Chapter 44
Chapter 44
Elisa’s POV
I woke up with a start. My chest felt heavy, as if the night itself had pressed me down. The ceiling fan turned slowly above me, each creak reminding me I wasn’t in camp anymore.
For a moment, I didn’t remember where I was. Then the smell of damp wood, mint, and cedar brought it all back. The escape. Roman. Sylvia’s threat.
I turned my head. Roman was beside me, I felt his hand trying to shake me, to wake me up. I wanted to wake up but some paralysis was dealing with me.
Roman, not seeing me wake up, walked back to the window. His hands gripped the armrest of the chair so tightly that his knuckles turned white. His jaw clenched and unclenched, his breath rough. Something was wrong.
“Roman?” I whispered.
He didn’t answer. His eyes stayed locked outside the glass.
I pushed myself up slowly, rubbing my eyes. “Roman, what is it?”
Finally, he turned to me. His face was pale, but his eyes burned with something I had never seen in him before—fear.
“Elisa…” His voice cracked slightly. “Stay back.”
My heart skipped. “Why? What’s out there?” I moved to see.
He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he stood and moved closer, his hand brushing my shoulder as though he needed to be sure I was real. “You have to promise me you won’t scream.”
I froze. “Roman, you’re scaring me.”
He lowered his voice. “He’s outside. Rhys.”
The name hit me like a time bomb. Are you sure of what you're saying? I questioned.
My chest tightened so hard I thought I’d faint. “That’s not possible,” I whispered. “Roman, that’s not—”
“It’s him,” he cut me off. His eyes flashed, wild. “I saw his face. He looked right at me. Elisa, he could be alive.”
For a second, the room fell into a deep silence. I grabbed the blanket and clutched it to my chest. Rhys. The name I had buried deep inside me. My first mate. My first love. The man whose absence had left a scar I thought I would never heal from. The man I lost more than three years ago.
“Alive?” My voice cracked. “No. He died, Roman. His parents told me everything.”
Roman nodded slowly, his throat bobbing. “I know. I believe you but yet, he’s standing on that street. Staring up at us.”
I couldn’t breathe. My wolf rumbled inside of me, restless, pulling me toward the window. I wanted to see. I needed to see.
“No.” Roman stepped in front of me, blocking my view. “Don’t. If you see him– if he sees you—I don’t know what will happen.” Roman was so terrified mainly for Elisa’s sake.
“Roman,” I whispered, gripping his shirt. “You can’t keep me from this. If it’s Rhys, if it’s really him, I need to know.”
He closed his eyes, torn. His chest heaved with every breath. “Elisa, he was your mate. And he was my brother. This will break us both. What if he's here for you?”
I swallowed hard, my heart racing. “I wanna see him.”
Roman hesitated, then stepped aside slowly. My body trembled as I approached the window. The glass was cold under my fingertips. I pressed my face closer and looked down at the empty street.
But it wasn’t empty.
A man stood directly under the streetlight, it wasn't too far from the road and the motel here. His body was tall, broad, his hair falling over his forehead in a familiar way that made my stomach drop. His face–oh God. It was him.
“Rhys,” I breathed.
The name escaped before I could hold it back.