Chapter 14

Layla POV 

Sitting cross-legged on the floor, I dragged the pretty wooden box from under the bed closer to myself, my fingers brushing off the thin layer of dust clinging to the surface.

It felt heavy and I didn't mean that literally, but it was quite heavy as I dragged it closer to me. I almost collapsed on the floor from exertion.

A knock sounded on my door and I stilled breathing deeply.

"My lady" Pearl called out sounding a little bit worried.

"I'm fine, don't come in"  I huffed a breath.

"My lady are you sure you're ok" she asked and I sat up straighter.

"I'm fine Pearl just tired, I think I'm not totally well yet " I called out.

"But my lady we do need to finish the fitting today" she pleaded and I sighed.

"I promise I'll be ready early tomorrow morning " I said and she sighed.

"Alright my lady." 

I waited until her footsteps sounded far enough then I turned to the box, it was time to open it and see what I would find.

My heart raced as I pried open the lid, revealing a number of items that seemed to be in excellent condition likely from the care of the last owner. 

There were letters, a few trinkets–jewellery that was too pretty to be sitting in a box as well as a picture frame that showed a beautiful woman hugging a child, that had to be her mother and my mother now.

I guess in both lives I wasn't lucky enough to have a mother. I ran my fingers over the picture frame longingly maybe if my own mother had been alive it would have gone better for me.

Next were the letters, neatly folded letters rested on top, their edges worn as if they had been read and reread countless times. 

I pulled the letters out first, carefully untying the ribbon and spreading them before me. The handwriting on some envelopes were the same elegant script I’d seen in Melody’s earlier journal. 

Other's belonged to someone else but were equally beautiful. My fingers trembled as I picked up the first one, it looked a bit old but the paper was not too old, it had the faint scent of flowers, lavender maybe. 

Unfolding it carefully, I took a deep breath and looked over the page. The handwriting was beautiful, very elegant for a man, it made me smile, almost. 

………..

Dearest Melody,  

Every moment we’re apart feels like an eternity. The moonlight was beautiful last night, but it paled in comparison to the glow you had about you the last time we met. Meet me in the garden again tomorrow. I’ll wait for you by the fountain.  

Yours, Elias.  

The words were tender, sweet and they made a warmth glow deep in my gut,as my chest tightened with worry. 

Whoever Elias was, it was clear he had been deeply in love with Melody—and she with him, if the letters in this box were any indication.  

One by one, I read through the notes, piecing together their story each exchange sweeter than the last, filled with promises of stolen moments, whispered confessions of love and a life after it, where they could be together.

And then the letters got darker, each of them giving me a sense of foreboding began to creep in.  Those letters were at the bottom of the stack their tone was —more urgent, almost desperate.  

My beloved Melody,  

I cannot bear the thought of losing you to another, especially not to a man like Damon Blackwood. Your father’s plans for you may serve the pack, but they will destroy us. Say the word, and I will take you far from here. We can build a life together, free from the chains of your duty.  Please, my love, choose me.  

Eternally yours, Elias.  

I set the letter aside, my mind working at double time, in a way I understood her–Melody . To have been caught in a web of duty and desire, torn between the life her family needed of her so they could survive and the love she had found with Elias, it would have been a struggle one I understood all too well, even if my case had been nothing like that at all.

I refused to let myself think of Asher, or I would try to look for him, and what would I tell all the people around me when they asked why I was looking for the alpha king. 

I tossed the letters into the box and grabbed the trinkets then I saw it beneath the letters, was a small  book—a smaller journal, bound in soft leather.

This one appeared older than the one I had found earlier in her drawer, its pages were slightly yellowed.  

Flipping it open, I found pages on pages of entries all dating back to the time before her death.

Each word painted a vivid picture of her life.

The first time I saw Elias, I thought he was a ghost. He moved through the gardens with such grace, his silver hair catching the moonlight like a halo. I had never seen anyone in my garden before, it had surprised me

When he spoke to me, I felt as though the goddess herself had designed it all to bring us together....

I smiled faintly at her romantic prose, but the next entry wiped that smile away.  

My father introduced me to Damon today. He is everything Elias is not—stoic, commanding, and cold as the winter wind. He barely spoke to me, his eyes scanning me as through me as if I were not there as if anyone else would do. Father says he is the best match for the pack, that I must do my duty and while I want to I cannot shake the feeling that I am being led to the slaughter.  

My stomach churned at her words, I was used to unfeeling men I could understand how she wouldn't want him, in fact I could understand how she would not want that.

But with each word I felt my own unease grow about Damon, though I had yet to meet the man myself.

"Father has found out about Elias. He didn’t say it loud but I know he had I can feel it in his silence ,in his disapproval in every glance, every word. 

He says I must remember my duty, and now I wonder why should my duty be more important than my freedom.

The entries continued, detailing the progression of her relationship with Elias and her mounting dread about the mating ceremony.  

Elias begged me again today to run away with him. The idea is tempting, but where would we go? And what would happen to my family if I left? Father’s wrath would be swift, but then he would be heartbroken. We have been each other's only family for as long as possible.

The final entry in the journal stopped me cold.  

The ceremony is tomorrow. I have made my decision, though it tears me apart. I cannot abandon my family, not even for Elias. But the more I think about it I cannot abandon my father either.

I can't break his heart that way.

For Alpha Damon... my heart will never belong to him.  So I must do what needs to be done.

I asked Pearl to get me some morning bush weed seeds. If I am lucky that would be all I need. 

The entry ended there and I stilled, looking at the page  for a long time then I closed the journal, my hands trembling. Melody’s love for Elias had been real, as had her sense of obligation to her family. 

But her sacrifice in the end had been heartbreaking.i wondered what her father would say if he knew this that she had killed herself than to disappoint everyone.

Then I remembered his words from before.

"Your previous reaction will not be tolerated.” He had known but no matter how much he seemed to love his daughter, his duty had mattered more. 

I had needed more information and now I had it.

Looking down at the letters and journal spread out before me,it was clear that she had never truly wanted this mating.  

Whatever Melody had planned to do, I was not bound by her choices. This was my life now.

I carefully placed the letters and journals back in the box, tucking them into the box trying to think of what I would do when my thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock at the door.  

“Lady Melody?” Pearl’s voice called from the hallway.

“Your tea is ready, and we really can't push your meeting with seamstress Elaine about your dress for the ceremony and further.”