Chapter 15 Chapter 15
ELIJAH’S POV
After Amanda left, I just stood there, staring at the empty corridor. Everything I had built—the crown, the power, the Luna, the respect—suddenly felt useless. The silence around me pressed in, until I could hear nothing but the dull thud of my own heartbeat.
Amanda had just threatened to tell her father the truth about me and Anna's secret relationship, and I knew exactly what that meant.
If Elder Matthias ever found out, Anna would be in grave danger. He’d never forgive me for making a fool of his daughter. And he’d never spare Anna once he discovered she was the reason behind my betrayal. I could already imagine his men dragging her out of the castle, the fear in her eyes.
No—I couldn’t let that happen.
I started walking back toward the Pack’s kitchen. I didn’t even know what I was doing anymore. All I knew was that I needed to see her. I needed to warn Anna about Damon—my hybrid brother—before it was too late.
My head was still pounding with everything Amanda had said, but my heart was louder. I couldn’t let things end like that. Not with Anna thinking I had chosen power over her.
Maybe I had.
Maybe I was the selfish one after all.
The smell of smoke and herbs lingered in the hallway as I reached the kitchen. My pulse quickened when I saw her—still there, sitting on the floor beside the shattered pieces of a plate.
“Anna…” I called softly, my voice barely above a whisper.
She looked up immediately, her eyes red and wet, rimmed with exhaustion. For a second, I thought she would shout at me, throw something, anything, but she didn’t. She just looked… empty. She just looked like someone who had cried too much to have anything left.
“What do you want now, Elijah?” she asked, her tone flat, tired.
I swallowed hard and stepped closer. “I just wanted to explain everything. Please. Just hear me out, Anna.”
“Explain what?” she shot back, bitterness lacing every word. “That you picked my best friend over me? That you crowned her Luna while I stood there in the same hall?”
I froze, my throat tightening. “You were there?”
She let out a weak laugh, but it sounded more like a sob. “Of course I was. My stepmother locked me up for not finishing my chores. I ran all the way to the coronation, hoping I’d still make it in time. And I did.” Her voice trembled, breaking at the edges. “I saw you standing beside Amanda, smiling like she was the one you always wanted.”
“Anna—”
“I thought you’d call my name,” she admitted, her voice barely holding together. “But you didn’t even look at me.”
Her tears fell quietly, each drop cutting through me like a blade.
“I didn’t see you,” I murmured softly. “If I had—”
“You would’ve still chosen her,” she cut in, shaking her head. “Because you always pick duty first. You had to choose the powerful she-wolf, not the maid.”
She wasn’t wrong.
I could have delayed the coronation. I could have begged the council to wait. But instead, I took the safer path—the one that made me look strong before the elders. I chose the one that made me a puppet in their hands.
If I had chosen a maid as my Luna, I would’ve seemed weak to the Pack. And weakness was something an Alpha couldn’t afford.
Amanda’s father, Elder Matthias, controlled half the council. Making his daughter Luna meant keeping peace, earning respect, and keeping the pack united. But it cost me everything that truly mattered.
It cost me Anna.
“I was selfish,” I admitted, looking into her eyes. “I thought if I chose Amanda, it would make everything right. I thought that maybe the pain would fade, but it didn’t. It just made me lose you.”
Her tears came faster now, sliding down her cheeks. “You really did lose me, Elijah.”
“Anna, please—”
She stood abruptly, her injured hand trembling. “No! Don’t you dare touch me!” Her voice broke, sharp and raw. “You don’t get to do this. You can’t love me and still hurt me.”
The words hit me harder than any punch could. I’d faced wars, led men into battle, stood before councils that questioned my strength—but this? This broke something inside me.
Anna stood there, breathing unevenly, eyes full of pain and betrayal. I wanted to tell her something—anything—to make her stay.
But every word felt too small, too late.
For a moment, I almost let her walk away. Maybe she deserved to. Maybe that was her only way out of the mess I’d made. But then Damon’s face flashed in my mind—his cold smirk, the way he’d spoken about killing Anna earlier, as if she were already his. My chest tightened with fear.
“Anna,” I called out quickly, forcing the words out before I lost my nerve. “I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but please… stay away from Damon.”
Her brows furrowed. “Your brother?”
I nodded. “He’s dangerous. You don’t remember much right now, but there are things—things you don’t know about him. Please stay away from Damon.”
“I don’t want to hear it!” she cut me off, shaking her head in anger. Her voice trembled, brittle but fierce. “I can’t handle this right now. I can’t handle you, or Amanda, or your family’s issues. Just—leave me alone, Elijah.”
Her words were final.
She turned away before I could speak again.
I took a step forward, desperate to stop her, to make her listen, but she was already gone. Each step she took away from me felt like punishment—like watching her walk straight into the dark and not being able to stop it.
I leaned against the counter, breathing hard. My hands were trembling. The air around me felt colder, heavier, as if even the walls knew what was coming.
Damon was to be feared.
Everyone knew that. Even the elders kept their distance, pretending he was just another wolf while secretly avoiding him. But I’d seen him lose control before—seen what he was capable of when his hybrid blood took over.
Once, years ago, a scout had tried to challenge him in front of the pack. Damon had smiled, calm and confident, before tearing out the man’s throat without shifting. He had no remorse or hesitation. It was just a clean, brutal kill.
And now, that same Damon was back again—angry, unpredictable, and watching Anna like she was his prey.
I rubbed my face with both hands, trying to calm the storm inside me. The last few hours had torn my life apart. Amanda’s threats, Anna’s heartbreak, Damon’s return—it was all unraveling faster than I could control.
What had he already done to her?
The thought chilled me to the bone. Damon had that effect—he didn’t just hurt people. He got inside their heads. He made them believe he was saving them, while slowly breaking them apart piece by piece.
Because Anna… she had the kind of power Damon had always wanted to destroy. He despised Tribids—creatures born of three bloodlines—believing they were nature’s mistake. To him, they were too powerful, too unpredictable, and too close to perfection. And Damon hated perfection unless it belonged to him.
That was the kind of monster my brother had become. By the time I reached the corridor again, one thing was painfully clear. Anna was in far more danger than she could ever imagine.
If Damon wanted to come for her, he’d have to go through me first. Because no matter what happened, one thing would always be true—
I was still in love with Anna.
And I would burn the entire pack to the ground before I let anyone, even my brother, take her away from me.