Chapter 205 Elara's POV

Chapter 205 Elara's POV


I woke up cold. I was not in bed, not in our warm quarters, somewhere else entirely. I opened my eyes to the darkness of the trees, forest floor beneath me.

I was outside in the forest at night. How did I get here? I tried to remember going to bed. Kaden beside me. Adrian in his bassinet then nothing.

I had sleepwalked or something somehow ended up miles from the pack house without any memory of leaving.

I tried to stand and my hands slipped on something wet and sticky . I looked down.

Blood.

I was covered in blood, my clothes, my hands, my face . I could feel it drying on my skin.

But I wasn't injured. I frantically checked no wounds, no pain beyond the usual soreness from the pulse eruption.

This wasn't my blood, panic seized me. I scrambled to my feet, looking around wildly.

Bodies, three of them, scattered around the clearing. Rogues, from their scent, dead, torn apart with savage violence.

And I was standing in the middle of the carnage, covered in their blood.

No. No, this couldn't be happening.

I didn't remember killing them, didn't remember leaving the pack house, didn't remember any of this.

But the evidence was undeniable. I was here, they were dead, their blood was all over me.

What had I done?

I heard someone approaching through the trees. I should run and hide. Should get away before whoever it was saw me like this.

But my legs wouldn't move. I stood frozen, covered in blood, surrounded by bodies I didn't remember killing.

A figure emerged from the shadows.

Kira, her eyes went wide when she saw me.

"Elara? What... what happened here?"

"I don't know, I woke up and I was covered in blood. I don't remember anything."

She moved closer, examining the bodies. "These are rogues, three of them, killed recently, the blood is still fresh."

"I didn't do this i couldn't have, I don't remember-"

"But you are here covered in their blood. Elara, if you didn't kill them, who did?"

I had no answer, no explanation that made sense.

"We need to get you back to the pack house. Clean you up before anyone else sees this."

"But the bodies-"

"I will take care of them and say I found them on patrol. But you need to leave now before someone else comes."

"Kira, I didn't do this. I swear I didn't-"

"I believe you but no one else will not with you standing here like this. So I will handle this."

I ran back toward the pack house, my mind racing with questions and terror.

What was happening to me? The blackouts were getting worse. Entire episodes where I lost hours. Now I was waking up covered in blood with no memory of what I had done.

Was this the lunar pulse? Or something else? Something darker?

I thought about the vision of my death of suicide. Of choosing to end my own life.

Maybe it wasn't suicide. Maybe it was execution. Self-inflicted justice for crimes I didn't remember committing.

I made it back to the pack house just before dawn. Snuck in through a side entrance. Made it to our quarters without being seen.

Kaden was still asleep. Adrian is still in his bassinet. Everything exactly as I had left it.

Except I was covered in blood and had no memory of the past several hours.

I stripped off my bloody clothes. Hide them in the back of the closet. Took the longest shower of my life, scrubbing every trace of blood from my skin.

When I emerged, Kaden was awake sitting up in bed.

"Morning. You are up early."

"Couldn't sleep, decided to shower."

He looked at me closely. "Are you okay? You look pale."

"Just tired, still recovering from the pulse eruption."

"Come back to bed and rest a bit longer."

I climbed back into bed beside him and let him hold me. I tried to act normal but inside, I was screaming.

Because I didn't know what I had done and didn't know if I'd killed those rogues. I didn't know if I was becoming dangerous to everyone around me.

And I had no idea how to stop it or if it could even be stopped at all.