Damien’s POV~The sound of fists and knives being slapped could be heard in the training ground. This went on while wolves thrusted and grunted with one another in sparring matches. I wasn’t really a fan of getting all sweaty, but today was different. I just wanted to get lost in it anyway. I ducked from one of the warriors as our swords met, and produced low sparks. But then, I lost my hold on my blade as my mind kept replaying the sound of her voice. I could hear Elara’s voice, repeatedly saying those same words that had broken me some hours earlier.The warrior slammed me backwards, and my shoulder hit the floor heavily. I tumbled, breathing hard, but before I could move, he already had his blade at my throat. “Yield,” he panted.I frowned at him, although the truth was evident. My head wasn’t here. “Stop,” he repeated, more loudly this time.I muttered some curses under my breath as I slapped the sword away, although I knew I was defeated. My inner wolf snarled in my chest, pacing
Elara’s POV~The burial ended with a lot of muttered condolences and a very thick and killing silence. A couple of the healers muttered something to me as they each walked passed me with their heads down and their voices low. One of them squeezed my hand gently before whispering something to me about the goddess watching over the little soul. I had tried to nod, but my neck was stiff.The elders, however, said nothing to me. They only paused for perhaps a moment, looking, stone-faced, before shifting away again as if my pain were not something to be considered. Their silence was more painful than any words could have been. It felt as if I was being judged. I felt my mother’s arm squeeze around me. “Pretend like though you don’t see them,” she whispered, as if she could read my mind. “They don’t matter. None of those things matter right now.”While her hand rubbed up and down my back. Without thinking twice, I pressed my body against hers, seeking her warmth. She’d never been like thi
Elara’s POV~I sat on the bed with trembling hands in my lap as my voice broke the silence.“I was hoping I could do it,” I murmured, looking out at the silence in front of me.“I thought I could look after her the way Jasmine would’ve liked. I wanted to bring her up in love and safety.”“I never wanted her to ever feel lonely. I guess … I guess I just thought, I thought maybe it would make me deserving of being alive again.”My tears were coming out even faster, and my chest was hurting with each word.“But now she’s gone. Just like that. And I can’t make sense of it. I had vowed to myself that I would do better this second time. And that I wouldn’t fail again. But she’s gone, and I…” My throat closed, and I could barely draw a breath. “I don’t even know what’s left of me.”My tears trickled down, and I clutched the sheets, shivering. “You know how it feels? To have died once knowing you’d never have another chance and then wake to see that you do? And then you try…. The goddess know
Damien's POV~Lyra wouldn’t stop crying. Her cries echoed through the stuffy hallway as I escorted her to one of the guest rooms. Although my mind wasn’t even here. It was still in that room with Elara shaking in tears and crying in a way that broke me in places I couldn’t say out loud."Damien," Lyra's voice trembled, her fingers clutching my sleeve. “Please don’t leave me.”I said nothing. I continued walking on, blocking out the crack in her voice, blocking out the way her breath seemed to not come out steady. I had one thought going round and round in my head. And that thought was Elara.Her cries haunted me. They hadn’t stopped following me since I’d walked out, and every step I took away from her made it worse. I never should have left her that way. I had known it, my wolf had known it, but here I was, holding Lyra against me, and shaking as though the world just crumbled beneath me. Maybe it had.When we stepped into the room. I had to sit her down, as I brought her a cup of wat
Damien's POV~“Get. Out.”I broke the heavy silence with my voice. The elders got scared, I could see it, but none of them made a move to flee. The smug and calculating look on their face only fueled the anger in my chest.One of them, a silver-haired man with cold eyes, lifted his chin. “You forget yourself, Damien. You have no authority here. This is a pack matter…”I seized him by the collar before he could finish his sentence. I had my fist curled in his fabric as I yanked him off his feet so that he was inches from my face. “Utter another word,” I snarled, my voice guttural, “and I will personally see to it that your bones are what they plant next beneath this roof.” Gasps rippled amongst the others who stood in fear.“Damien!” another elder barked. “Unhand him at once!”I pushed the silver-haired man against the wall with a force that even the wooden slats there broke from the force. He struggled to breathe, his face reddening, as my claws gently tightened on his throat. I wanted
Elara's POV~The door was pushed in with force immediately, and two healers sprinted, their gowns billowing around them as they darted to us.“Lower her, fast,” one said.“No!” I held the baby close, rocking her in my arms as if it could bring her back. “She’s just sleeping, wake her up! Please, wake her up!”“Elara—” My mother’s voice broke. She was pale now, her lips quivering as she spoke.The healers were silent for several moments. Then they reached out to take the baby from my hands in a very careful manner and placed her on a bed. The other placed his ear to her chest, as the other two placed their fingers on the sides of the small neck.The silence was deafening.At last, one healer stood up, his eyes weary. “She’s gone.”That revelation cut like a knife to the heart. My knees buckled. “No… no, no, no!” I let out a guttural, angry scream as I tried to snatch the baby up, holding her lifeless body again. “You’re wrong! She’s not gone! She’s not—”“Elara!” My mother embraced me,