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ELARA’S P.O.V.The words hit harder than any threat, settling deep in my gut. If I wouldn’t come back, how could I guarantee Lucien would?They echoed in my head, louder than the screaming souls, louder than the low waves hitting the sand before me. “That’s a lie. He seems just fine in there.” I spat, forcing my gaze away from the shadow and back to Lucien. “Plus, he wouldn’t let that happen.”Lucien didn’t answer right away, and my eyes flicked back to him, seeing his jaw clenched and his eyes squeezed tightly shut. All of his muscles were flexed and coiled. The water surged higher, climbing his thighs as he was pulled further from me. “Elara,” he said finally, and my heart sank at the sound of my name on his lips. Not a warning. Not an order.It almost sounded like a goodbye.“You have to trust me. I’ve done this before. ”My throat burned. “I don’t trust it,” I snapped, jerking my chin toward Death as it hovered at the edge of the pond. My throat tightened as he smiled at me aga
ELARA’S P.O.V.The clearing seemed to brighten around it, somehow making the darkness of the shadow figure before me even more prominent and defined… as if he were real.The mist rising from the black pond thickened, swirling over the water like a storm building before it moved from the water, reaching for Lucien. My wolf pushed forward, hackles raised, ready to fight, but my body refused to listen. My feet were pinned, not by the earth, but by fear. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t even shift. The shadows were holding me prisoner, and I hated it. I searched inside me, reaching for my gift, needing to find the light I had used before, but as Lucien swayed forward, my panic clouded my control. His chest rose and fell in uneven breaths, and I knew whatever had happened to him, he didn’t have too much longer. “Leave him alone!” I growled at the shadow before me. I had shocked him once before with the kiss when he took Lucien’s form, but now he was just darkness, and he wouldn’
ELARA’S P.O.V.Running didn’t help my mind, but my wolf was sprinting with ease, enjoying the fresh air, and trying to get past the ache forming in my chest where the bond pulled tight. I felt heavy, uncomfortably so, and left a throbbing pain just under my skin. Each stride only sharpened the pull in my chest, making it hard to breathe. It felt as if a rubber band had been tied to my soul and was being hauled in the opposite direction.Lucien.“We are getting too far from him. We have to turn back.” I said to my wolf, hearing her huff in annoyance that I was disrupting her run. We had lost the guards long ago, which I knew I would hear about later, but I couldn’t fault her. She had been locked in my mind for so long that even I had begun to feel stir-crazy.My wolf didn’t hesitate, though. Instinctively, I turned, following the pull of our bond and heading to the other end of the pack land. There was no way to reach Lucien tonight to ease the pain, but every step I took that brou
ELARA’S P.O.V.I could feel Abigail’s daggers stabbing into the side of my head, but she also wasn’t being subtle about it from where she sat three seats down from the Luna’s chair… where I smugly sat. The angrier Abigail became, the more prideful I felt. It was a surprise to me that she didn’t demand to sit here after she had claimed it only a few nights before. Then again, I had to wonder if Lucien said something to her before he left. The thought should have made me feel secure in my position with the pack… with Lucien, but it didn’t.The weight of the ultimatum I had just been given was pressing down on my shoulders, threatening to crush me. I had to either sign my soul over to the King or risk losing my sister and mate. It felt like it should be an easy answer, but there wasn’t one I could give without talking to Lucien first. “The king sent for her,” A woman whispered as she leaned over to speak to her friend, but there was nothing private about their conversation in a roo
ELARA’S P.O.V“Lucien,” I whispered, feeling the bond thrumming with worry, but also anger. Wherever he was, it felt like he was in danger, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. “I don’t know where he is,” I admitted, being completely truthful. “But I do know that he will be back very soon, and based on the fact that you waited until he was gone to show your face, I assume you’ll also want to be gone before he returns.” The messenger ground his teeth together in anger as I insulted his strength and confidence. He knew I was right, but being called out would be humiliating for him and do me no favors here.I kept my face blank, masking my emotions, but my wolf was desperate to get out, not liking how long she had been cooped up and hating the feelings coming from Lucien even more. It felt like she was trying to claw her way out of my skin.Sarah flickered again to my side, and I spared her one more glance just as the space around her changed. For the briefest of moments, she
LUCIEN’S P.O.V.Every hair on my arms stood on end as my wolf growled with anger. “Let me see you.” The voice said again, and my eyes narrowed as the shadows recoiled, pulled back from me. My anger rose as the shadows betrayed me, revealing my face to the man in the forest. That was three times in the past few days that they did not listen…that someone else commanded them. The black fog drew tight as it moved around me, crawling up my legs and back, clinging to my shoulders like they were trying to hide behind me.My wolf’s hackles lifted. “Show yourself.”Wind stirred the ash and smoke, blowing it between us as the smell of burning corpses grew thicker. None of them would work for what I needed anyway. Their souls were already gone. I needed to find the wolves still dying. A shape stepped out from the tree line, barely visible behind the smoke until the wind shifted again, clearing the space between us.At first, he looked like just another man, tall and lean, dressed in a dark,







