FAZER LOGINElara's POV“Every gift I give you, you thank me like I’m some stranger doing you a favor. You won’t let me buy you things, you won’t let me protect you without arguing, and you act like you don’t…” He trails off, frustration clear in his voice.“Like I don’t what?”“Like you don’t belong to me,” he says quietly, releasing my wrist. “Like you don’t have a right to be cared for.”Surprise makes me drop the bandage I’m about to wrap around his shoulder.“I—I don’t know how to do that.”His jaw tightens.“Then figure it out.”I resumed my work, but my movements are shaky now.“I thought I was being grateful. I thought that’s what you wanted.”“I don’t want your gratitude, Elara. I want your trust.” His free hand comes up to cup my cheek as I bend over his wound. “I want you to stop looking shocked every time I come back. I want you to expect me to take care of you.”“And what happens when you get tired of taking care of me?” The question slips out before I can stop it, my old fears resur
Elara's POV How desperately I want to believe those words, even though my logical mind screams that they’re just things men say in the heat of the moment. But the way he says them, like they are sacred truths, like he means them with every fiber of his being… I want them to be sincere so badly, it hurts.I thought he felt it, too—this pull between us, this connection that seems to go deeper than mere attraction. But maybe that was just wishful thinking.Maybe I was reading too much into every glance, every touch, every moment of tenderness.A sound in the hallway makes my head snap up. Footsteps. But these are different—irregular, stumbling. My heart starts pounding as they get closer, and then I hear a dull thud against the wall, followed by a low curse in a voice I recognize.“Kael?”I’m on my feet and at the door before I can think, yanking it open so hard it slams into the table behind it.There he is, leaning heavily against the corridor wall, his face pale and streaked with dir
Elara's POVLong, evening shadows stretch across my small room, and there’s still no sign of Kael. He’s been gone since morning. I’ve been pacing for what feels like hours, wearing out a path on the wood floor between the window and the door. Each time I hear footsteps in the hallway, my hopes rise, only to sink again when they pass by without stopping.He’s gone. The thought is devastating, even though I’ve been trying to prepare myself for it all day. Of course he’s gone. What did I expect? That a man like him would stay in a place like this, with someone like me, forever?I sink onto the bed, my hands trembling as I pick up one of the gifts he gave me: a small, carved, wooden cat, so intricately detailed that I can see the individual strands of its tail. When he first placed it in my hands, his fingers brushing mine, I thought it meant something. I thought I meant something.“Foolish girl,” I whisper to myself, setting the cat down shakily.Maybe these gifts were his way of easing
Kael's POVBut then I remember something: the bookstore she wandered into while I was buying her clothes. The way her entire body changed when she picked up that gardening book. The pure contentment I felt through our bond—the first real happiness I’d ever sensed from her.She likes books about herbs. About plants and their medicinal properties.Of course! She’s an herbalist, but most of the equipment she carries is broken. I’ve seen the cracked mortar, the rusted tools, the makeshift containers she uses to store what little she can gather.I need to find herbalist supplies.It takes three shops before I find what I’m looking for. The elderly woman behind the counter brightens when I explain what I need.“Ah, for a fellow herb enthusiast!” She clasps her hands together. “How wonderful. Let me show you our finest equipment.”I follow her through the cramped shop, my mind racing. This has to work. This has to be the key to reaching whatever part of Elara is still buried beneath all that
Kael's POVThe news should concern me. It should send me racing back to the capital to smooth things over, to play the dutiful prince and heir. Instead, I find myself glancing back at the inn, toward the room where Elara is probably sitting in that careful, quiet way she has perfected.“How is my father handling the pressure?”“He’s furious with you.” Seth steps closer, lowering his voice.“Kael, what the hell are you doing? You’re throwing away everything you’ve worked for.”“I’ll be back in the capital in two weeks.”“Two weeks?” Seth stares at me like I’ve lost my mind.“The Council meeting is—”“In two weeks,” I say firmly. “I’ll be there.”My friend opens his mouth to argue, then seems to think better of it. Instead, he studies my face with the close attention of someone who has known me since childhood.“This is about your mate.”It’s not a question. I start to turn away, but Seth catches my arm.“There’s something else. Lady Zari has heard rumors that you’re traveling with an
Kael's POVI’m losing her. Day by day, hour by hour, she’s slipping further away from me, into some place where nothing I do can reach her. The bond between us grows stronger on my end; I can feel every nuance of her emotions, every flicker of trepidation or sadness that crosses her mind. But from her end, there’s nothing. Just empty gratefulness and hollow compliance.We reach an inn at the edge of town, and the woman behind the counter looks back and forth between the two of us. Elara is waiting by the door like a well-trained pet.“One room or two?” the innkeeper asks.I always say one, but tonight—tonight I say, “Two.”I feel the way Elara stiffens behind me, and then there is a sharp wave of grief and resignation through the mate bond. I’m about to turn to her, needing to know what I’ve done now, but the woman is already handing me two room keys.“Upstairs, first and second doors on the right.”I glance at Elara, and she is holding Luna in her arms now, looking down at her.“Come
Kael’s POVI’m silent, bored out of my mind. If it weren’t for the mystery surrounding the missing female shifter, I wouldn’t tolerate this gathering. But somebody here knows something. I’m certain of it.“And your tracking abilities! Papa says you’re legendary. I bet you could find anyone, anywher
Kael’s POVI stride through the palace hallway, my boots hitting the marble with more force than necessary. This whole cross-mating decree was a waste of time. My father should have just sent me to deal with the packs that have been siding with Draven.It would have been wiser to make an example of
Elara's POV And beside her, pale and sick-looking, stands Daciana. Her dark eyes meet mine for just a second before she looks away, guilt written across her face.“Sit,” Blackwood commands, gesturing to the empty chair beside Harper.I move toward his desk but remain standing. “What’s going on?”
Kael’s POVI stride back toward the settlement with Blackwood trailing behind me, his nervous energy practically radiating off him in waves. The scent-masking potion lingers in my nostrils—proof that this Elara didn’t bolt blindly into the woods like some frightened animal. She planned her escape.







