05

ELARA

Shit.

My eyes were wide. My breathing was rapid and heavy.

How had he known? Was it the fight?

My eyes caught the smirk behind Kael’s gaze and suddenly it struck me.

I had been a fool.

He didn’t just swap with Nyx during the fight because he was a pompous asshole. It had been a trap.

Suddenly the words — “I smell every secret” echoed in my head.

I tried to push against their hold, the tape dug into my back, pinching my ribs suddenly made me even more self aware, making my breathing more laborious. If I didn’t arrest this situation then it would only grow worse.

“Cat got your tongue?” Kael hissed but Damon’s eyes held a flicker of emotion in this cocoon of spiraling anger and hate.

“I…I can explain,” my breathing was raspy. My throat burned.

Kael’s hands suddenly encased my throat. My eyes widened and my pulse increased. At first it wasn’t tight but the more we locked gaze…the more it seemed Kael wasn’t the man who stood before me.

His eyes widened and his grip tightened. My heartbeat raced in my ears as I horridly began to feel the pressure in my throat.

My sense of survival instantly kicked in and I began to thrash against his hold.

“Kael?” Damon called but Kael wasn’t listening.

I continued to hit his arm, my hands fighting for anything to hold as his force against my throat stretched.

“Ple–ease” I begged. Unsure of what I was even going to say if I was given the chance.

The moon emblem around my neck bit against my skin. How had it come to this, mother?

If he saw the tape, I was done for. If he saw the necklace, I was done for.

It looked as though there was no winning no matter how I tried.

Gradually, my already depleted strength began to fade.

I caught Damon’s eyes grow wide.

“Kael!” He shrieked and tapped Kael urgently but all I could see was Kael’s rage glazing his eyes.

I knew that he had every right to be angry after all, it was my pack that led the war against theirs years ago. I had been a trainee then, I had watched my father’s general slaughter a handful of their people.

I remember cowering and fidgeting, recalling my choices and asking myself all of the deep questions. That battle had been my first lesson.

“Kael!!” Cassidan barked and my vision started to grow dark spots. Maybe this was penance for trying to hard?

Maybe I should just let everything go.

“Let him go. Now!” Cassidan ordered and Kael gave a low grunt. His eyes watered for a minute, an emotion other than rage passed through them.

Just when I thought I would see the light, he released me and I collapsed to the floor.

Bouts of air rushed into my lungs. I wheezed and coughed. My back and sides burned and tears leaked out from the sides of my eyes.

My hands were encircled around my neck. Damon tried to come close and I instantly flinched.

He stepped back.

Kael interlocked his hands behind his head. His body vibrating with what I didn’t know.

He wasn’t the one who had nearly died and yet, he was fuming?!

I stood up slowly, my eyes murderous and my claws out. Kael was going to wish he had killed me because I was about to kill him.

Damon was the first one to notice what I was about to do and just as I lunged, a loud venomous snarl escaping my lips. He stood in front of me and caught my waist.

“You bitch!!” I shrieked in fury but Kael didn’t budge.

“I’m going to get you for this,” I fumed but Kael walked away from me like nothing happened, going straight to one of our coaches to sit.

As though everything that had happened In a span of ten minutes had been dreamt up, he crossed his legs, his eyes were flat but the fuming rage still bounced off of him.

Damon eventually let me go and gestured to a seat far away from Kael. Good choice.

But I didn’t move. Cassidan was the next to sit and then Damon while I stood there, my chest still rising and falling. My eyes never leaving Kael’s.

“Are you going to explain or do I have to finish the job,” Kael mocked and I snarled.

“I dare you,” I fired and Cassidan shushed both of us as though we were children.

“Sit down.” He commanded but I stood still. I was not his brother. I will not be commanded.

“Now.” He ordered and my gaze snapped to him. I couldn’t explain it but my muscles, my bones…everything suddenly worked against me.

A compulsion suddenly entangled me. A certain discomfort spread across my chest as it tightened.

I stood my ground. It was nothing I’ve ever felt.

My fingers curled, my breathing was erratic. My bound wolf stirred and shifted uncontrollably.

What was happening to me!?

A scream bubbled in my throat but instead an aggressive groan escaped my throat and the more I disobeyed, the more the effect was unbearable. Huge veins popped on my head as I tried to defy him.

“Don’t make him tell you again,” Kael warned and as though I was no longer in control of my own limbs, I walked forward and sat at the spot Damon had pointed out.

I sat down with wide eyes. Shocked at how my body responded to them. What sort of sorcery was this!?

“Why don’t you tell us why I should trip your throat out?” Kael asked in a manner I knew was a step away from utter violence.

“Kael,” Cassidan warned and he made a grunting sound.

“Speak, “ Damon’s soft voice carried the room. Surprisingly, a sense of comfort cradled my chest but my mind was still at alert.

I looked at each brother, my life now at their hands. I had been the cause of this mess, I needed to find a way to fix it and fast.

“Are you thinking of lies!? Would you like me to choke it out of you?” Kael was itching for a fight and I snarled in response.

“It’s either this or you let the school handle it and trust me. You’re not going to like that,” Cassidan said and that put a pause to my hateful thoughts towards Kael.

Whether I liked it or not, Kael was just the tip of the iceberg. Lupinemore wasn’t known to be an easy school. They “took care” of weaklings. Parents who sent their kids here knew the cost. It was a battlefield. One that I couldn’t afford.

I gave a heavy sigh and looked to the floor. It was time for the truth.

I looked straight from the floor to the boys, taking in all of their expressions and without wasting a breath…

“You are not wrong,” I said and Kael’s eyes turned murderous.

“I am bloodrage scum,” I whispered. My heart breaking.

I watched in slow motion as Kael started to stand up.

“But only in my fighting,” I finished and the boys face scrunched up in confusion.

“What do you mean?” Damon asked.

I looked to him with the blankest expression on my face.

I swallowed the lump crawling up my throat. My fingers curled against the edge of the seat. Shame blistered my skin.

“I’m not… I’m not from the Bloodrage pack.” I stuttered. No one moved. The silence was hunting.

“The man who trained and assaulted me is,” my voice broke.

Self loathe crawled up in my chest. I averted my eyes in shame.

I fought against the painful sting of the tears behind my eyes as the room went cold. Damon couldn’t keep his eyes straight. Cassidan seemed to have given out a long exhale.

“So no, you’re not wrong. I had been trained to kill…” I locked eyes with them. The realization that I may have won them over brought a soothing balm to my shameful soul.

“But he also hurt me. I fought for my life using the skills he taught and if that makes me scum…” I held their gaze.

“Then so be it but don’t you ever mistake me for him. I am not Bloodrage and I can never be,” I finished.

Damon moved first. I didn’t expect warmth and I flinched for a second, attempting to move out of his path but Damon was unusually fast.

His hands wrapped around me before I even remembered to breathe. I froze. The warmth from his hug gradually spread and my body began to relax on instinct.

I hated how my body had been betraying me countlessly but just for a heartbeat, I allowed myself to lean into it. My eyes even closed for a breath.

Cassidan gave a curt nod when I opened my eyes and for a moment I let myself bask in the safety net my lies had created.

That was until Damon released me and my eyes met Kael’s.

The asshole’s face stretched into a murderous grin.

“Bullshit,” Kael said.

He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees as my heartbeat picked a race.

Shit.