LOGINElara’s POVI woke up on what felt like a plush bed. My back ached as I sat up, staring at the room with confusion.“You are awake,” a voice said to my right.I turned. The sight made me freeze.I should not have been able to remember her from all those decades ago but somewhere inside me, I knew the truth. This was my mother.She sat in an exquisitely carved rocking chair, sipping on a cup of tea as she looked at me. Not with love or longing but with something close to scrutiny.“What are you doing here?” she asked me gently.I stared blankly at her, wondering the answer to her question.“Is this the afterlife?” I asked, knowing that it was the only way I could meet her. The blanket under my fingers felt so real that it was jarring.“Somewhat of an in-between,” she replied calmly. “There is no need for you to understand. You will be leaving here soon anyway.”That was when my memories rushed back in.Lenora. The ritual. The flame empress.“Where is the phoenix?” I asked her. Had it k
Elara's POV“If you feel any discomfort, say so,” Silver said. “Things like this have a reputation for going south. Don't take on more than you can handle–”“Thank you, Silver, for your warning,” I replied.For the seventh time in the last two hours.Lenora on the other hand was gingerly sucking on a bottle. When she finished, she passed out in her mother's arms, little snores leaving her lips.To be as carefree as a child again.Oliver had finished drawing the magic circle, following the pattern that his mate had had tattooed on his thigh.Rosalyn set Lenora down on the ground opposite me. “Please, keep my daughter safe.”Translation for ‘Don’t let your greed get the best of you that you start to suck out your niece's life force.’We will leave just a little bit of the flame to keep her safe, Anika said, even more excited about the ritual than me.“You better,” I muttered. “If we hurt her, Rosalyn will kill me.”You will be the strongest elemental in the world. She can try.“Are you
Elara’s POVMy eyes widened as I stared at the ritual circle in the backyard of Cain’s house. “What the actual hell?”I turned to my brother. “When did they do this?”He was looking at the circle. As if he too was supposed to be confused.“I have no idea.” He turned to Donna. “Were you here when they drew this?”Benjamin limped out of the house. “We have been experimenting for a while now. The image of what it looked like had gotten fuzzy in my mind but we got it right a few days ago.”“That was when you transferred the powers to Silver,” I said, looking between the two brothers.Benjamin smiled. “My leg is useless anyway. If he can protect my children better with my powers, then I will gladly give it up.”“This does not look like what I saw Seraphina’s people building,” Kaden said. “It is not even the right shape.”“That is because the different elements have different ritual circles that are only shared by word of mouth, passed down from mother to daughter.”Benjamin’s eyes moved to
Elara's POVI felt the blood sliding down my cheek before I had realized that something nicked me.Kaden pulled me out of the way into his body. Behind where I had just been standing, there was a tree.It had a large smoking hole in the center of it. I had to force myself to breathe.How had I not seen the fire coming?“To think you would deliver yourself to me so easily?” Seraphina said, trying to round the stream and come closer. “How can I ever thank…Sylvanius, what is this?”The water dragon had shifted its gaze right to Seraphina and was glaring down at her.“I do believe that I said I swore an oath,” Silver said, lifting Amy into his arms. “You will not hurt the woman I swore an oath to.”Seraphina’s face twisted in rage and in a plot second, vanished, replaced with an eerie smile. “You seem to think I cannot kill you.”Silver glanced at Seraphina and then snorted. She flew into a rage and shot a ball of fire towards him. It landed on his body and vanished up in smoke.Seraphina
Elara’s POVSilver walked a few hundred meters ahead of us.He had only given us one instruction. If I fall, catch me.What the hell did that even mean?“Do you know what the elemental dragons are?” I asked Cain. Cain was about to shake his head. “Think. Come on. Anything from your bedtime stories when you were growing up or something.”“I mean, there were regular dragons but no elemental dragons,” Cain said, sounding genuinely exhausted. “I have no idea what he is talking about.”I let out a breath, crossing my arms as I thought.“We have company,” Kaden said and I felt his energy slide over my body, masking my presence.A bunch of wolves bounded past us, heading straight for Silver. Kaden’s hand flew over my mouth before I could warn him.Silver did not even turn around when he flicked his hand. A thin line of water moved so fast behind him and sliced three of the rogues’ necks at once.They dropped to the ground without even realizing what had taken their lives.“What the fuck was
Elara's POVKaden’s gaze swept through our officials at the monthly meeting. “What is it?”They all looked at each other before one person boldly decided to step forward. “Alpha, is there something going on that we have not been told about?”Kaden leaned back in his chair, his arms crossing over his chest. “What do you mean?”“Well, it just seems like so many things are happening at the same time. Beta…Alpha Cain’s house is full with so many people these past few days.”“And I swear I saw the Beta of Blackwood amongst our forces a few days ago,” another said.A pair of eyes turned to me. “And a little boy has been calling you and Luna Mama and Papa but we have not been introduced. Does the pack have an heir now?”Putting myself in their shoes, I could see how frustrating that could be but telling them anything now was a recipe for disaster.Not only could it cause widespread panic if it got out but they could cause discord in our leadership if some of them happen not to agree with wha
Elara’s POV“I told you that I should have done it.”“I swear, I followed the instructions to the letter. I have no idea why she fainted.”“Should I pour water on her face?”There was a slap and then a thud.My eyes slowly blinked open. My brothers were kneeling over my body, still arguing amongst
Elara’s POV“Ellie, is there a problem?” Ronan asked.My throat tightened to the point I could not breathe.It had barely been twenty-four hours. How did they find me already?Would they try to take me back? My brothers would not willingly give me away, right?Leo lowered us to the ground to set me
Something was tickling my cheek.It felt like…sticks? No. Fingers.My eyes snapped open and I jumped to my feet, my claws extended.There were three men in the room. All Alphas.Strong ones.Crap.I lowered my hands, bowing until I was almost at ninety degrees. “Can you tell me why I am here?”“She
“I see. Thank you, Alpha Kane,” I said and put down the phone.That was the fourth Alpha who had cancelled business dealings with us in the last week.All of the social standing I had worked to build among the Alphas and Lunas had disappeared overnight.It was not anything new for Alphas to have mi







