Chapter 45

Chapter 45
Elisa’s POV

The man looked up. His eyes met mine. Though not so close, he raised his face, he could hear from faraway. Now I wonder how this is still possible when he's dead. 

And I knew.

It was him.

Alive.

My knees buckled. Roman caught me before I could fall. “Elisa,” he said urgently. “Stay with me.”

But I couldn’t stop staring. Rhys’s eyes weren’t just alive, they were different. Sharper. Darker. They glowed faintly, almost unnatural, like a storm locked behind them. He smirked up at me, slow, deliberate, as if he had been waiting for this moment all along.

He wasn't looking so much like us in aura but someone foreign. Foreign to the earth here. 

Roman pulled me back, his hand gripping my wrist. “Don’t look at him!”

Tears burned my eyes. “How can I not? Roman, it’s him. It’s really him!”

Roman’s jaw tightened, his whole body shaking with rage. “He’s not the same. Whatever he is now, it’s not my brother. It could be the Devil trying to deceive us into letting our chance with them.

My throat tightened. My heart refused to believe Roman. My wolf howled inside me, clawing against my chest. Mate. Mate. Mate.

The same excitement of many years ago. 

I gasped, clutching my chest. The bond wasn’t gone. It had been buried, silent for four years. But now, it roared back to life, so sharp and raw that it made me cry out.

Something is definitely wrong somewhere. 

This wasn't supposed to be so. 

Roman’s eyes widened in horror. “Elisa?”

“It’s him,” I whispered, trembling. “I can feel it. The bond. It’s still there.”

Roman cursed under his breath, dragging me away from the window. “We need to leave. Now.” I felt jealousy in his tone. He could be wishing he never brought me here, then we won't meet Rhys. 

He pulled me toward the door, but I resisted. “Roman, wait. We can’t just run. If he’s alive, we need to know how. Why? Where he’s been.”

Roman spun on me, his eyes blazing. “Elisa, listen to me. We lost him four years ago as you said and his parents–” 

“Leave his parents,” Elisa flipped her fingers. “You can say what I told you.” She flinched her face up. 

“I wouldn't let you think nothing is wrong.” Roman complained. “And now, whatever that person is outside, it’s not the brother I knew. If you go to him, you’ll be walking straight into a trap.”

“You don't even know if that's Sylvia in another form.” Fear seeped through but I quickly pushed it away. 

I shook my head, tears streaming. “No. She has no such power to do that.”

“Elisa, look at me!” he snapped. His hands gripped my shoulders, firm but desperate. “You’re my mate now. My responsibility. If I lose you—” His voice broke. “I can’t.”

The room spun again, torn between the two wolf bonds. The old one, reignited like fire, and the new one, steady and strong, standing right in front of me in Roman. I need to choose one. It's a difficult task. 

I opened my mouth to answer, but then the knock came.

A slow, deliberate knock at the door.

Three times.

Roman froze. Goosebumps appeared all over his skin. His eyes flicked to the handle, then back to me. “Stay behind me.”

My heart thundered. “It’s him.”

The knock came again, harder this time. Then a voice.

“Elisa.”

The sound nearly broke me. It was Rhys. The same voice I remembered, deeper now, rougher, but still his.

Roman growled low in his throat. “Don’t answer. Don’t say a word. It could be a doppelganger.”

I covered my mouth with both hands, but my chest ached with the force of holding back. My wolf howled louder, demanding I run to the door, demanding I claim what was mine.

“Elisa,” Rhys said again, softer this time. “It’s me. It’s your mate. Open the door.”

Tears slid down my face. I looked at Roman, who shook his head violently. His eyes pleaded with me.

“Please don't,” he was almost on the verge of crying. 

Silence took over, suspense gaining grounds. My body shook as I fought the urge to move. Every nerve screamed for me to open that door.

Then, slowly, the handle turned.

Roman shoved me behind him, his body shielding mine. His growl filled the room, deep and dangerous. Perhaps he wanted to be the one to step up to open the door. 

The door creaked open.

And the man I sensed to be Rhys stepped inside.

Alive. Breathing. Smiling like the ghost I had begged to see again. 

Could it be Rhys’ ghost?