CHAPTER ELEVEN

~MARCEL~

ELARA WAS DISCHARGED ten days after the birth, and I had spent more of those ten days at the medical center than I would ever admit to anyone.

I found myself standing at the nursery glass at three in the morning, watching a very small chest rise and fall, watching her get stronger.

"She is all set, sir," a nurse said. "Ready to go."

I looked up. Elara was in a wheelchair, carrying the baby in her arms. She looked surprised to see me. She must have been expecting Bruce or someone else to come pick her up.

"Thank you," I smiled tightly as I signed off the documents.

The nurse waved at us as I helped Elara into the back seat and pulled out of the parking lot.

The car was quiet except for the small, soft sounds of the sleeping baby. I glanced at them via the rear-view mirror. Elara's gaze was pinned outside the window. I swallowed and asked, "Have you thought of a name?"

She shook her head. "Not yet..."

"You should," I muttered, knowing it sounded foolish. After all, her execution had been promised since the first day she stepped foot in my pack.

She looked away from the window and leveled her gaze at me. "You will not tell me what to do," she said, her voice turning hard.

"I am your alpha. In case you have forgotten what happened... you accepted my oath in that room.” I kept my voice level. “You are mine to protect now. If you had not nodded, you would not be sitting in this car.”

"What difference does it make?" She snapped. "Dying in the labor ward... dying at the hands of your executioner. It is all the same." She laughed bitterly. "Oh, it would not have satisfied you sadistic savages if I had—"

I pulled onto the shoulder so fast the tires scraped gravel. The baby squirmed a bit and settled. I twisted around in my seat. “You are not going to die, Elara. I have renounced the execution.”

My words took some seconds to sink in, and then realization dawned in her eyes. "What?"

"I said you have been—"

"I heard what you said, but... why would you do that?" She asked.

Now, it was my turn to be confused. Was this woman really questioning why I had decided to spare her life?

"Your pack elders..." she looked as if she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "What did they say?"

"I have not told them," I said as we eased back onto the road.

"So they still want to kill me," she said bluntly.

I snorted, focusing on driving. Roderick and Tomas would have to deal with my decision. They were going to be mad, but I did not care. "You should think of a name for the baby," I said again. She did not reply, but I could see her brain working.

We drove the rest of the way in silence, winding through pines as the mountains rose around us.

Elara did not speak again until we reached the gates. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"The pack mansion." I replied.

"Why?"

"Because you are staying there now. With me."

She stared at me. "I have been staying with Jane."

"And now you will be staying with me." I did not look at her. I kept my eyes on the road. "You might not have noticed, but you have more enemies in this pack than you can count. You are under my protection now.” I met her eyes. “You will stay in the pack house. You will not be cramping up in Jane's clinic any longer."

"I was not cramping up—"

"Elara." I finally looked at her. "You will stay in the pack house. That is not a request."

She wanted to argue. I could see it in the set of her jaw, but then she looked down at the child in her arms and nodded without saying another word.

****

The pack house was at the heart of the village. Bruce was waiting for us at the bottom of the steps.

I killed the engine and got out. I opened her door and stood there until she let me help her out. I could see that she was still weak by the way she leaned on the car door frame.

Bruce met me at the steps. "Jane has put together a surprise welcome home dinner," he said through the mindlink.

I groaned.

"I tried to stop her." He continued.

"You have never stopped her from doing anything in your life." I snorted.

He flashed a grin at me.

I held the door open for Elara. She stepped past me into the house and then stopped. The main hall had been transformed. Banners hung from the rafters. Wildflowers had been jammed into every vase and pitcher and cup in the house. A long table had been dragged into the center of the room and covered with a white cloth.

Jane stood at the head of the table, grinning. "Welcome home!" she said.

Elara stared at her. Then, slowly, a smile spread across her face. "Jane..." she started.

"Give her to me..." Jane crossed the room in three strides and scooped the bundle out of Elara's arms. "Oh, look at her. Look at her little face. She is perfect." She cooed and rocked and made noises I had never heard her make in her life. "Who's a cute little baby? You did so well."

I stood by the door and watched them.

"You are staring," Bruce's voice popped into my mind.

"Shut up." I growled.

"You are staring, and you have not blinked in eleven seconds." His voice had a touch of amusement in it.

"I said shut up." Bruce chuckled and in.

Jane herded us into the dining room, saying to Elara, "You need to eat. You lost so much blood."

Elara ate slowly at first, then her appetite opened up, and she began devouring the food.

"So," Jane said, settling into her chair. "Have you thought of a name for her yet?"

As Elara opened her mouth to answer, the door burst open, and Roderick came through first, his cane cracking against the floor, his good eye blazing. Tomas was behind him.

"You..." Roderick said. His voice shook with rage. "You sit at a table with that Grogel bastard and break bread with her?"

I was on my feet immediately, with Bruce at my shoulder. “Roderick. This is not the place.” He warned.

"You are in my house," I growled.

"And you are breaking bread with the enemy!" He countered.

Tomas pointed at the bundle in Jane’s arms. “The child is born! The Goddess’s protection is over. The law is satisfied. Now you keep your word, Alpha!”

“Lower your voice,” Jane said coldly. “The baby is right here.”

“I will not!”

“You will,” I said. But it was too late, the shouting had woken the baby, and her cry cut through the room like a knife. Something inside me snapped.

Without thinking, I seized Tomas by the collar and hurled him through the doorway. He hit the boards of the hall hard, and the breath went out of him in a rush. I hauled him up and dragged him out the front door and down the steps.

The yard was full with pack members. They had come out of their houses, drawn by the shouting. I looked at them, hundreds of them, and realized that it was time for me to announce it.