LOGINELARAKris and Alex stared at me from their table, their eyes narrowed tightly, probably wondering why I hadn’t come to sit with them at our usual lunch table.My eyes peeled away from them as the cafeteria door opened. I had thought it was Alistair, but it was Elsie. Whispers shot across the room almost immediately.“She’s so pretty.”“Did you see her and Alistair under the staircase earlier? She was so gorgeous with him.”“I feel like they are the perfect match. Besides, she’s an alpha princess. It brings a connection with both packs.”My nose almost flared from their comments. Elsie was pretty no doubt but what made them think she and Alistair were the perfect match just because they stood beside each other. I stood beside Alistair so many times and—Elara, what are you thinking!I forced my eyes away from Elsie back to the seat opposite me, I froze.Alistair sat there, his head lazily on his palm as he stared squarely at me.I blinked. “When…did you get here?”“I wonder,” he said
ALISTAIRI’d been counting the days since the woods. Five. Five days and Elara still hadn’t said a word to me. Not like we met since that day, I really didn’t think I could bring myself to say something reasonable either. Not after what Elsie had said the other day.What do I do with this kind of silence between us?“She’s been weird,” Jaren said without looking up from his notes. Just then, Elara walked into class, the usual edge she carried into every room missing this time around. “Define weird,” my voice came out quieter than I'd wanted it to be.“She has been quiet. Didn’t you notice?” I had noticed. I just hadn't decided what to do with that.“Do you plan on letting her know? About the rogues and stuff?” he finally looked up at me.A sigh left my lips. “I don’t know about that. But one thing I’m sure of is the fact that I'm going to protect her whether she likes it or not. Even if she hated me.”“Elara is not the kind of girl you can bend like that.”“Who said anything about
ELARAI didn’t decide to come here. My feet just took me. By the time I noticed where I was walking, the gates of the cemetery were already in front of me.My chest tightened, my hands rolled into tight fists beside me. It had been so long. So…so long, Father.~~~My hands moved over the tiled top of the grave, wiping it clean. Harris Vance, 43 years of age. A bittersweet feeling rose in my throat as I sag down on the floor, my legs crossed over each other.“What exactly am I doing here?” I whispered.The wind seemed to respond to my words as a slight breeze blew past me, shaking the trees a little. Maybe he was here. Maybe he could hear me.“Did you know this would happen? Did you know I would end up here?” I muttered. My chest tightened as this time, there was no breeze any longer.“Say something, Dad. I’m so torn,” the words left my trembling lips with a strain. “Everything I feared is slowly coming to pass. It’s worse even now. If the rogues truly were after Alistiar, then…then
ALISTAIRKai was dead silent in the back of my mind, exhausted from the sheer force of will it had taken to not rip out Elara’s throat when she forcibly pulled the stick out of our leg. Her scent had been the only thing keeping my mind at bay, making me force Kai into submission. But Kai had also listened. Knowing him, it took the whole of his power to keep himself still. Father walked back towards us, his eyes staring now at the bodies of the rogue wolves—two of them. I had barely been able to fight off one with the stump in my leg and the other had suddenly attacked, breaking off the same leg. Killing them off had been an easier punishment but then, Kai wasn’t in the right state of mind to dare keep a rogue alive, knowing how dangerous it would be for us.“They passed through the borders,” A frown knitted my father's brows near each other as he folded his arms. “The negotiation barely ended and nothing changed.”“It hasn’t been put into action yet—”“You must take me for a fool, A
ELARAMy heart pounded against my chest as I closed the gap between us, staring at Alistair’s wolf’s broken leg. This would need more than tying up.I dropped his clothes on the floor, raising my hand to touch his leg when a snarl left his lips. My body jerked backwards before I could stop it, my butt hitting the ground.He was warning me not to touch him. What the heck?“I have to do something, your leg is broken. First, let me remove the wood…”A deep vibrating growl rumbled in his chest, a feral warning not to come closer. What exactly was wrong with him? If the broken bone healed without any intervention, he might get crippled for life.I forced myself to move closer and without wasting a second, I pulled the wood from its leg. I should never have done that.A half growl left his throat, his fangs baring open as he lunged towards me. One second, I was pulling the wood, the other second, Alistair’s wolf was closing in around my throat.My back grazed against the harsh bark of a tr
ALISTAIR“It got worse,” Kai said flatly as Elara walked past her gates, locking them shut. “Just one night outside your pack and it got worse than ever. Just give up. Now.”“Shut up,” I said.“Of course you would say that—”I pushed the door open and the car came to a sudden stop. I should have informed the driver I wanted to come down, but I hadn’t. Maybe I simply wanted to injure myself. Feel actual pain instead of the constant ache that threatened to burst through my veins.My head hurts. My chest hurts. Every freaking part of my body seemed to burn in a kind of pain that was uncontrollable. The shift was not premeditated. I simply had to let Kai take over from this already-weak body of mine.Elara had almost cried. Her eyes had been full of tears that she couldn’t shed in front of me. I should never have looked at that star with her.No.I should never have shut that door close last night. I should have pulled her in and explained everything to her. Then maybe, she would pity me
ALISTAIR I had kept my promise.Ten seconds. Ten seconds of watching her hands in those waters as she tried to save herself—and failed. Ten seconds of keeping my promise, before I lost it all and broke it—because apparently, ten seconds was the limit of all I could take when it came to Elara Vance
ALISTAIRIf I stayed another second, I wasn't sure I could keep my voice where it was meant to be. Walking from Elara was the most noble thing I could think of and Kai agreed with me.I heard Alex’s voice.“Alistair—”I didn’t stop walking. “Don’t.”“Don’t what?” his pace increased as he stopped in
ELARA I pulled off my headphones, staring at the number of people that filled the training center of the pack house. Everyone seemed to be serious about the training. In the past, you’d never count up to fifty people. “Elara!” Kris’s voice sounded from the crowd and I pivoted, recognizing her im
ALISTAIRThe trainer hit the ground before he saw it coming.That was the problem with people who had been fighting the same way for years, they became predictable. Every move telegraphed three seconds before it arrived.I straightened, rolling my shoulder once.“Again?” I asked.This was no traini







