INICIAR SESIÓNELARA’S P.O.V.Lucien’s head fell back, and he laughed. It wasn’t a light chuckle. It was a deep belly laugh that made his cheeks go adorably pink. I blinked up at him, stunned with my jaw dropped. He was laughing? My heart was shattered… and he was laughing.“You think this is a reward?” he asked between breaths, running a hand down his face. “You think losing our bond was some kind of gift?”My throat tightened, and I wanted to speak, but I didn’t know if I could without crying.“Elara,” he cut in, stepping closer, cupping my cheeks. “When we stepped out of the Source, and I couldn’t feel you, I felt like I was dying. I was ready to summon the Gods and demand answers from them right then and there, but I needed to get you to the pack doctors.”The words hit something deep inside me, making my voice shake as I spoke again.“But you didn’t want a mate…” I whispered, but paused when I saw the shadows around him stir slightly, as if reminding me that they were still here.“I didn’t w
ELARA’S P.O.V.The great hall was louder than I had ever heard it.Laughter bounced off stone walls, glasses clinked together, and the long tables were overflowing with food and drinks as the pack celebrated.My parents sat near the center among the warriors, right next to Thorne. Sarah was wedged between them, her face still blotchy from crying. She hadn’t stopped touching them, holding their hands, gripping their sleeves, as if afraid they would vanish if she let go.I was too, but I had been guided to the head table… a place I no longer belonged. I glanced across the room where Lucien stood with a glass in his hand, smiling and laughing with Braden as if he didn’t have a care in the world, until his eyes met mine. Then I would see the flicker of something unsettling. Without our bond to tell me what he was feeling, I didn’t stand a chance of knowing what he was thinking. He could have been thrilled by our new situation, and I had no way to know until I could get him alone tonigh
ELARA’S P.O.V.Walking through the pack house felt different. It wasn’t because my parents had returned from the dead or the newfound lightness in my chest. The air felt cleaner, the shadows softer, and the lights brighter.It felt as if life had returned to the house.My parents walked on either side of me, their shoulders brushing mine occasionally as if they, too, were afraid this might dissolve into a dream.Lucien walked ahead of us, silent and powerful, but even his shoulders weren’t as tense as they used to be. At the bottom of the stairs, I paused as the front doors were thrown open and a familiar and very tired-looking old man rushed in. His silver hair was disheveled from his patrol shifts, but his eyes were bright with excitement, widening the moment they landed on my parents. “Tom,” Thorne breathed, rushing forward to hug my father. My father smiled, clasping his hand on the man’s back. “Thorne.”“You stubborn bastard,” Thorne muttered thickly. “You always said I was
ELARA’S P.O.V.The steady thrumming of my heart beat was the only sound in the empty void as I ran through the darkness. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t find him, but I knew I needed to. Lucien’s voice was like a faint whisper, teasing me, calling to me. So, I chased it deeper, trying to find my way back to him, but I was stuck.I wasn’t sure how I had gotten here, trapped in the darkness, but I knew I had to get out. Each beat of my heart felt like the clicking of a clock, counting down to my end. I could only remember pain.A tremble moved through my fingers as I kept my hands up in front of me, hoping I would find something but terrified of what it would be. Then my legs began to tingle, and I paused, looking from side to side into the nothingness around me, trying to listen for his voice.“Elara,” Lucien’s voice was muffled, still far away, but a sudden and unexpected warmth on my cheek made my hand fly to it. My fingers only met my skin, but despite the undeniable evid
HERA’S P.O.V.I paced as we waited, unable to stand still. Something was wrong, I could feel it in my bones. My wolf grew more agitated as the silent forest became darker.It felt like even the trees were holding their breath, waiting to see if Lucien and Elara would come back out.Braden shifted, stepping out of formation for the first time since we arrived, and I stopped, turning to face him. "What? What is it?" I asked as he scanned our surroundings. I couldn’t feel anything close, but he seemed to sense something that I didn't. "They're retreating from the border," He said, though he sounded confused, like it wasn't right. "That's a good thing, though, right?" I asked, spinning to face the pond. For a long moment, I watched it, sensing something was off, but I wasn't able to place my finger on it. As I approached, the low waves stopped rolling, and I was finally able to see that the once glossy surface was cloudy, turning it grey. Braden stood beside me, shoulders tense, a
LUCIEN’S P.O.V. I slammed into him mid-lunge, knocking him sideways before his claws could reach Elara’s throat. We crashed to the floor, rolling further away from Elara. My shoulder hit the stones, then my hip, but I didn’t let go. I wrapped my arm around his torso and drove my claws into his side, dragging him with me as we skidded to a stop against the far wall, fighting to keep him as far away from her as I could. He moved faster than any reaper I had ever faced… faster than I had ever been able to move. His hand snapped around my throat, fingers digging into muscle with crushing strength, and he drove me further backward into the stone. “You dare to attack me?!” he hissed with astonishment. I bared my teeth and slammed my forehead into his face, making him loosen his grip. The sound of his nose crunching encouraged me on, and I kicked him back before lunging. My shoulder collided with his stomach as I took him to the ground again. My claws sliced through his chest, barely







