Chapter 141 Elara's POV
"Please listen to me," I said to Kira for what felt like the hundredth time. "Kaden isn't the person you remember. He has changed , he is grown."
She sat in her corner, knees pulled to her chest, refusing to look at me. "You don't know him like I do."
“You are right. I haven't known Kaden since fifteen years ago. But I know the man he is now."
I shifted, trying to find a more comfortable position despite my aching body. "And that man is coming for us. I know he is."
"Tell yourself whatever you need to sleep at night."
"I'm telling you the truth!" Frustration bled into my voice. "Do you want to hear about him? About who he became after you disappeared?"
Kira was silent for a long moment. Then, quietly. "Fine. Tell me."
So I did. I told her everything.
About how Kaden had rejected me the morning after we slept together. How much that had hurt. How I'd run away and lost my memories.
"He rejected you?" Kira's voice held a surprise.
"That doesn't sound like Kaden. He doesn't casually sleep with people he doesn't care about."
"He was scared of the mate bond of losing someone else he loved. Your disappearance damaged him, Kira. And your father's grief after your mother died it showed Kaden what love could do to someone. It terrified him."
I continued, telling her about coming back to the pack. About the mate bond pulling us together despite everything. About learning I was pregnant.
"He marked me publicly," I said.
"At an alliance celebration in front of every Alpha in the region. Claimed me as his mate and Luna without hesitation.”
"And then you poisoned him."
"I didn't! someone else did.”
I pressed my hand to my stomach. "But Kaden knew. Even when everyone else believed I was guilty, even when the elders wanted me executed, he fought for me and he risked everything to clear my name."
Kira was quiet, processing. "So he finally learned to love someone to let someone in."
"Yes. And that someone is me. And our son." I looked at her directly.
"Which is why I can't give birth here in this cell in this place of darkness. Adrian deserves better. Deserves to be born into light and love and safety."
"Adrian," Kira repeated softly. "You named him already."
"We chose it together. It means dark but also rich and strong. We wanted him to have a name that reflected both light and dark both sides of who he'll be."
For the first time, I saw tears in Kira's eyes. Real tears, not the hollow emptiness from before.
"I want to believe you," She whispered.
"I want to believe Kaden is coming. That we will get out of here. But I've been hoping for fifteen years and nothing's changed."
"Then stop hoping and start planning."
I leaned forward. "Help me escape, help me get to Kaden so I can tell him where you are. So he can come back with an army and destroy this place."
"How? The door is sealed with dark magic-"
"But people come and the masked men check on us. Bring food, they open the door."
I looked at her seriously. "What if we created a situation where they had to come in? Where they had no choice?"
"Like what?"
"Like me dying or appearing to die, they gave me medication to stop the labor because they wanted the baby. If they think I'm dead, they will panic they will come to check and when they do-”
"We attack." Understanding dawned in Kira's eyes. "We take them by surprise while they're distracted."
"Exactly."
We spent hours planning going over every detail. Timing it for when the masked men changed shifts when they'd be most distracted and least alert.
Throughout the planning, contractions kept hitting me. Not as intense as before, but regular. Reminding me that Adrian was coming soon whether we escaped or not.
Finally, we heard the change of shift. Voices outside the door are the perfect moment.
I lay down on the floor and went completely still. Stopped breathing. I made myself as corpse-like as possible.
Kira started screaming in that strange language. Yelling for help saying I'd stopped breathing that the baby was dying.
I heard running footsteps. Voices arguing. Then the door burst open and two masked men entered, rushing toward my still form.
The moment they knelt beside me, Kira attacked.
She moved faster than I'd thought possible for someone so broken. Her hands became claws. She slashed at the first man's throat, blood spraying.
The second man tried to fight back but I grabbed his leg, throwing him off balance. Kira finished him with brutal efficiency.
"The keys!" I gasped. "Get their keys!"