Chapter 81 Elara

Chapter 81 Elara
For several long seconds, nobody spoke.

The roots of the silver tree continued to glow.

Elara's name pulsed beneath the stone.

The creature roared somewhere deep below the city.

And Fenrir remained completely naked.

Jess blinked.

Then blinked again.

Then slowly looked at Rowan.

"Is nobody else seeing this?"

Rowan squeezed her eyes shut.

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Good. I was worried I finally snapped."

Fenrir frowned.

"What are you talking about?"

Jess stared.

Actually stared.

Then pointed dramatically.

"YOU."

The ancient werewolf looked down at himself.

Then back up.

His expression remained completely serious.

"I fail to understand."

Malric immediately turned away.

His shoulders started shaking.

Corvin closed his eyes.

"Of course you don't."

Fenrir looked offended.

"I have done nothing."

Jess made a strangled noise.

"You have done nothing?"

"Correct."

"You shifted."

"Yes."

"You became human."

"Yes."

"You forgot the entire concept of pants."

Fenrir looked genuinely thoughtful.

"As I recall, pants were not part of the transformation."

Jess slapped a hand over her face.

"Oh my God."

Elias doubled over laughing.

Actually laughing.

Lucien stared at him.

"I hate all of you."

Corvin pointed toward the surrounding buildings.

"Find clothes."

Fenrir looked at him.

"No."

The silence that followed was beautiful.

Corvin blinked.

Jess gasped.

Malric completely lost control of his laughter.

"No?" Corvin repeated.

Fenrir folded his arms.

A terrible decision.

An absolutely terrible decision.

Jess immediately pointed again.

"See? Now it's aggressive."

"How is it aggressive?"

"It just is."

Fenrir looked genuinely confused.

"I was a wolf ten minutes ago."

"Then go be a clothed wolf."

"I don't see the urgency."

Corvin looked ready to throw him into the underground monster.

Rowan could actually feel the frustration pulsing through the mate bond.

It was getting stronger.

Rapidly.

Dangerously.

Fenrir glanced at him.

Then at Rowan.

Then back at Corvin.

Realization dawned.

"Oh."

Corvin narrowed his eyes.

"Oh?"

The ancient werewolf nodded slowly.

"You think I'm a threat."

Jess wheezed.

Malric walked away entirely.

Corvin looked deeply offended.

"I do not."

"You do."

"I don't."

"You absolutely do."

"I don't."

Fenrir looked at Rowan.

"He does."

"He does," Jess agreed instantly.

"Traitor."

"I've known you for years."

Fenrir nodded.

"He's territorial."

Corvin made a sound Rowan had never heard before.

It sounded suspiciously like a growl.

The ancient werewolf brightened.

"Ah. There it is."

"Go."

"Where?"

Corvin pointed violently toward the building.

"PUT ON PANTS."

The hidden door opened.

Fenrir looked at it.

Looked at Corvin.

Then at Rowan.

A grin slowly appeared.

The first real grin anyone had seen from him.

"Oh, I like him."

Corvin looked personally betrayed.

Jess collapsed against Malric laughing.

"You two are going to be best friends."

"We are not."

"That's exactly what future best friends say."

"We are never becoming friends."

Fenrir nodded thoughtfully.

"Interesting."

Corvin pointed toward the building again.

Fenrir finally relented.

"Very well."

He started toward the door.

Then stopped.

Looked back.

And said the worst possible thing.

"For what it's worth, Rowan, I approve."

The mate bond exploded.

Corvin froze.

Jess screamed.

Malric nearly hit the ground laughing.

And Fenrir calmly disappeared inside the building before Corvin could commit a felony.

The door closed behind Fenrir.

The laughter lingered for a few moments afterward.

Not because anyone wanted to keep laughing but because they needed to.

The city was full of ghosts.

Sometimes a ridiculous argument about pants was easier to process.

Eventually the silence returned and this time nobody rushed to fill it.

The roots beneath the silver tree continued to glow.

Elara.

The name pulsed through the stone.

A mother she couldn't remember.

A woman everyone else seemed to have lost.

The door opened again.

Fenrir stepped back into the courtyard.

Dressed at last.

Jess immediately pointed.

"See? Was that so hard?"

Fenrir looked down at himself.

"I preferred the previous arrangement."

Corvin closed his eyes.

"Of course you did."

Malric laughed again.

The tension eased.

Then Fenrir looked toward the glowing roots.

Rowan swallowed.

"What happened to her?"

The question had been waiting since the moment her name was spoken.

Fenrir approached the tree.

His fingers brushed the dark bark.

For a moment, he looked less like a werewolf and more like a man carrying the weight of centuries.

"Elara was born here."

The roots brightened.

Silver light moved beneath the stone.

Images flickered within them.

A young woman racing through a garden.

Dark hair flying behind her.

Rowan's breath caught.

The woman looked familiar.

Not because she remembered her but because she saw pieces of herself.

Fenrir smiled faintly.

"She was always climbing things."

Jess immediately pointed at Rowan.

"There it is again."

"I do not climb things."

Every eye turned toward her.

Even Corvin.

Rowan sighed.

"Fine."

Fenrir's smile widened.

"She once climbed the western wall because someone told her she couldn't."

The image shifted.

Young Elara balancing on a stone wall while several horrified adults shouted below.

Rowan snorted.

The sound escaped before she could stop it.

For the first time, Fenrir looked pleased.

"She would have liked that."

The words settled heavily.

Because suddenly Elara wasn't a legend.

She was real.

A woman who laughed.

Who climbed walls.

Who got into trouble.

Who lived.

The image changed again.

Elara older now.

Standing beneath the silver tree.

A child in her arms.

A small child.

Dark curls.

Wide eyes.

Rowan froze.

The child was her.

The sanctuary disappeared, not physically, emotionally.

Everything narrowed to the image.

To the woman holding her.

Elara's expression softened as she looked down at the child.

Rowan's throat tightened.

The image faded.

Too quickly.

Fenrir's voice was quiet.

"You were everything to her."

Rowan stared at the place where the image had been.

"You knew me?"

Fenrir nodded.

The answer hit harder than expected.

"You used to pull my tail."

Jess burst out laughing.

"What?"

Fenrir looked completely serious.

"You thought it was funny."

Rowan covered her face.

"Oh no."

"You were correct."

That somehow made it worse.

Even Corvin laughed.

The sound startled everyone.

Especially him.

Fenrir continued.

"You followed me everywhere."

The memories flickered again.

Tiny fragments.

Small hands, silver fur, laughter.

The emotions struck harder than the images.

Because for the first time since entering the city, Rowan wasn't seeing history.

She was seeing family.

The realization hurt.

Because she had lost all of it.

Every piece.

Every memory.

Every person.

Fenrir's expression darkened.

The grief returned.

The roots pulsed beneath the stone.

And Rowan knew the easy part was over.

"Why did they erase her?"

The question shattered the moment.

Fenrir looked toward Elias.

Then Lucien.

Neither spoke.

Neither stopped him.

The ancient werewolf looked back at Rowan.

"Because Elara discovered something."

The sanctuary fell silent.

Far below the city, the creature roared.

Fenrir's gaze hardened.

"The Council told the world your bloodline died protecting the city."

The roots brightened.

The image of Elara appeared again.

Standing beneath the silver tree.

Fenrir's voice dropped.

"The truth is..."

The roar beneath the city shook the sanctuary.

Silver leaves trembled overhead.

And for the first time, fear crossed Fenrir's face.

"Your mother was murdered."

Silence.

The roots exploded with silver light.

And Elara's image turned toward Rowan as though she had heard him.