Chapter 74

Dominic’s POV

God, I loathed this bed.

The sheets were nice, though, pillows all plush and inviting, except to me, they felt like restraints, like I was handcuffed to the mattress. Every breath just reminded me how much of me had been eaten away by the poison. That was not supposed to happen. Alphas aren’t built for lying around, letting everyone else shoulder their crap.

Yet, there I was. Pathetic, right?

I tried to move a little, but even that sent pain to my chest. Every single attempt to haul myself upright ended with me shaking like a leaf and cursing under my breath. The urge to rip the whole bed apart was almost irresistible. My pack needed me. They were probably at each other’s throats without me, and I was stuck, watching from the sidelines, getting only the scraps of info Elora and Dante bothered to share.

I curled my hand into a fist, nails digging pains in my palm. I was the rock, the Alpha, the one everyone leaned on. Now I felt like a damn ghost haunting his own territory.

And through all that, there was Elora.

She showed up every morning, hair wrapped in a ponytail and dark circles around her eyes. She tried to hide it with makeup but failed. She sat next to me, talking like nothing had changed, like I wasn’t half-dead, like I could still handle council meetings and take care of the pack. She was out there putting out fires, holding things together, carrying way more than anyone had a right to. She should have cracked by now. Instead, she just took the weight, took me like she was born for it.

When she left, my chest always ached in a way the poison never managed. Different kind of pain, sharper somehow.

Tonight, that ache twisted itself into restlessness. The quiet was driving me crazy. So when she slipped back in late, I think I forced out her name, voice rough as gravel.

“Elora.”

She stopped dead, like I’d startled her. Turned slow, relief flickering across her face before she shut it down.

“You’re awake,” she said, setting down whatever she was carrying. “I didn’t expect that.”

“Awake,” I muttered, “and suffocating.”

She frowned, worry and annoyance ok her face. “You need rest, Dominic. If you...”

“I don’t want to rest.” I snapped, harsher than I meant, so I tried to recoil. “I want answers.”

She perched on the edge of the bed, the lamp light catching on her tired face, and man, there was steel in her eyes. “What answers?”

“About you,” I said. Just let it hang there.

Her eyes went wide for half a second, but she didn’t flinch.

“You’ve been the one holding the whole thing together,” I pushed, anger bubbling up because it was the only thing left. “You faced down the council, the doubters, took all my jobs like you were born to it. Why?”

She looked stunned, like no one had ever bothered to ask her that. “Because someone had to. Because the pack...”

“...needed you,” I finished, bitterness dripping. “Not me. Not Mira. You.”

Silence.

The only thing making noise was the fire crackling across the room. I hated how badly I sounded, but it spilled out anyway. “Tell me, Elora… who are you loyal to? The council? Dante? Or me?”

She sucked in a breath. For a second, I thought she’d bail. Instead she straightened her spine. “The pack. Always.”

That stung, honestly. The right answer, the one I was supposed to want. But I wanted her totelly me. Stupid, selfish thought.

I turned my face away, watched the shadows crawl up the wall. “You’ve changed,” I muttered.

“No,” she said, voice gentle but sharp. “You just never bothered to see what was always there.”

Well. That one hit harder than I’d admit. Regret twisted in my stomach with all the pride I hadn’t let go of. She was right. I’d dismissed her, underestimated her, treated her like some pawn. Now she was stepping up, and I couldn’t ignore it anymore.

I swallowed. “What about Mira?”

That slipped out before I could stop it.

Elora stiffened.

“What about her?” she shot back, defensive.

She'se been here?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady even though I was already bracing for disappointment. “Sitting with me when I’m half-dead? Cared enough to show up?”

Elora hesitated. Didn’t even need to say anything after that. I already knew.

“Truth,” I snapped, way harsher than I meant, honestly. “Just tell me.”

She didn’t even blink. Met my eyes, dead-on. “No. She hasn’t.”

That hurt.

Something in me just…fractured. Mira, who used to stick to me like a damn shadow, gone the second I showed a single crack.

“So where has she been?” I pushed, even though I already had a sinking feeling I wouldn’t like the answer.

Elora’s lips pressed tight. Her eyes flickered, like she was holding back words she didn’t want to spit out. “I don’t know. She keeps her distance. Says she’s busy, got other things to handle, but…” She let the sentence dangle, and I saw it again, hesitation, like a hangnail you can’t ignore.

“But what?” I said, maybe toosharplyp.

She let out a breath, slow and heavy. “But I don’t buy it.”

Figures.

The truth hit me like a mouthful of ashes. Mira, gone, MIA. Elora, right here, solid as bedrock. The difference made my chest ache, all tangled up with guilt.

I watched Elora, trying to read her. She didn’t shrink, didn’t twitch, just sat there steady, her hand on the blanket, close enough that if I’d reached out, I could’ve actually touched her. If I wasn’t such a coward.

“You gave everything,” I croaked out, voice all ragged. “I gave you…nothing.”

Her expression went soft around the edges. For a second, I thought she’d argue, try to pretty it up for me. But nope, just that clear-eyed honesty she always has, strong and quiet and stubborn.

“You gave me a chance,” she said, simple as that. “That’s enough.”

Gods, I wanted to believe her. Really, I did. But lying there, feeling like I was made of paper and old bones, I knew it wasn’t true. Not for her. Not for me. Not for any of us.

She got up to go, smoothed the blankets over me, gentle, careful, the way you’d handle something precious or broken. And as the door clicked shut, one cold, bright thought settled in my skull.

Mira was gone but Elora was the pack’s heart now.

And I had no idea what the hell that meant for me.