[Elara's POV]
"Kill her! She has rejected our Alpha!" I couldn't tell if I was trapped in a dream again. What happened? Did I possibly die? I had faced this nightmare countless times, finding it hard even for a bit to forget what had happened, what led me here. Sometimes I wonder just when I would really be able to escape from my past trauma. If I ran, tried to escape from this town, would I be able to forget him, Rendell?
It only seemed like a lie I had been telling myself all this while.
I watched him standing right in front of me, mist covering the whole area as a grin made its way to his lips.
"Think you can run away from me that easily?" I heard those whispers from him. "I will find you, Elara. Find you and make you mine again. I am still your mate..."
I crumbled as he uttered those words—"mate." He still thought he could call it that.
If only I could break the bond so easily. He was someone cruel in the end, someone who wouldn't want me getting off the hook so easily.
"Why even try to live? Why do I hope for happiness each day?"
I could still remember it when I had lost all hope and was ready to die. The massive silver wolf that had swooped through, killing the black wolves. Those hopes sprung back, the ones I had buried. Yet, I wonder who I had that was waiting for me.
Rhea, Arabella, or possibly James.
Those tears poured down my eyes. I found myself back in the empty, dark void, drained of a single life. Why was I cursed to go through all this? Why can't I just be happy like the rest, stop running, enjoy my little time, possibly have a family of my own?
Just why?
My fists clenched, slamming on the ground. Just then, I heard the echo of howls in the whole place.
Some of the black wolves gathered, and between them, I saw him. I could tell from the wolf it was him, Rendell. He growled, teeth grinding, eyes darkening as, in a blink, he lunged at me, ready to strike me in an instant. I flinched, retreating, only to crumble back on the ground as all went blank.
I jolted awake, drenched in my own sweat, barely managing a breath, as I felt those sharp aches making their way to my head.
His claws had been reaching for me again, even though it was just a dream. The panic that shot through every part of my body was there, clenching my chest like a vice.
Gasping harder, I tried sitting up, only to meet a pair of dark, unreadable eyes.
"What was he doing here?" I wondered. It was Kieran. He was sitting on a chair by the bedside, his elbows on his knees, watching me as though he had been there for hours.
He was silent, didn't utter a word—a presence I hadn't seen from him for a while.
My memories were blurry as I tried recalling what happened after the black wolves attacked me.
"Where are we? How did I get here?" Those questions kept swirling in my mind, ones that I needed answers to in the end. But just before either of i could utter those words out...
Kieran leaned closer, his voice too low and almost too calm. "Rendell..." he said, "who is that?"
I froze just by the whisper he had uttered. How did he find out about Rendell? I only wondered the more.
My breath caught in my throat, my heart pounding like a drum.
He didn't look away; if anything, he leaned in closer, his eyes narrowing just a fraction.
"Your brother... your father? Or..." A sudden pause came before he then spoke, "Your mate?"
His words sent shivers down my spine. His gaze never left mine, as though he was awaiting some response from me, but I wasn't ready to give one. I couldn't answer. Wouldn't.
My eyes darted away from his gaze, like that alone might protect my secret, even so, I hoped it would.
It was something I had held to myself for years now and wasn't ready to let anybody find out—that my mate was the Alpha of the Frostbane pack.
Who knows what would happen next? Possibly, I would be taken back to him or worse, back in the hell he had placed me in before walking out.
No, that can't happen.
I could feel my heart pounding even faster just by the mere thoughts.
The gaze from Kieran seemed like one telling he already knew everything from the silence I had given out. And yet, he backed off, just a little.
Then, I watched it—that maddening smirk playing on his lips—as he said,
"Why so shy? You've already seen everything."
I blinked, "Wh-what?"
As it hit me, the memories I had been trying so hard to recall. I remembered now. Right before I passed out, I had caught a glimpse of him, shirtless, with a bloodied bare chest.
It was real, very real.
A strangled sound caught up in my throat as my face went up in flames.
"Oh my God..." I muttered, yanking the blanket up to my chin, wishing it would swallow me whole.
And the bastard actually laughed.
A soft, quiet thing, barely a chuckle, but it was there—that rare, dangerous curve of his lips.
I couldn't also forget the bloodthirsty way he had moved in killing each one of those black wolves. They deserved it, but yet something about the presence he had shown back then only tightened in my chest the more.
I also had little idea about him, only the fact that he had shown up under the Lycan King's orders. So I had heard.
I wanted out, not wanting to get involved with anything about him, but each time, it only seemed that was failing.
There was the illness, and now me being attacked. He had saved me countless times, but can I really let myself believe the word "safe" with him?