All Chapters of Mated to Death: Chapter 31 - Chapter 35

ELARA’S P.O.V.I didn’t sleep. Not that night or the next. I was distinctly aware of the creature beneath the floorboards, slithering around like the caged animal it was. The first night, I hadn’t even known it was there, despite being awake all night.But now, every noise made me jump, and I was wondering when it would break free, with Lucien too far away to restrain it. The sun had already risen, and the pack was moving about by the time I managed to get the energy to stand. Lucien wasn’t coming home any time soon, not if the soul-crushing hunger and exhaustion I could feel in our bond was anything to go by. It was draining me, and I wasn’t even the target of its wrath. One heartbeat, he had been here, and the next, he was gone. I felt more alone than ever here, trapped with a pack where people thought I was behind the attack. It made me uneasy. If someone were to attack me, I could defend myself just fine. But if multiple people got together to hurt me, without Lucien, no one

ELARAMy heart pounded. “Lucien just left! How could the king know already?”Thorne’s eyes flickered just for a second like he knew more than he wanted to let on, but I was over all the secrets. “There are… connections. If one Reaper goes missing, the palace knows. Especially this Reaper. Lucien is different.”I gripped the edge of the counter.I knew he was different. They had made comments about him belonging to the king, like a pet. “And what does any of that have to do with me? Why would the king want to send me a message?”Thorne’s gaze rested on mine, examining, weighing, like he was deciding how much I could handle.When he spoke, my shoulders finally dropped. Answers. It seemed he was the only one willing to give me answers to anything.“You, Elara Stormheart, are the reason the shadows are acting out. And the king does not like it when someone has an unstable gift.”“But my gift is not unstable,” I argued, looking over at Hera to see her gnawing on her bottom lip. “Yours mi

LUCIEN’S P.O.V.The darkness snapped shut behind me as I as was drug into it, my body shaking with anger as I felt the claws of the creatures in it grazing my back as I moved quickly past them.They weren’t listening. They were starving.“Elara!” I roared, lifting my hands to command the doorway to reopen to bring me back to her, but nothing happened. The shadows were just watching… waiting. “Take me back!”I knew she couldn’t hear me. The bond pulsed faintly in my chest, a thin thread, stretching between us. But it was too far. Too quiet.The creatures in the darkness answered instead.‘Hungry’The word slithered through my mind, and I felt the curse pull at my wolf, demanding payment. “I said take me back,” I snapped, trying to force my power through the darkness, trying to push the shadows open, but they resisted, snapping and clawing at me when I came near. I knew they would only let me back once they were fed. If I wanted to return to Elara, I needed to face them first. “Enou