Chapter 45 Elara's POV
I went inside and immediately collapsed onto the bed. The emotional exhaustion hit me all at once. Everything that had happened to Selena's offer, Kaden's rage, the drive back, it all crashed over me and I felt like I might drown.
A knock at my door made me sit up.
"Come in," I called.
Damian entered, his medical bag in hand and concern written all over his face.
"Kaden called me," he said. "Told me what happened. Are you alright?"
And just like that, I started crying.
Damian set down his bag and sat beside me on the bed. He didn't say anything. Just let me cry, occasionally handing me tissues from the box on my bedside table.
When I finally calmed down enough to speak, I told him everything. The coffee shop documents the pack's struggles. The money. The demand that I abort the baby.
Damian's expression grew darker with every word.
"That woman is insane," He said when I finished. "Absolutely insane."
"Is she wrong though? About the pack struggling?"
"Wrong about what? That the pack has challenges? No, she's right about that. But is it wrong that it's your fault? Absolutely."
"But Kaden is distracted so everyone can see it."
"Kaden is dealing with multiple crises at once. Erebus attacks political pressure by a rejected mate carrying his child.”
“Yes, he's struggling but that is not because of you. That's because he made a series of terrible choices and now he's trying to fix them."
"Selena made it sound like if I left, everything would be better."
Damian took my hand. "Elara, listen to me very carefully. If you left, Kaden would fall apart. Completely. He is barely holding it together as it is.”
The only thing keeping him functioning is the hope that he can fix what he broke with you. If you disappeared, if you took his child away..."
.
He shook his head. "I honestly don't know what he would do but it wouldn't be good."
"So I'm trapped here for his sake."
"No. You are choosing to be here for your sake and the baby's sake. Because despite everything, this is still the safest place for you right now. Erebus is hunting you. Selena wants you gone, maybe dead. Where else would you go?"
He was right. I hated that he was right, but he was.
"What should I do?" I asked. "About Kaden. About everything."
Damian was quiet for a moment, thinking. "Give him a chance not because you owe him one. Not because he is the father of your baby. But because people can change, people can grow and from what I've seen, Kaden is trying. Really trying."
.
"What if he hurts me again?"
"Then you leave and this time, I will help you. I will make sure you and the baby get somewhere safe, somewhere far away where no one can find you."
He squeezed my hand. "But I don't think he will. I think he has learned his lesson the hard way, yes. But I learned it nonetheless."
We talked for another hour about the baby. About my memories. About my fears for the future.
Finally, Damian stood. "You should rest all this stress and it isn't good for you or the baby."
"I don't think I can sleep."
"Try. And if you can't, call me and I will come sit with you."
After he left, I lay in bed staring at the ceiling. My mind was racing, replaying everything that had happened today.
Selena's face across that coffee table. The suitcases are full of money. Her voice said "the child has to go."
Kaden's rage, his eyes shifting amber. The barely controlled violence radiating off him.
The howl when he had shifted so mournfully, so broken. Eventually, exhaustion won out over anxiety and I drifted off.
But sleep brought no peace.
I was running through the forest. My feet were bare, my clothes torn. Branches whipped at my face and arms, leaving bloody scratches.
Behind me, I could hear dozens of wolves hunting me.
I ran faster, my lungs burning, my legs screaming with effort. But they were gaining. I could hear their paws pounding against the earth, I could hear their growls and snarls.
One of them lunged. I felt teeth sink into my calf and I screamed, going down hard.
They surrounded me, not just a few dozen. Maybe hundreds of them with glowing eyes and bared teeth.
And at the front of the pack stood Selena. In her wolf form, beautiful and deadly. She shifted back to human, standing over me naked and triumphant.
"You should have taken the money," She said.
Then the wolves attacked. I felt them tearing at me. Ripping shredding I screamed and screamed but no sound came out.
I looked down and saw the blood in my stomach.
I woke up screaming.
Actually screaming the sound tore from my throat, raw and terrified.
The door burst open. The guards rushed in, weapons drawn.
"Miss Elara! What's wrong?"
I couldn't speak and could barely breathe. I was shaking so violently the entire bed was rattling.
"Get the Alpha," One of them said. "Now."
"No," I managed to gasp. "Get Damian. Please. Get Damian."
They hesitated.
"Now!" I screamed.