[6]

ELENA

“Get her back to her room.”

Aiden’s voice was sharp, but I barely heard him over the pounding of my heart.

The guard released my arm, and another stepped forward to help me. I pulled away from him instinctively, refusing to let anyone touch me, but my knees nearly buckled again.

“Stop being stubborn, Elena,” Aiden snapped. “You can barely stand.”

I wanted to tell him that his concern was a little too late. I wanted to remind him that only minutes ago, he had ordered the guards to prevent me from leaving, as though I were a prisoner instead of his estranged mate.

Instead, I pressed a hand against my abdomen and concentrated on breathing.

The pain was easing, but the sight of blood on my trousers had terrified me more than I wanted to admit.

“What happened to her?” Aiden demanded.

“She needs a doctor,” one of the guards answered.

“Then call one!”

“No.” I finally found my voice. “I don’t want you calling anyone.”

Aiden turned toward me, his jaw tightening. “This is not the time to argue with me.”

“It’s never the right time for you to listen.”

His expression hardened.

For a moment, neither of us spoke. Then he gestured impatiently toward the house.

“Take her upstairs. I’ll send the pack doctor.”

I didn’t fight when the guards escorted me inside. I was too exhausted, and I had already learned that trying to escape through the main gate was a mistake.

Aiden followed us all the way to my bedroom.

When I reached the door, I turned to face him.

“Leave.”

His eyes narrowed. “You are bleeding, Elena.”

“And I am asking you to leave my room.”

“You could be carrying my child.”

My entire body went cold.

He was looking at me carefully now, as though the thought had only just occurred to him.

I forced myself to maintain a blank expression.

“Your concern is touching,” I said quietly. “But whatever happens to me is no longer your business.”

“Elena—”

I shut the door in his face.

The lock clicked into place, and I leaned against it, trembling.

For several seconds, I couldn’t move.

Then I hurried to the bathroom.

I stripped off my trousers and examined the bloodstain with shaking hands. There wasn’t much blood, but that offered little comfort. My body had already endured four miscarriages. The memory of those losses was enough to make my chest tighten.

I cleaned myself carefully, changed into fresh clothes, and sat on the closed toilet seat while I waited for the pain to return.

It didn’t.

I rested both hands over my stomach.

“Please,” I whispered. “Not yet. Just give me a little more time.”

I didn’t know whether I was speaking to my baby or the Moon Goddess. Perhaps it didn’t matter.

After a while, I returned to the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed.

My suitcase stood open beside the wardrobe, its contents scattered across the floor. I stared at it, then at the locked door.

My first escape attempt had failed before I had even crossed the gates.

Aiden now knew I intended to leave. He would increase the guards, restrict my movements, and probably convince himself that he was protecting me.

He would call it concern.

I knew better.

If I tried the same thing again, I might never get another opportunity.

I needed a proper plan.

First, I had to stop thinking like the Luna of Blood Moon Pack.

The Luna had servants to prepare her clothes, guards to accompany her, and people who noticed whenever she stepped outside. The Luna was expected to attend ceremonies, answer questions, and remain beside her Alpha.

Elena Reese, on the other hand, was a woman who needed to disappear.

I began by pulling everything out of my suitcase.

I had packed too much. Three dresses, several pairs of shoes, a thick robe, and toiletries filled most of the space. I couldn’t carry all of it without slowing myself down, and I certainly couldn’t afford to attract attention with a large suitcase.

I selected two changes of clothes, undergarments, my medication, and the smallest toiletries I could find. I kept my identification documents and medical records, then counted my savings again.

Every note mattered.

I left the expensive jewellery behind, including the bracelet Aiden had given me on our first anniversary. It was beautiful, but selling it would raise questions if anyone traced it back to the pack.

My wedding ring remained on the dressing table.

I didn’t even look at it this time.

Next, I considered the exits.

The main gate was impossible now. The guards had been given direct instructions, and Aiden would probably be waiting for me to try again.

The servants’ entrance was risky because the kitchen staff began arriving before dawn. The underground storage passage led toward the outer grounds, but I had never used it, and I wasn’t certain whether it was still accessible.

Then I remembered the old laundry corridor.

It connected the eastern wing to a narrow service staircase that ended behind the greenhouse. Years ago, when I first moved into the packhouse, I had followed a housekeeper through it. The staircase was rarely used because the steps were uneven and the door at the bottom stuck during wet weather.

It wasn’t a perfect escape route.

But it was better than walking straight toward the guards again.

I would need to leave after the midnight patrol changed shifts, when the servants were asleep and the corridors were quiet. I would avoid the main road and walk through the trees until I reached the old boundary trail.

From there, I could make my way toward the nearest town and find transport.

I had no guarantee that I would succeed.

But I couldn’t stay.

Aiden might send the doctor, and the doctor might discover my pregnancy. If that happened, Aiden would know there was a child he could claim as his heir. He might even convince himself that keeping me inside the packhouse was for the baby’s protection.

I couldn’t allow that to happen.

My child would not become another possession in a house where I had slowly forgotten how to belong to myself.

A knock interrupted my thoughts.

“Luna?” a maid called. “The Alpha has asked me to bring you some tea.”

I looked at the clock.

It was barely half past ten.

“Leave it outside.”

“Lady Elena, he said I should make sure you drink it.”

I closed my eyes.

Even now, he couldn’t leave me alone.

“I’m not thirsty.”

There was a brief silence. Then I heard the tray being placed on the floor.

“I’ll be back to collect it later, my lady.”

Her footsteps faded.

I waited several minutes before approaching the door. Through the narrow gap beneath it, I could see the shadow of the tray, but nothing else.

I didn’t open the door.

Instead, I returned to the wardrobe and hid my smaller bag behind a stack of folded blankets.

The rest of the evening passed painfully slowly. I forced myself to eat a little bread and drink water, then lay down long enough to let my body recover. Every few minutes, my thoughts returned to the blood I had seen on my clothes.

I was frightened.

I would be lying if I said otherwise.

But fear couldn’t be allowed to make my decisions anymore.

When the packhouse finally grew quiet, I dressed in dark trousers and a plain sweater. I tied my hair back, slipped my medication into my bag, and checked that my documents were secure.

Then I stood before the mirror.

The woman looking back at me was pale, exhausted, and terrified.

But she was no longer waiting for Aiden Conner to choose her.

I turned off the bedside lamp and listened.

A distant door closed. Somewhere downstairs, a guard laughed softly before his footsteps faded.

The corridor fell silent.

I took one last look around the room, then lifted the smaller bag onto my shoulder.

This time, I would not use the main entrance. I would not argue with the guards. And I would not give Aiden another chance to stop me.

I unlocked the door slowly, slipped into the dark corridor, and pulled it shut behind me.

I had taken only three steps toward the old laundry staircase when a voice whispered from the shadows.

“Going somewhere, Luna?”