LOGINElara'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 POVThe emeralds in the delicate silver necklace catch the afternoon light, sparkling like tiny fragments of captured forest. They’re the exact shade of Elara’s eyes—that deep, rich green—which sparkle when she laughs.When she used to laugh.“An excellent choice, sir,” the jeweler says, carefully lifting the necklace from its velvet display. “This is one of our finest pieces.”He’s right. The stones are flawless, the silver work exquisite. I imagine how it will look against her throat, how the green will make her eyes shine the way they used to.I watch Elara through the shop window as the man wraps the necklace. She’s standing perfectly still beside her knapsack, Luna draped across her shoulders like a living scarf, her gaze fixed on some distant point beyond the bustling market square. She looks like a statue—beautiful, untouchable, and completely lifeless.My wolf paces restlessly beneath my skin. A week ago, Elara would have protested when I led her to this jewelry shop. W
Elara's POVThe pressure builds, hot and intense, and that strange, restless stirring deep inside me rises with it—wild, demanding, impossible to ignore.“Tell me you want this,” he demands, lifting his head just enough for me to see his mouth wet with me.“Yes—God, yes—” I weep, the words tumbling out in a broken rush, mindless and desperate. I’ll say anything if it means he won’t stop.His lips curl in satisfaction before he lowers his head again.“Then, come for me, Elara.”The order is my breaking point. My back arches, a ragged cry ripping from my throat as the tension snaps and pleasure crashes through me in blinding waves. I can’t stop moving—my hips buck against his mouth, my hands fisting in his hair, incoherent sounds spilling from my lips between gasps and sobs of his name. I’m shaking, babbling nonsense I don’t even hear, every word torn from me without thought, without control.He doesn’t stop—licking me through every shudder, every aftershock—until I’m trembling so hard
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.
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 He looks up from the paper, his expression sarcastically surprised. “What did you expect? A tearful goodbye?”Heat flashes through me. “I expected... some acknowledgment that I’ve served this pack faithfully for years. That I’ve risked my life gathering herbs nobody else would dare c
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?”







