LOGINELARAElsie followed me into the house ten seconds later. Yes, I counted.“Are you normally that way?” She raised her brows as she stood at the foot of the stairs.I tilted my head slightly, “What way?”“Just,” she shrugged slightly, “you are different from what I heard. I don’t mean it in a bad way though.”She obviously did.“Elsie,” I called the moment she turned to leave.Her brows notched upwards as she turned.“Did my mom,” I hesitated, “Did she really bring Alistair there?”“Who else?” Elsie muttered.“Why didn’t she tell me?”“Would you have let him go? Practically speaking, you wanted him dead.”She shook her head. “It’s not ignorance if I say Al is safe from you.”“Do you have any idea what he did?” A strange feeling settled in my stomach as I let the plushie fall to the ground. “If you did, you won’t speak that way.”I marched past her, not until her tender fingers held my arm softly, making me halt.“Then maybe you should face the truth, Elara. Keep your anger at bay first
ALISTAIR She laughed. She actually laughed.My father would force a marriage between us. Elara would put a sword to my neck. Kai would never stop talking in my head. But nothing had ever irritated me more than her laughter in this situation. Besides, ‘I have a crush on Alistair,’ was the most ridiculous thing Elsie could say at that moment. Of all the ways my morning could go wrong, I hadn’t thought of that one.Her eyes brightened as she stared at me, tilting her head. “So…?”“How are you here, Elsie?” My eyes narrowed.“What a way to tell me that you are not excited to see me,” she said flatly, walking towards me. “Hi, Alistair. It’s been a while.”“It’s not even been a month since I left Moonbane. It hasn't been a while yet,” I smirked.“You are kidding, aren’t you?” Her eyes narrowed at me.I chuckled, “Nice to meet you too, Elsie.”“That’s more like it,” she shrugged.“Don’t tell me you are staying here for long? Did you just come to visit Elara?”“The last time I saw Elara w
ELARA“You have…” I paused, “a crush on Alistair?” “Is there a problem? If you like him, then…” she trailed off.I raised my brow, staring at her.“I don’t know. I just wanted to be honest,” she smiled.That smile—that soft deceiving smile that she had learnt as part of her princess training—annoyed me so much.My lips curved as I turned to Alistair. “Did you hear my cousin? She said she has a crush on you.”His eyes shifted to me, surprise in them and something that I couldn't quite place. I knew Alistair, but in the past five years, he had quite a lot of unreadable expressions.“We have to talk, Elsie,” he said flatly, ignoring me.“Alex, catch,” I threw the packaged containers towards Alex and they landed in his open hands. Then,I raised my hands, giving them a round of applause.As ridiculous as the situation was, as angry as I was for my mom keeping this from me, I still felt a bit of ecstasy.Alistair wouldn’t have to get married to me if Elsie came into the picture. It was pe
ELARAI didn’t remember how I fell asleep, but the light seeping through my curtains informed me it was past seven, and my face felt stiff from dried tears and somehow—somehow, it had been the best sleep I've had in weeks.Though it meant I was going to be late for school. I stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, trying to push behind whatever happened last night. I stood up from the bed, landing my foot on the ground. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt. Huh, finally. It was so hurtful yesterday that I almost thought I wouldn't get to work. If only it hadn’t sprained in the water…Don’t think about that, Elara.Get your breakfast and go to school.I walked downstairs, and Mom looked up at me from the dining room.“You woke up late today,” she said, a smile on her face.I frowned, “You should have woken me up earlier.” Thank God she didn’t. She chuckled, nodding her head.“Good morning, mom,” I hugged her tightly, “Thank you for yesterday.”Her hands patted my back before she pulled me
ELARAI was fine.My ankle was elevated, my book was open, my glasses were on and I was completely, entirely fine.My eyes went through the same paragraph for the sixth time and somehow, I still didn’t understand what I’d just read.I wanted to simply focus on the only thing I was willing to talk about so why on earth did Alistair’s face keep on appearing in my head?The twisted look on his face when he spoke.‘I would always be the problem to you, every damn time.’Of course, he was the problem. If he hadn’t returned—‘Stop putting yourself in positions where I have to choose between watching you or stopping it.’And he had watched for less than a minute before he rushed back into the pool. My chest tightened and I gulped, hitting my hand on it. Don’t think about it, Elara.Three seconds, maybe more. I had counted, or maybe I hadn’t. Maybe my brain just subconsciously took note of how still he was before he moved. Either way, he’d kept his promise and stood there. And I…didn’t know
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. I didn’t know whether to be furious at myself or at her. Both. Probably both. I was still wet when I walked out of school, taking nothing. Not even my bag. I’d just walked until the school was behind me and the trees were in front of me. And then, the cave.It looked the same as I’d seen it for the first time years ago. It didn’t change. Of course, it didn't. People were the ones who changed and blamed it entirely on something else. Everything else just stays the same way you left it, waiting for your return someday.I walked into it, sitting in the same spot. In the same darkness, waiting for nothing. I didn’t remember the last time I had felt this tired.NINE YEARS AGOI’d never found
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
ELARA“Luna Maya sent this cake to you,” I muttered, running the knife down the cake. I moved the big chunk onto my plate before picking up a fork.“She did? This cake?” Mom raised her brow.“Hmm,” I nodded twice as I let the cake melt on my tongue. Okay, fine. I admit I didn’t want to be close wit







