Chapter 103

Dominic’s POV

The moon shone brightly as I was lurking outside the healer’s tent, just peering through a tiny slit. The whole camp reeked—blood and old smoke, rain on ash, that iron tang that never really leaves after a battle. Didn’t matter, though. I only noticed her.

Elora.

She was right there by Dante’s cot, her hand placed over his chest like she could heal him. The candlelight made her glow, but her face was hard to read. She looked soft and dangerous all at once.

And honestly, she looked like she was exactly where she belonged. Which, ouch.

I shouldn’t even be here, watching. Shouldn’t be feeling half of what I’m feeling. But after the mess we just crawled out of, when they hauled Dante back, leaking red, something in me just snapped. I followed her before my brain even caught up.

So there I was, heart pounding in my chest, my hands in my pockets, and my heart full of regret.

She leaned in, brushed Dante’s hair off his sweaty forehead, and whispered something quietly. He mumbled back, barely, and she smiled. Not the big kind, just this tiny, private thing, but it wrecked me.

I remembered when I used to get that smile. When she’d laugh at my terrible jokes while the world burned. She’d toss me that look in training, half challenge, half dare you to keep up. She was wild then. Sharp. Made me want to live up to something.

Still does, if I’m honest.

But now? She’s changed. Softer around the edges, maybe a little broken. And yeah, I know who to blame.

I frowned deeply. I wasn't mad at her. Not really. She didn’t ask for this... Dante’s a decent guy, brave as hell, throws himself into the fire for anyone who needs it.

Because she was never supposed to look at anyone like that. Not him. Not anyone. Just… me.

I looked up at the sky, tried to breathe, but all I got was restlessness and twitchy, bouncing shadows off the stars. But nothing hit me like seeing her with him.

Dante moved in his sleep, and she just pressed her hand over him, so gentle it made my insides twist. There was blood everywhere, and she didn’t so much as blink. That’s Elora for you, never afraid of the mess, always the last one to leave the pain behind.

I should have gone in, asked if she needed help, or just said something. But I didn’t trust myself not to say something stupid, or worse, something real.

Already lost her once. If I lost her respect too? Wouldn’t survive it.

I paced. I hated this... hated watching her care for someone else.

Go in there, he snarled. She’s yours to look after.

“She doesn’t need me,” I muttered. “Not anymore.”

The wolf just laughed, rough and irritated.

Liar.

I ignored him, eyes glued to her moving around the cot, changing a filthy bandage with steady hands. Candle flickered, and I caught the scar by her collarbone, my fault, that one. Couldn’t ever forget it.

That night, she took a blade for me. I knew then she’d never just be another soldier. She was everything. Even though I couldn't say it now.

“Stop it,” I hissed, shaking my head and trying to snap the memory off.

But the wolf? Never listens. He just keeps circling.

You keep pretending she’s your responsibility, he growled, all smoke and claws in my mind. But that’s not the reason you can’t walk away.

I squeezed my eyes shut, tried to clear my head, but her face was still there... her hands trembling, her eyes full of something I wanted.

Jealousy wasn’t my usual thing. But this wasn’t petty. This was the kind that leaves you hollow, because you already know you’re never getting what you really want.

God, what I want is her.

But I screwed that up. Made her my second. Kept her at arm’s length, played the noble commander, told her to obey, not to fight beside me.

I thought I was keeping her safe. Though it made me strong.

Turns out? It was just fear. Fear of what she made me feel.

Suddenly the tent flap shook, and I moved back, heart racing. Just the wind, not her. It didn't matter. My pulse was still a mess.

I watched her fuss with the blanket around Dante’s shoulders, her eyes going all soft... way too soft for my liking. Not just jealousy gnawing at me, though. Nah, something else. Admiration, maybe? Yeah.

She is brave. Loyalty that makes other people look weak. I spent years trying to keep her on a leash, and look at her now... fierce, wild, unstoppable. She led men into battle, and half of them never thought she could do it. She stayed with me when I was at my lowest. She bled for this cause. For me, even. Never once asked for anything back. Not a single thing.

Honestly, that kind of strength? It knocks the air out of you. Humbles you. Makes you feel small in the best, most annoying way.

You see it now, don’t you? my wolf muttered in my head, smug as hell. She was never supposed to be under you.

I sucked in a shaky breath. “Yeah. I know.”

She was never just your backup. Never just second best.

My throat felt tight as I watched her bend over Dante again.

She’s your equal.

Those words hit like a thunderclap, brilliant, awful, impossible to ignore.

I’d built these stupid walls between us for years. Alpha, second, all that command stuff, like it would keep me safe. But every time she pushed back, every time she refused to just obey, every time she went to war for what mattered to her…I saw it. The truth.

She wasn’t made to follow me. She was born to stand right next to me.

And, yeah, maybe that’s why it stung like hell to see her with someone else now.

Because I had my shot. Blew it, obviously.

The candle in the tent was burning low, shadows swallowing them up till they looked like one shape, her leaning over him, his hand all tangled in hers.

I made myself turn away. My steps felt like moving through mud, heavy and slow, the kind of tired you don’t get from fighting.

As I wandered out toward the edge of camp, my wolf piped up again. Quieter this time. Almost gentle.

You could still tell her.

I shook my head, voice barely audible. “She’s made her choice.”

And you’ll love her anyway.

Didn’t bother answering. Didn’t have to. We both knew the truth.

Even if it ruined me, I would love her.

By the time I hit the ridge, I was a wreck. First light creeps in, turning the ruined battlefield below into a world of silver and ghosts. Fires out, dead scattered everywhere, and this weird, total silence pressing in.

But back there, in that little tent, was the only reason I kept fighting.

Elora.

My equal.

My curse.

My everything.

And even with all that space between us, there’s one thing I know for sure.

I’d follow her into the fire, no question...

Even if she never turned around.