Chapter 37: Chapter Thirty Seven

KAIDA'S POV

The meeting came to an end a moment later, thank the moon goddess. I ran into the forest at once. On getting there, I stripped off my clothes and shifted to my wolf, then I resumed my run. I bunch of thoughts were running through my mind. That had been a whole lot of information to digest.

When I had expressed my suspicions about a foul play from Elara, I had not expected it to be this massive. It made me wonder about all that had happened in my birth pack and how much influence she must have had in the pack. Most importantly it made me wonder about my father.

All this time, I thought my father’s cruelty was his own choice. That his coldness, his betrayal, his abandonment were decisions he made. It was easier to think of him that way—a man who had turned his back on me willingly. It made my hatred for him simple, clean. But now, everything felt messy and wrong.

Elara had been pulling his strings all along. I didn’t know how to feel about it, I was battling with a bunch of mixed emotions. I was angry and sad, and guilty.

“Elara’s magic is stronger than we thought,” Thoran had said after the meeting, his voice steady as always. “She doesn’t just manipulate; she controls...”

Those words kept ringing in my ears. If she could control my father, what else had she done? How many lives had she shattered without anyone realizing?

I tried to calm myself as a wave of mixed emotions washed over me. I did not know what to think or feel. I was angry and sad, and guilty. could almost see her, the way she looked at me with that superior air that made my blood boil. She had stripped me of all I had: my family, my home, my pack. And now I knew she had done it through deceit and magic, not just clever schemes.

Footsteps behind me broke my thoughts. I didn’t have to turn around to know it was Thoran. His presence was familiar, steady. He didn’t say anything at first, just stood there, giving me space.

Finally, I spoke, breaking the silence. “She controlled him.” My voice sounded hollow, even to me.

“Yes,” Thoran said simply.

I looked down at my hands. “For years, I hated him. I thought he chose her over me, over my mother. I thought he gave up on us because we weren’t enough.”

Thoran stepped closer, his boots crunching softly against the dirt. “And now you know the truth.”

I laughed bitterly, though it didn’t feel like laughter at all. “The truth doesn’t make it better. It just makes it... different.”

He moved to stand beside me, his tall frame casting a shadow over where I sat. “What do you feel now?”

What did I feel? I didn’t even know. “Angry,” I said after a moment. “But not at him. At her. She turned him into a puppet, Thoran. I know that he wasn’t perfect, but did he deserve that? No. None of us did.”

Thoran nodded, his expression unreadable. “Elara’s power isn’t just about breaking packs. She twists people, bends them to her will. It’s how she’s built her army.”

I looked up at him. “How do you fight something like that? How do you stop someone who doesn’t just destroy, but corrupts?”

His blue eyes met mine, calm and unwavering. “You fight back. You protect what’s yours, and you don’t give her the chance to take anything else.”

I wanted to believe him, but it felt impossible. Elara’s reach seemed endless. She had destroyed my family, turned my father into her pawn, and left me for dead. What chance did we have against someone like her?

“We need to warn the other packs,” I said finally. “They need to know what she’s capable of. If she’s done this to my family, who knows how many others she’s targeted?”

Thoran nodded again. “Agreed. But it won’t be enough. Elara doesn’t just rely on her magic; she’s a strategist. She’ll have planned for resistance.”

I stood abruptly, the sudden movement making him step back slightly. “Then we’ll plan too,” I said, my voice firmer now. “We’ll gather allies, find her weaknesses, and take her down. I won’t let her win, Thoran. Not after everything she’s done.”

He watched me carefully, his gaze steady. “You’re ready to fight her.”

“Of course I am,” I snapped.

Thoran smiled slightly at that. “I would. And I am. But this fight isn’t just about strength, Kaida. It’s about patience, strategy. You can’t let your anger cloud you into making mistakes.”

I hated that he was right. But I hated Elara more. “She’s taken enough from me,” I said quietly. “From all of us. I won’t let her take anything else.”

Thoran stepped closer, his hand brushing against mine before he took it fully in his grip. His touch was warm, grounding. “And I'll be with you every step of the way, we'll stop her together,” he said. His voice gentle yet firm.

For a while, I allowed myself to entertain the idea. He's touch was comforting and it calmed the raging thoughts in my mind.

“We need to find an answer for her magic,” I said after a moment. “If she can control alphas and entire packs, we need to figure out how to stop her from doing it again.”

“We will,” Thoran said.

I looked up at him, and scanned his face for any inkling of doubt, but to my surprise, there was none. He believed in this. He believed in us.

I let out a sigh of relief, drawing my strength from him. “Thank you,” I said quietly.

He raised an eyebrow. “For what?”

“For being here. For believing we can win this.”

His lips curved into a faint smile. “We don’t have a choice, Kaida. Losing isn’t an option.”

I nodded, his words resonated with something deep inside me. Elara had taken so much from me, from my father, from everyone she touched. But she wouldn’t take any more. Elara’s reign of terror was coming to an end. And I was going to make sure of it.