Chapter 10

Elvira

As soon as the door shut behind him, I rose from the bed like a ghost rising from still waters. I crept forward, my bare feet silent against the wooden floor. Slowly, I opened the door just wide enough to peek down the stairs.

He was still there.

Alpha Jaxon’s frame looked heavy with thought as he descended each step, his broad shoulders tight, his movements calm but unreadable. When his form finally disappeared around the bend, I let the door fall shut behind me and rested my forehead against the cool wood.

Breathe, Elvira.

I turned to the bed and sat on the edge, fingers brushing the bandages on my leg. I gently peeled back the corner, only to find the wound still red, still raw. Why wasn’t it healing? My kind healed in hours—even faster with the Alpha blood in our veins. Something was wrong.

Then it clicked. The wolfs-oat…..

A sacred herb, Mother Felen had said. Part of the BloodMoon bonding ritual. “Drink it without question,” she’d warned me. “Disobedience will bring shame to your bloodline.”

Was this my punishment?

A bitter laugh escaped my lips. Shame had already drenched me like a second skin. Being betrayed, thrown away like rot, locked away by my own kin… That was already shameful enough.

I stood and walked to the window, pulling back the curtain. The moon hung low tonight, covered by clouds. I could barely see past the tree line, but I knew what hide beyond, the cold truth. I was alone. Again.

My stomach growled loudly. I  hadn’t eaten dinner. I shouldn’t be hungry so fast, back in bloodmoon, I only survived mostly on stale bread and berries I found in the wild. I turned from the window and sat back on the bed, hands in my lap, but my ears caught something.

A knock. Twice. I froze.

There was no voice, just the wood vibrating softly with the sound. I didn’t move. I couldn’t even breathe. Then again.

Knock. Knock.

Then again.

Knock. Knock.

I stood, my feet hesitant, dragging me toward the door. My fingers hovered near the handle. But I remembered, Alpha Jaxon’s warning.

“Don’t open the door unless it’s me or a maid.”

In Blood Moon, we were taught caution. Wolfghosts roamed at night. Spirits that took the form of pups or even familiar voices. If you let them in, they cursed your bloodline. A shiver crept up my spine and settled into my shoulders.

No. I stepped back. My heart beat too fast, too loud.

Then, “Elvira.” The voice was gentle. Feminine.

Still, I hesitated.

“Elvira, it’s Brielle. Alpha Jaxon sent me with your food.”

Brielle? The same maid who had helped me before?

“Prove it,” I said without thinking.

“I added a sunflower to your water. You told me it was your mother’s favorite flower.”

That was true. I had whispered that to her during  breakfast yesterday when I thought no one was listening. I opened the door. Brielle stood there with a tray. Her honey-brown eyes met mine and offered a smile, but I could tell, she pitied me.

“You must be starving,” she said.

“I’m used to hunger,” I replied, regretting it the moment the words left my mouth. But I still stepped aside.

She placed the tray on the small table near the window and bowed slightly. “Call me if you need anything.”

I watched her leave before closing the door and turning to the tray. Rice. Beef broth. Steamed carrots. And yes, a little sunflower tucked into a tiny glass of water.

But my heart sank.

I was allergic to beef. Blood Moon healers had confirmed it when I was seven. And now, the one warm thing on the tray would only hurt me. I swallowed my disappointment, scooping just the rice and carrots onto my plate.

The room was quiet as I ate. Chewing slowly. Thinking too much.

When I was done, I pushed the tray aside, climbed into bed, and pulled the covers around me like a shield. The silence stretched into  the night. My thoughts drifted, dancing dangerously close to things I didn’t want to remember.

Jaxon. I tried to figure him out. He wasn’t like Deric.

No. Deric had been all charm on the outside, I don’t really know about him in person. Jaxon…he was colder, guarded, but there was something else. Something in the way he watched me, as if he was waiting for me to do something.

I couldn’t decide whether to hate him or feel safe around him. Maybe both.

….

Morning came before I was ready. The sun broke through the thick curtains. I stirred, not because I wanted to, but because sleep no longer offered peace. It never did.

I pushed the covers off and stood, brushing out the wrinkles in the clothes I’d worn for days. I needed a bath.

I moved toward the door instinctively. Then stopped.

Alpha Jaxon’s words echoed again.

“Don’t leave this room unless I say so.”

So I was a prisoner now. But not a prisoner forced to clean floors or fetch water. This time, I wasn’t allowed to do anything. And honestly? It was boring.

I turned toward the window and leaned against the cold glass. Outside, the pack grounds were beginning to stir. I saw wolves stretching, some shifting into human form. I envied them, their strength, their purpose.

What was my purpose now? Still, I found myself wondering where Jaxon was.

He said there was a meeting. But how long did these meetings take? When would he come back? Would he tell me more? Would he yell at me next time? Would he—?

I cut the thoughts short and walked back to the bed. Sat down. My hands shook lightly, more from frustration than fear.