Chapter 42
ELARA’S POV
(PRESENT)
I gazed at Kael, stunned. I couldn’t process what he’d just disclosed. My parents had been murdered? By a rogue Alpha? One who hunted down every blood healer solely to cure his daughter?
My parents… It was unbelievable; the cause of all my suffering, the reason I’d endured life as an orphan… was Darius?
I parted my lips to respond, but no sound emerged. I remained rooted there, immobilized, my heart feeling like it carried the weight of a thousand stones.
“Elara,” Kael gently clasped my shoulder, his stare delving into mine, brimming with worry. My frame went rigid from the abrupt touch, but I didn’t respond; I simply froze.
His face clouded. “This is the reason for my actions. I needed to safeguard you… from Darius and those similar to him.”
“No,” I shook my head, still engulfed in skepticism. “It doesn’t add up.”
A crease formed on his mouth. “It doesn’t need to… but it’s factual, and I require your trust. Elara, you were the sole positive element in that pack for me, nothing more. I’m sorry…”
I lifted my eyes to his; they appeared genuine, as though he spoke truthfully. Yet belief came hard.
“Kael, I can’t,” I stated, rising and brushing his hand from my shoulder. “Y-you… you can’t just reenter my existence with some… Do you grasp how insane this seems?!?!” I shouted, my feelings overwhelming me. I felt fragmented.
An exasperated breath left his mouth, a sharp noise slicing the library’s stillness. He dragged a hand through his already tousled hair, yanking it firmly. The motion conveyed much.
Anxiety.
Despair and a seething anger barely restrained.
“Darius will arrive,” he declared, his gaze shadowed, his tone infused with stark inevitability. “And Ronan won’t halt him.”
My eyes expanded, a frigid terror unfurling in my gut. “What?” Ronan commanded the mightiest forces and the most dreaded renown across the werewolf domain. “What do you imply Ronan can’t thwart him?” My voice quavered.
He pivoted, his stare fervent. He advanced a step, his arm extending to graze mine before withdrawing as if scorched. “He knows of you, Elara. He’s aware you live. And he won’t cease until he possesses you.” The statement lingered heavily in the atmosphere.
For the initial time, Kael appeared completely vanquished. And it terrified me profoundly.
It was 2 a.m. Yet my eyes remained alert, fixed on the overhead beams. I couldn’t consume food or rest. I felt bewildered, adrift, divided, and furious.
My parents had fallen to the same individual now pursuing me. A rogue Alpha… Darius. Merely his name triggered chills along my back.
“I can’t handle this,” I whispered to myself as I rose from the bed, snatching a wrap; I draped it over myself and exited my chamber.
Perhaps a stroll would aid.
“Miss Elara?” I startled at the sound of my name from behind; I spun to spot a sentinel.
“Oh… hello,”
“May I inquire where you’re bound at this hour?”
“Um, I…” I moistened my lips, clasping my hands. “Just fancied a walk,”
He lifted an eyebrow, eyeing me suspiciously. “At this late time?”
I shrugged, easing my shoulders. “Can’t slumber,” I confessed quietly. “I won’t linger.”
He appeared to mull it over before departing with a mere nod. A relieved exhale slipped from me once he vanished. Venturing from the fortress, I paused before the garden, encircled by blossoms and botanicals. It was a modest plot tended by the attendants; the grander one was the formal palace garden, close to Marceline’s quarters.
My throat rasped like grit as I swallowed. Settling on the ground, I threaded my fingers into the turf, seeking some diversion or solace.
The breeze murmured through the foliage, providing no ease, merely a vacant reverberation of my own anguish. My sight wandered to the oscillating limbs, a vain bid for distraction. But the pang in my chest persisted.
A span of isolation and despondency. My existence… It had never stabilized even once. Joy one day, sorrow the next.
My contentment was perpetually seized before it could flourish. First Kael; I’d adored him so intensely I feared madness until his dismissal. His spurning lingered vivid in my recollection, a vicious strike that still burned deeply.
Now Ronan, a poignant involvement, his affections as authentic as mine, yet eclipsed by impending gloom and enigmatic powers.
And now… Darius.
Darius.
Darius.
DARIUS!
The moniker throbbed in my thoughts like a tainted pulse. It hadn’t reached a full day since I’d discovered his identity or presence, yet it seemed an eternity. The individual accountable for my parents’ demise, the one who’d robbed me of my sole kin, the one who’d butcher multitudes for his warped avarice, now pursued me without relent.
He knew of me. He was now cognizant of my being and precisely where to locate me.
He was approaching.
A tremor convulsed my form, instinctive and vehement. A solitary droplet traced a route down my face, warm and unwept. I tightened my fists, nails embedding into my skin, the acute sting a minor offset to the engulfing dread.
My existence was utterly wretched… solely due to this essence coursing through my veins.
It might restore others, but it spelled my ruin. How could something sacred inflict such agony on individuals? Just how many had perished by Darius’s hand because of this essence?
My life resembled a fabric threaded with bereavement, a melody of grief.
An exhale left my mouth as the truth settled upon me.
Darius was en route; eventually, he’d arrive. And this occasion, evasion was impossible.