Chapter 142 Elara's POV
Kira grabbed them from one of the bodies we ran out into the corridor. Immediately we heard shouts of more masked men running toward us.
But then I heard different familiar voices.
"Now! While they are distracted!"
The Blue Moon Pack warriors Kaden's men from the main chamber were fighting their captors. Breaking free of their chains. Attacking the masked men who'd been guarding them.
"This way!" Kira pulled me down a side passage. "We have to go now!"
"Wait! We have to free them! We have to save-"
"We can't! There are too many guards! If we stop, we'll be captured again!"
She was dragging me forward. "Your baby needs you alive! Kaden needs you alive! We have to run!"
She was right. I hated it, but she was right.
We ran through the twisting cave passages. Behind us, I heard fighting screaming the sounds of battle.
Then we reached the cave entrance, the main opening that led outside. But there was a barrier. A shimmering wall of dark magic blocking our escape.
"No!" Kira slammed her fists against it. "It's sealed! They sealed it when the alarm went up!"
I pressed my hands to my stomach where Adrian was kicking frantically. Where the lunar pulse was glowing bright blue even through my clothes.
And I remembered what Damian had said. That Adrian was blessed that he carried power from the heavens.
"Stand back," I told Kira.
"What are you-"
I pressed my glowing stomach against the barrier.
The lunar pulse flared bright enough to blind. Bright enough to illuminate the entire cave the barrier shattered like glass.
"Run!" I screamed.
We burst out of the cave into daylight. Into fresh air and freedom.
But we could hear them behind us, the masked men giving chase. Their voices raised in that strange language calling for others to join the hunt.
"This way!" Kira led me into the dense forest. "We need to find cover! Lose them in the trees!"
We ran for what felt like hours, my sprained ankle screaming with every step. My pregnant belly made me slow and clumsy but fear kept me moving.
Finally, we found shelter in a hollow beneath a fallen tree. We crawled inside, gasping for breath.
"How far behind are they?" I whispered.
"Close too close." Kira was listening intently. "We can't stay here long."
Another contraction hit stronger than before. I bit down on my hand to keep from screaming.
"The baby," Kira said, her eyes widening. "The labor's starting again."
"I know the medication must be wearing off."
"We need to keep moving-"
"I can't! I can barely stand!" Another contraction. Tears streamed down my face. "Adrian's coming now whether we're ready or not."
Kira looked panicked. "I don't know how to deliver a baby! I don't know what to do!"
"Neither do I!" I was crying now from the pain. From fear from exhaustion. "But we don't have a choice!"
Another contraction worse than the others. I felt pressure felt my body preparing whether I wanted it to or not.
"Okay," Kira said, forcing herself to calm down. "Okay. Lie back. I'll... I'll figure this out."
But before she could do anything, we heard voices.
Men approaching multiple footsteps crunching through the forest.
"They found us," I whispered.
Kira positioned herself in front of me protectively. "I won't let them take you. I won't let them take the baby."
The footsteps got closer and closer then figures appeared through the trees. Men armed advancing on our position.
Kira's claws extended and she prepared to attack even though she was outnumbered, prepared to die protecting me and Adrian.
The men raised their weapons.
Then, suddenly, they stopped, lowered their arms and stepped aside.
Making way for someone a figure emerged from behind them. Tall, strong , moving with the confidence of an Alpha.
Kaden.
He was covered in blood and his face was bruised. He looked like he'd been through hell but he was here he was real he'd found us.
"Elara," he said, his voice breaking.
I started crying full, body-shaking sobs. "You came, you actually came."
He was moving toward me when Kira stepped into his path.
They stared at each other, looking at each other for the first time in fifteen years.
"Kira?" Kaden's voice was barely a whisper. "Is it really you?"
"Hello, brother," She said. "Took you long enough."
Then she collapsed all the strength that had kept her going through our escape, finally giving out.
Kaden caught her holding his sister for the first time in fifteen years. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I didn't find you sooner."