When Love Becomes a Weapon

Elena

***** The next morning *****

Darkness clung to me like wet cloth.

For a long moment, I didn’t know if I was alive or dead. Everything felt heavy… my head, my chest, my limbs. A dull ringing filled my ears like I was trapped underwater.

Then pain hit, sharp, deep, and too familiar.

Rejection pain.

My eyes flew open with a gasp.

The ceiling above me wasn’t the grand hall. It was plain white stone. Cold. Sterile. I knew this place immediately.

The Pack Infirmary.

I tried to sit up, but my body trembled violently. My wolf was still silent, broken, hiding somewhere far inside me. Without her strength, every movement felt like lifting a thousand pounds.

“Elena.”

That voice.

Even before I turned my head, I felt my stomach twist. Chase stood at the side of the bed, arms folded across his chest, looking down at me like I was a patient he barely cared to examine.

Not the mate who shattered on a marble floor because of him.

Not the Luna he humiliated.

Just… a problem to manage.

I pushed myself upright slowly, ignoring the sting along my spine. I needed to get out. Needed to breathe. Needed to be anywhere but near him.

“What do you want?” My voice cracked, barely a whisper.

Chase didn’t flinch. “You passed out in front of the entire pack. I had you brought here.”

Like he was doing me a favor.

I looked away from him, swallowing the bitterness rising in my throat. “I didn’t ask you to.”

“You didn’t need to.” His tone was clipped, annoyed. “You collapsing created chaos. Seraphina almost fainted from stress.”

Of course. His new Luna’s distress was more important than my pain.

“I’m leaving,” I muttered, swinging my legs off the bed.

“No.” His voice sharpened instantly.

I froze.

“No?” I repeated slowly.

He stepped closer. “You’re still a member of Silverfang. You’re not going anywhere.”

Heat surged under my skin, not anger, not yet, but disbelief. “You rejected me, Chase. In front of everyone. I don’t belong here anymore.”

“You’re still ours,” he said. “Until I say otherwise.”

The words hit me harder than the rejection.

Still ours.

Still his.

Even when he threw me away.

My heartbeat stumbled painfully. “Why do you care where I go? You made it very clear you don’t want me.”

His jaw flexed. “This isn’t about what I want. It’s about what the pack needs.”

I stared at him. “What does the pack need from me now?”

“You’ll continue your duties.”

“I’m not your Luna.”

“I didn’t say Luna.” His voice turned colder. “You will stay as the pack doctor.”

My chest hollowed. My breath caught.

A doctor.

Not a partner.

Not a mate.

Not even a respected warrior.

Just a tool. An employee.

It was like he was purposefully choosing the most humiliating option.

I shook my head slowly. “I can’t stay here. Not after what you did.”

He took another step forward until his shadow covered me. “You don’t get to walk away, Elena.”

My name sounded like a command in his mouth.

I clenched my hands in the sheets. “You rejected me. You replaced me. You humiliated me. Why would you want me anywhere near this pack?”

His eyes narrowed. “Because the pack still relies on your medical skills. Warriors get injured almost daily. You handle things Seraphina can’t. And until I find a replacement, you’ll continue your work.”

My eyes stung. Not from tears this time…..this was different. This was fury without fire, rage without strength.

He wasn’t keeping me because he cared.

He was keeping me because I was useful.

A tool.

A weapon.

A duty.

“So I’m good enough to fix your warriors,” I whispered, voice shaking. “But not good enough to stand beside you?”

He didn’t answer.

That silence cut deeper than any blade.

I forced myself to stand, legs trembling, but I stayed upright. Barely. Chase watched, eyes flicking over my posture. Not with concern, just assessing if I’d fall again.

I hated that he could read my weakness so easily.

“I’m leaving,” I said again, louder this time. “You can’t force me to stay.”

“Yes, I can.”

My heart stumbled. “You have no right…..”

“You’re still registered under Silverfang territory,” he snapped. “You’re still bound to pack law. And until I release you, you belong here.”

Belong.

That word felt twisted in his mouth.

I lifted my chin. “I don’t belong to you.”

Something flickered in his eyes….. annoyance? Anger? Maybe guilt? It was gone too fast for me to tell.

He stepped closer until he was inches away. I could feel his breath on my skin. His scent. The scent that used to give me comfort now made my stomach turn.

“You will stay,” he said, voice low. “You will work. You will follow orders.”

“And what if I refuse?”

His eyes hardened. “Then I’ll have you confined. You’re already weak. Don’t make things worse for yourself.”

A sharp breath punched out of me.

He wouldn’t.

He couldn’t.

But his face told me everything….. he would. He absolutely would.

“It’s not personal,” Chase added, softer but still cold. “It’s responsibility.”

Responsibility.

Not love.

Not bond.

Not fate.

He was using duty as an excuse to cage me.

I felt the humiliation settling deeper, sinking into my bones. My wolf whimpered, still lost somewhere inside me, unable to help.

“Get dressed,” he ordered. “Your shift starts at dawn.”

He turned to leave.

But halfway to the door, he stopped.

For a second, just one, he looked back at me. His expression was unreadable.

“You used to be stronger than this,” he said quietly. “Don’t make me regret letting you stay alive.”

Then he walked out.

The door clicked shut behind him like the lock of a prison.

I stared after him, shaking, breath shaky and uneven.

I wasn’t strong.

I wasn’t powerful.

I wasn’t anything right now.

Just broken.

But as I pressed my hand against my still-flat stomach, a strange warmth spread under my palm. A pulse. Something faint, tiny… alive.

My eyes widened.

Life.

A heartbeat.

No….two.

Two soft thumps fluttered inside me, like whispers begging to be heard.

My children.

Something inside me shifted.

For the first time since the rejection, a small spark lit inside my chest. Weak, flickering, but real.

I wasn’t alone.

I wasn’t empty.

I wasn’t done.

I didn’t know how to fight Chase.

I didn’t know how to escape.

I didn’t know how to protect myself.

But I knew one thing with absolute certainty:

I would do anything to protect the lives growing inside me.

Anything.

Even if it meant serving the man who broke me…

while secretly planning the moment I would finally run.

And when I did…

I would never let him find me.

Not until I was strong enough.

Not until I had everything I

needed.

Not until he could no longer use love, duty, or power against me.

Chase thought he had me trapped.

He had no idea who he’d just pushed to the edge.

I would survive him.

And when the day came…

I would never kneel again.