Se connecter(Elara’s POV)The cell door creaked open just enough for the shadow to slip inside. My heart seized half terror, half relief when I recognized the familiar figure crouched in the dim light.“Kaelen…” I whispered, my voice cracking.He crouched closer, careful not to make a sound. The faintest trace of moonlight caught his profile, strong, sharp, impossibly beautiful. My chest ached with a longing I tried to deny, but the exhaustion, the pain, the isolation all of it made his presence a lifeline.“I had to see you,” he murmured. “I couldn’t leave you here like this.”I wanted to reach out, to throw myself into his arms, but my wrists were shackled, and my body still ached from the council’s cruelty. Instead, I simply stayed still, letting him approach.“You’re hurt worse than I imagined,” he whispered, eyes scanning my bloodied dress and the bruises forming along my thighs. His hands hovered over me for a moment, and I could feel the
(Elara’s POV)The shadow lingered just beyond the faint light, and I dared not move. My wrists throbbed where the silver cuffs bit into my skin, but all I could think of was the presence before me. Powerful. Familiar. Impossible.A whisper, barely audible, floated across the cold stone.“Elara…”I froze. My breath hitched. The voice soft, deliberate, threaded with concern made my chest tighten in a way I hadn’t felt in days. I wanted to leap forward, to grab him, to feel the warmth of him beside me, but instinct told me to wait. Wait. Observe. Protect yourself.The chains rattled lightly as I shifted. My power hummed, instinctively reaching, sensing the presence in the darkness. My heartbeat synchronized with the energy that radiated from him strong, protective, steady.Kaelen.I had barely allowed myself to hope. After the council’s betrayal, after Clara’s gloating, after Damon’s cold indifference, I hadn’t let anyone
(Elara’s POV)The door slammed behind me, the iron echoing like a death knell. Darkness swallowed everything immediately the smell of damp stone, the chill biting through my bloodied dress, and the sharp tang of iron in the air. My wrists ached where the silver cuffs bit into my skin, but the cold was worse. It crept into my bones and settled there, heavy, unyielding.I stumbled forward, the chains clinking with every step. The guards had gone before I even had a chance to call out. Alone. Truly alone.I sank to the floor, the rough stone cold against my bloodied thighs. I pressed my hands to my belly, fingers brushing against the damp fabric and sticky warmth. The babies kicked small, desperate movements that made me ache with fierce love. They are still here. They are still alive.I leaned my forehead against the wall, pressing into the unforgiving stone. My breaths came fast and shallow, my body trembling, my thoughts racing. Wh
(Elara's POV) I reached down, fingers trembling, I wanted to confirm… and I did. Warmth. Wet. I lifted my hand. Blood. Fresh. Bright. Spreading. My white dress—chosen so carefully, so quietly, to look soft, pure, to make the council see me as something other than tainted—was ruined. The scarlet stain bled through the front like an accusation, like a warning, like a curse. I had wanted to look like the innocent one. Now I just looked... broken. I clutched my belly, breath shallow, hands slick, too afraid to move, too afraid to not move. And Clara… She stood there. Looking right at me like she saw nothing. “Oh dear,” she said with mock sympathy, her voice syrupy and cold. “So sorry, but your trial’s been rescheduled.” My ears rang. What? She stepped closer, smiling like she’d just won a game. “It’s this morning, not tomorrow. I do hope you’re prepared… because after this trial, you might actually want to run.” She grabbed my arm. I didn’t resist. I couldn’t. I couldn’t
(Elara's POV)I reached down, fingers trembling, I wanted to confirm… and I did.Warmth.Wet.I lifted my hand.Blood.Fresh. Bright. Spreading.My white dress—chosen so carefully, so quietly, to look soft, pure, to make the council see me as something other than tainted—was ruined. The scarlet stain bled through the front like an accusation, like a warning, like a curse.I had wanted to look like the innocent one.Now I just looked... broken.I clutched my belly, breath shallow, hands slick, too afraid to move, too afraid to not move.And Clara…She stood there.Looking right at me like she saw nothing.“Oh dear,” she said with mock sympathy, her voice syrupy and cold. “So sorry, but your trial’s been rescheduled.”My ears rang.What?She stepped closer, smiling like she’d just won a game. “It’s this morning, not tomorrow. I do hope you’re prepared… because after this trial, you might actually want to run.”She grabbed my arm.I didn’t resist. I couldn’t. I couldn’t find my voice. No
(Elara's POV)The forest was humming.Not with wind. Not with birdsong. But with something older—a pulse beneath the earth, like a second heartbeat I’d forgotten how to hear.I was barefoot, dressed in white. The trees whispered as I passed them, their leaves shifting like murmuring mouths. The moon above was swollen, crimson, watching me.“Come home,” a voice said.I turned.She was standing just beyond the fog. My wolf.She looked like me—but wilder. Taller. Hair darker. Eyes like a starless sky.Her bare feet didn’t stir the ground. Her long fingers curled and uncurled by her sides as if she didn’t know what to do with them. And yet… there was power in the way she stood.She took a step forward.“I waited,” she said.Another step. Her voice echoed inside my bones, not my ears.“I called. You gave them your silence.”“I had no choice,” I whispered, heart thudding.“You did,” she replied. “You gave me away for them.”She reached out her hand.And I, trembling, reached back.The momen







