Chapter 97 Elara's POV
"You're not going," Kaden said, his voice dropping to something dangerous. "I won't allow it."
"You won't allow it? Who do you think you are?"
"I'm your Alpha, your mate, the father of your child. And I'm telling you that leaving this pack right now, with Erebus actively hunting you, with someone here who cast a spell on you, with everything else happening, would be suicide."
"Then I will die free rather than live as your prisoner."
"Don't say that, don't even joke about dying."
"I'm not joking! I'm telling you how I feel! And you're not listening!"
I moved toward the door. "I'm going to pack. I'm leaving with Helena today you can try to stop me, but-"
"I will lock you in your room, I will post guards outside your door. I will do whatever it takes to keep you here."
"Then do it, prove to me that this is about control and not protection. Prove that you are exactly what I think you are: an Alpha who sees me as property."
Something in his expression cracked. "That's not fair."
"Isn't it? You marked me without permission. You make decisions about my safety without consulting me. You threaten to imprison me rather than let me leave. How is that not treating me like property?"
"Because I love you."
The words hung in the air between us.
I had known, somewhere deep down, that he felt this way. But hearing him say it out loud was different.
"You love me," I repeated.
"So you are going to lock me up, keep me prisoner. Take away my freedom. That is what love looks like to you?"
"That's what desperation looks like. I can't lose you, Elara. I can't go through that again."
"Again? What are you talking about?"
"My mother. My sister. I lost them both. I watched my father fall apart from the grief. I swore I would never let myself care about anyone that much because the pain of losing them was too great."
His voice was raw. "And then you came along. And I fell in love with you despite trying not to. And now I'm terrified every single day that something will happen to you. That I will lose you the way my father lost everything."
"So you are going to control me to prevent that loss? That's not love, Kaden, that is fear."
"Maybe it is but it is fear that keeps you alive."
"No. It is fear that makes us both miserable."
I left the room before he could stop me. Went straight to my old quarters and started packing what little belongings I had.
Kaden followed, of course he followed.
"Please," He said from the doorway. "Please don't do this."
"I have to for my own mental health. For my own sense of self. I need space from you, from this pack, from everything."
"For how long?"
"I don't know, a few weeks, maybe longer."
"And what about the baby?"
"The baby comes with me. Helena has healers in her pack. I will be taken care of."
"By strangers. In an unfamiliar place while Erebus is actively hunting you."
"Erebus is hunting me here too. At least there I will have some freedom."
We argued for hours back and forth. His desperation against my determination. His fear against my need for autonomy.
Neither of us were willing to back down by evening, the stress had taken its toll.
The baby started kicking hard, violent movements that left me gasping.
"Something is wrong," I said, sinking onto the bed.
Kaden was beside me immediately. "What? What's happening?"
"The baby. It is kicking too hard like yesterday."
"I'm calling Damian-"
"No. Just... stay with me. Please."
He sat beside me on the bed, his hand carefully placed on my stomach. The baby kicked against his palm and I saw him flinch.
"That's strong," he said.
"Too strong. It hurts."
We sat there as the sun set, Kaden's hand on my stomach, trying to calm the baby through touch and proximity.
Slowly, gradually, the kicking subsided and the baby settled.
But I didn't, the argument still raged inside me, demanding resolution.
"Kaden," I said quietly.
"I'm asking you, as your mate, as the mother of your child. As someone who deserves a say in her own life. Please let me go just for a few weeks. Let me learn about my past and figure out who I am."
"I'm scared." He admitted.
"Scared that if you leave, something will happen. That Erebus will find you, that I will lose you forever."
"And I'm scared that if I stay, I will lose myself. That I will become so dependent on your protection that I forget how to be my own person."
"What if we compromise? You stay, but I give you more freedom. Less security, more autonomy in making decisions."
"It's not enough. I need physical distance to clear my head to breathe."
He was quiet for a long time and the room grew dark around us.
"Your mental health is at stake." I said.
"But so is mine and right now, mine is suffering more than yours. I need this, Kaden. I need space to heal and grow. To become someone who can stand beside you as an equal rather than someone you have to constantly protect."
More silence.
Then, finally. "I will think about it."
"What?"
"I will think about letting you go with Helena and giving you the space you need."
He looked at me, pain clear in his eyes. "But I need time. To figure out how to keep you safe while also respecting your autonomy. Can you give me that? A day to think about this?"
I wanted to say no, I wanted to pack my things and leave tonight. But I saw the genuine struggle in his expression, the war between his fear and his love.
"One day," I said.
"You have until tomorrow evening. Then I'm leaving whether you agree or not."
He nodded slowly. "Tomorrow evening. I will have an answer by then."
He left my room reluctantly, looking back several times like he expected me to vanish.
I lay alone in the darkness, my hand on my stomach where the baby had finally settled.
Tomorrow one way or another, this will be decided tomorrow.
And my entire future hung in the balance.