Elara Thorne POV:
Silence answered me from the shadows of the cave. I knew he was listening, his stillness a form of assessment. I didn’t fidget or call out again. I just waited, projecting a confidence I didn’t entirely feel.
“My name is Elara Thorne,” I continued, my voice even. “You helped me last night. In return, I can offer you sanctuary and resources within the Silver Moon Pack. I need a bodyguard.”
A deep, skeptical voice finally emerged from the darkness. “And what can a wolf-less girl offer me?”
A true smile, the first in years, touched my lips. It was the smile of ‘Summer’ closing a deal. “Wolf-less? Perhaps. But I own more land and have access to more wealth than you can imagine. I can give you a home, a place to belong. All you have to do is stay by my side and pretend to be my mate.”
He stepped out of the shadows then, and my breath caught in my throat. He was shirtless, his torso a roadmap of old scars. But one stood out, a vicious, silver-colored mark that slashed diagonally across his chest, right over his heart.
My vision tunneled. The world around me faded, replaced by a memory buried under years of pain and darkness.
I was a little girl again, lost in these very woods. I’d found a boy, not much older than me, lying half-dead at the base of an old oak. He was bleeding from a wound identical to the one on the man before me, a wound that reeked of silver. I had been terrified, but I couldn’t leave him. I’d used the herbs my mother taught me about to clean the wound and left him my water and the small amount of food I had.
The man, Kael, noticed my hesitation. “What’s wrong?” he asked, his voice laced with a subtle challenge. “Scared by a few scars?”
I snapped back to the present, quickly schooling my features. I couldn’t be sure it was him. It was too much of a coincidence. I filed the memory away, for now.
“Hardly,” I said, my voice cool. “What about my offer? Play the part of my devoted mate, help me deal with a few… problems. When it’s over, half of my remaining timberlands are yours.”
I saw a flicker of something in his stormy eyes, something I couldn’t decipher. He was about to speak when a low groan escaped his lips. He staggered, his hand flying to the silver scar on his chest as he dropped to one knee. Dark, almost black blood began to seep from the old wound, staining his skin.
The silver poison. He’d used his power last night to intimidate Zane, and it had reactivated the toxin dormant in his body.
I didn’t hesitate. I rushed forward, grabbing his arm to steady him. His skin was burning up.
“Don’t… touch me,” he rasped, his breath coming in ragged pants. He tried to push me away. “It’s poison…”
But my wolf was urging me on. *His scent… it calls to us. We can soothe him.*
“I know a place that can help you,” I said, my tone leaving no room for argument. “Come with me. Now.”
I looped his arm over my shoulders, taking on much of his weight. He was heavy, all dense muscle and bone, but my newfound strength was enough. As I helped him stumble back toward the Packhouse, I noticed he smelled of something familiar, something that made my heart ache with a forgotten comfort—summer sun and honeysuckle. The same scent that had clung to the jacket of the little boy I had saved all those years ago.
He was the one.
My resolve hardened. This wasn't just a deal anymore. It was a debt.
Back at the Packhouse, I retrieved my cane, slipping back into the role of the helpless blind girl guiding a wounded traveler she’d found in the woods. I avoided the main halls, taking him directly to the Pack Doctor’s clinic in the west wing.
Old Dr. Alistair’s eyes widened when he saw the wound. “By the Goddess… silver poisoning. This is an old one.”
As Alistair cleaned and treated the wound, Kael’s body went rigid with pain, sweat beading on his forehead, but he never made a sound. When the doctor applied a poultice of herbs, a tremor wracked Kael’s body, and on pure instinct, I reached out and took his hand.
A strange warmth flowed from my palm into his, a soothing energy that seemed to ease his suffering. His tense muscles relaxed slightly. Dr. Alistair shot me a curious look but said nothing.
“He needs rest,” the doctor said finally, bandaging the wound. “He can’t use his power again until this is fully healed, or it could be fatal.”
“He’ll be staying with me,” I announced, my voice firm. I was giving Kael more than just a place to stay; I was giving him a legitimate identity within my pack. “He is my personal guard.”
On the way back to my suite, Kael had recovered some of his strength. He leaned less heavily on me, his steps more steady.
“You never told me,” he said, his voice a low rumble beside my ear. “Who exactly are we dealing with?”
A cold fire lit in my eyes. “Everyone who stands in my way.”
