Chapter 5

[ELARA]

I drive with both hands locked on the wheel so tight my knuckles hurt. The city lights blur past the windows.

I sent Marcus home earlier because the environment is becoming too dangerous for a human, and I don’t want him to get involved in the supernatural bullshit. Leo sits in the back talking to Mr. Whiskers like the cat can answer him. I keep nodding at whatever he says so he will not notice how hard I am breathing.

Three days. That is all I promised. Three days for the deal. Then we leave.

My mouth still tastes like him. Kaelen’s kiss. The way his hand squeezed my ass in that hallway. Heat still sits low in my stomach and I hate myself for it. Five years and one touch and I am right back there. Soft. Stupid. Wanting.

I bite the side of my thumbnail until I taste blood.

The hotel suite feels too quiet. Leo throws his backpack on the couch and his crayons spill everywhere. Mr. Whiskers jumps up beside him and also starts licking his face like nothing is wrong. I lock the door and lean against it. My hands will not stop shaking.

“Mama, is the wolf man coming here?”

“No, baby. He’s staying at his place.”

Leo frowns. “But he smells like me.”

I sit down and pull him close. “Some people just smell the same. It doesn’t mean anything.”

He does not look convinced. He goes back to coloring while I stare at the wall and try to breathe normal.

My phone lights up. Kaelen.

Stay at the hotel. Tomorrow morning, nine o’clock. My office. Bring Leo if you want. Or don’t. Your choice.

I stare at the screen until it goes dark. Your choice. Like he suddenly cares after throwing me out like trash. I’m not replying that.

I put Leo to bed with the cat curled beside him. He is already half asleep with his mouth open and one arm thrown over Mr. Whiskers. I stand there watching him. He has Kaelen’s nose. Kaelen’s stubborn little chin. Sometimes when he laughs I hear the man I used to love and it cuts me open all over again.

Sleep does not come. Every time I close my eyes I see Kaelen’s face when Leo melted that door handle. The purple flash in his eyes. And the kiss. His mouth claiming mine like he still has the right. My body melted against him like no time had passed.

I hate that most of all.

Morning comes too fast. I dress Leo in clean jeans and a soft blue sweater. I put on a black blouse and heels. When I look in the mirror I look like the woman who runs Ember Industries.

We drive to the Shadow-Claw compound in silence. The gates open without a word. Two guards nod at me like they already know who I am.

Kaelen is waiting in the lobby wearing a dark suit with no tie. His hair is pushed back like he has been running his hands through it all night. His eyes find Leo first and something soft moves across his face before he locks it down.

“You’re early,” he says.

“I don’t like waiting.”

He turns and walks. We follow him down a long hallway that smells like wood and power. Leo holds my hand tight and whispers that the wolf man is really tall.

His office is at the end of the hall. He closes the door and the sound of the lock sliding into place makes my skin prickle.

“The deal is simple,” he says. “Your company supplies the northern packs with medical tech. All that’s left is your signature.”

I stay standing. Leo climbs into one of the big chairs and starts spinning it.

“Why the sudden interest in Ember?” I ask.

“Because I want you close enough that I can protect what’s mine.”

“Leo is not yours.”

“He is.” His voice drops low. “I smelled it the second he walked in. That boy carries my blood, Elara. Nothing you say will change that. And I didn’t mean him”

I didn’t miss that last statement at, but I’m choosing to ignore it.

“Then let’s get this over with so I can leave.”

He does not take the papers. “Stay for dinner tonight. Just dinner.”

“No.”

“Please.”

The word comes out rough. Like it costs him something. For one second I see the man who used to hold me in the kitchen at two in the morning. Then the memory of the council room slams back into me. The papers. The cold voice telling me I was never enough.

Leo stops spinning the chair and looks at Kaelen. “Can I see your wolf?”

Kaelen’s whole body goes still. “What?”

“Mama says you’re a wolf man. I wanna see. Do you have big teeth?”

Kaelen stares at Leo like someone just handed him the whole world. “Maybe later. If your mama says it’s okay.”

Leo looks at me with big hopeful eyes. “Please Mama?”

Before I can answer the office door opens without a knock.

A woman walks in. Tall. Blonde. She looks Perfect but her smile is totally fake.

Seraphina Blackthorn, The pure-blood Luna he married after he threw me out.

She looks at me first. Then at Leo. Then at Kaelen. Her fake smile never slips.

“Am I interrupting something, Alpha?” she asks in a sweet voice that makes my skin crawl.

Kaelen stands up so fast his chair scrapes the floor. “Seraphina. This is not a good time.”

She ignores him and walks straight toward Leo. “And who is this little one? He has your eyes, Kaelen. How interesting.”

My blood turns to ice. I step between her and my son. Leo grabs the back of my blouse and hides his face against me.

Seraphina’s eyes narrow. “I heard rumors last night. Something about a child who breathes fire in the council room. I didn’t believe them until now.”

Kaelen’s voice drops into a growl. “Get out.”

She tilts her head. “The council has a right to know if the Alpha is hiding a dragon hybrid under our roof. Especially one that belongs to the human he once discarded.”

I feel the heat rise under my skin. The dragon in me wakes up slow and angry. Leo presses closer. His little hand finds mine and squeezes.

Kaelen moves so fast I almost miss it. One second he is behind the desk. The next he is between us and Seraphina, his body blocking her completely.

“You will leave this office right now. You will not speak of this to anyone. And if you ever come near my son again I will exile you myself.”

Seraphina’s smile finally cracks. She looks at me over Kaelen’s shoulder one last time.

She finally turns and walks out. The door closes behind her with a soft click that sounds too final.

Leo peeks out from behind me. “Mama, why was that lady mean?”

I cannot answer. My heart is slamming against my ribs. Kaelen turns around slowly. His eyes are purple now. Full wolf. Full rage.

“She’s going to talk,” he says. “By tonight every pack in the territory will know about Leo.”

I hold my son tighter. “then we’re leaving now.”

Kaelen shakes his head. “You leave and they hunt you both. Stay and I can protect you.”

Outside the window the sky is turning dark. Storm clouds roll in fast. Thunder rumbles low.

I kiss the top of Leo’s head and look straight at Kaelen.

“If anything happens to him,” I say, voice quiet and deadly, “I will burn this entire pack to the ground. Including you.”

Kaelen does not flinch one bit.

“I know.”

Thunder cracks overhead.

Somewhere in the compound a wolf howls.

I am not sure if that howl is a warning or a promise.

In the space of exactly three seconds, the windows explode inward with no warning. Glass flies across the room like rain.