, a rare magic meant only for the true mother of the pack. She held her hand out to me, demanding that I admire it.
I took her hand slowly, my eyes locking onto the silver band.
"It has ancient protection runes micro-carved on the inside of the band," I said quietly. "The diamond is cut into twenty-four facets, representing the lunar cycle."
Selene frowned, pulling her hand back quickly. "How do you know all that?"
My eyes burned, and my vision blurred with hot tears.
"Because I drew the design for that ring," I whispered, looking across the room at Kael. "I designed it for my own Luna coronation."
Kael sat in his leather chair, not a muscle moving in his face; it was a mask of polished granite, impenetrable and cold.
"Selene liked the design," he said coldly. "The feelings of the original designer do not matter."
A cold numbness radiated outward from the center of my chest, a creeping frost spreading through my limbs.
"When is the ceremony?" I asked, my voice completely flat.
"May tenth," Selene answered proudly. "On the night of the Full Moon."
I stood up without another word and walked up the stairs to my bedroom. I locked the door, picked up my phone, and dialed Silas's number. He answered on the second ring, the sound of loud music playing in the background.
"Silas," I said, my voice shaking but determined. "Will you marry me?"
The music in the background suddenly stopped.
"I want to go to the Moon Priestess," I continued. "I want to register our Marking tomorrow."
There was a long, loaded silence on the line. Then Silas laughed—but it was not his usual lazy, arrogant laugh. It was something darker. Something that sounded almost like recognition.
"You're running from someone too, aren't you, little wolf?"
"Should I really reject the proposal of such a beautiful Omega?" Silas asked slowly. His lazy tone did not hide the sudden, sharp interest in his voice.
"I'm dead serious, Silas," I said, staring at the blank wall of my bedroom.
"Good," Silas replied. "Because I happen to be near Silver Moon territory right now." He paused, and I could hear the sound of a car engine starting. "I will give you a two-hour window tomorrow morning. Do not be late."
He hung up, leaving me in the quiet darkness of my room.
The next morning, I packed a small bag and walked downstairs. I needed to leave early to meet Silas at the Moon Priestess temple. When I reached the bottom of the stairs, a familiar smell drifted from the kitchen.
I walked in and saw Kael standing by the stove, flipping pancakes. It was my favorite breakfast, the exact meal he used to make for me after my nightmares. I sat down at the small wooden table in silence. He placed a hot plate in front of me, and I picked up my fork.
But as I brought the food closer to my face, a sharp, bitter smell hit my nose. It was a rare mountain spice, the only food in the world that my wolf body hated. It caused a mild allergic reaction, making my throat itch and my stomach turn.
I dropped the fork onto the plate with a loud clatter.
"Why did you put this in here?" I asked, staring at the dark green flakes.
Kael did not look at me as he cleaned the pan.
"Selene likes it," he said simply. "I have a duty to learn the tastes of my future Luna."
I stared at his broad back, remembering a day fifteen years ago. I was a broken, terrified child, and he had held my hand at this very table. He had promised me that I would always be safe here, that he would protect me from everything.
A tremor started in my hands, a violent, helpless shudder that traveled up my arms until my whole body was shaking with the force of it. It was a tectonic shift in my soul, a breaking of foundations.
I stood up and swept my arm across the table, throwing the plate and cutlery onto the floor. The ceramic did not just break; it exploded against the flagstones, the sound a sharp, satisfying crack that sliced through the morning's quiet.
Tears spilled over my eyelashes and ran down my cheeks.
"Didn't you have a duty to your Mate?" I screamed, my voice breaking. "Why was it so damn easy for you to just throw me away?"
Kael finally turned around, looking at the broken plate on the floor. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He just stood there, completely silent, choosing duty over me once again.
Whatever fragile ember of hope had survived within me was not merely extinguished; it was plunged into ice, the shock of it stealing the air from my lungs.
"I'm leaving," I announced, my voice dropping to a cold whisper. "I'm going to the Priestess to make a new pact with a real Alpha."
Kael's hand, the one holding the pan, began to tremble. I watched his knuckles go white against the cast iron.
"Elara," he said, and his voice cracked on my name like a bone breaking.
But I was already walking out the door.
Kael's posture became unnaturally still, his entire body locked as if a current had passed through it. He stared at me, his chest rising and falling rapidly as the words sank in. Suddenly, he turned and grabbed his car keys from the kitchen counter.
"I'm driving you," he demanded, his voice thick with the heavy weight of the Alpha's Command.
I did not have the strength to fight his aura, so I followed him out to his black SUV. The ride was completely silent for the first ten minutes. The air in the cabin grew thin and sharp, saturated with the scent of his agitated wolf—a smell like ozone and wet earth.
"What is his Pack background?" Kael suddenly asked, keeping his eyes on the road. "How did you meet him?"
I looked out the window, watching the dark trees blur past us.
"He is the Alpha of the Nightfall Pack," I answered smoothly. I turned my head to look at Kael's tightened jaw. "And his stamina is a hell of a lot better than yours, brother," I added, letting the provocation hang in the air.
The hand-stitched leather of the steering wheel groaned under the pressure of his grip, the seams straining against his skin. The grey of his irises seemed to recede, swallowed by pupils that had dilated into two black voids.
He slammed his foot on the brakes, bringing the heavy car to a violent stop. We were parked right outside the ancient stone steps of the Priestess temple. I reached for the door handle, but a loud click echoed through the car. He had locked the doors from the master control.
"Let me out," I demanded, pulling on the handle again.
"No," Kael said softly, leaning back in his seat. "I want to see this." He turned his head to look at me, his expression full of cold certainty. "You're acting, Elara. You just want my attention."
Before I could argue, my phone buzzed in my lap with a new text message. It was from Silas.
Sorry, little wolf. Lyra's flight landed early. I have to go pick up my ex from the airport. Raincheck.
Kael leaned over, his sharp wolf vision easily reading the words on the bright screen. A slow, chilling smile touched his lips, a thing of triumph that held no warmth.
"Your hired actor isn't very professional," Kael sneered, settling back into his seat. "I'm done playing these childish games, Elara. It ends today."
He started the engine again, the deep rumble vibrating through the floorboards.
"There are several single warriors in our Pack," Kael continued smoothly. "I will introduce you to them tomorrow."
A wire inside my brain seemed to snap, thin and sharp. I raised my hand and slapped him across the face with all the strength I had. The sharp crack echoed loudly in the small, enclosed space of the car. Kael's head snapped to the side, a red mark instantly blooming on his pale cheek.
"Did you ever truly love me?" I asked, my voice a dead, level thing from which all emotion had been scoured. "Or was I just a pet you kept around until a real Luna came along?"
Kael slowly lowered his head, staring at the steering wheel in absolute silence.
"Every day," he whispered finally, so quietly I almost did not hear it. "Every single day, I have loved you."
"Then prove it," I said. "Unlock the door."
He did not move. And that silence was his answer.
I stared at him, waiting for something—anything—that would make sense of the wreckage between us. Nothing came. "That's what I thought," I said, and my voice sounded like it belonged to someone else. Someone who was already gone.
