Chapter 44 Elara's POV
"Kaden, stop."
I grabbed his arm harder, digging my fingers into his bicep. He was shaking with rage, his entire body vibrating with barely controlled fury. His eyes had shifted not fully to his wolf, but close. That dangerous amber color that meant he was on the edge of losing control.
"Let go, Elara," he said, and his voice was wrong, deeper layered with the growl of his wolf underneath. "I need to find her."
"No. You need to calm down."
"Calm down?" He turned to face me and I actually took a step back.
The look in his eyes was terrifying pure predatory rage. "She asked you to murder our child. She offered you money to kill our baby. And you want me to calm down?"
"I want you to think! If you go after her now, if you hurt her, what do you think will happen?"
"I don't care what happens."
"Well, I do! Her father will retaliate and he will bring his allies. There will be war, people will die, your people, your pack."
I moved to stand directly in front of him, forcing him to look at me. "Is that what you want? More death? More violence?"
His jaw clenched I could see him fighting for control, his wolf pushing against his human consciousness.
"She threatened our child," He said, each word forced out through gritted teeth.
"I know and I'm furious too but running off half-crazed to kill her won't help anything. It will only make things worse."
"Then what do you suggest? That I do nothing? That I let her walk away after what she said?"
"I suggest you take me home then we figure out our next move together strategically not emotionally."
He stared at me for a long moment. I could see the internal war playing out on his face, his wolf demanding blood, his human side knowing I was right.
Finally, slowly, the amber faded from his eyes. His shoulders sagged slightly.
"Fine," He said, his voice still rough but more controlled. "But she doesn't get away with this, not permanently."
"I know. Just... not right now. Please."
He nodded stiffly and turned toward the car. I followed, keeping close but not touching him. He was still too on edge. Too volatile.
The drive back to the house was tense.
Kaden gripped the steering wheel so hard I thought it might break. His jaw was clenched, a muscle ticking in his cheek. Every few seconds, a low growl would rumble from his chest involuntary, unconscious.
His wolf was fighting for dominance. I could feel it somehow, through the bond that still connected us despite the rejection. Could feel the barely leashed violence radiating off him in waves.
"Kaden." I said quietly. "You need to breathe."
"I am breathing."
"No, I mean really breathe you are about to shift in the car."
He glanced at me and I saw his eyes flash amber again. "I'm in control."
"Barely."
"It's enough."
But it wasn't. I could see it in the way his hands trembled. In this way his breathing was too fast, too shallow. In the way he kept looking at me like he was afraid I would disappear if he looked away.
"Pull over." I said.
"What?"
"Pull over. Now you are not safe to drive like this."
"I'm fine.”
"Kaden Xandros, pull this car over right now or I swear I will jump out while it's moving."
He actually looked at me then, and whatever he saw in my expression made him slow down. He pulled off onto the shoulder of the road and put the car in park.
"Get out." I said.
"Elara-"
"Get out of the car you need to let your wolf run or you're going to lose it completely. I can see you are barely holding on."
He stared at me for a moment, then unbuckled his seatbelt and got out. I watched through the window as he walked a few feet into the trees lining the road.
Then he shifted.
The transformation was violent, not the smooth, controlled shift I'd seen from other wolves. This was raw and desperate. His body contorted, bones breaking and reforming, until a massive black wolf stood where Kaden had been.
The wolf was larger than any I had ever seen. With amber eyes that glowed in the late afternoon light.
He threw his head back and howled. The sound was haunting, mournful , full of rage and pain and frustration.
Then he ran.
I watched him disappear into the trees, moving so fast he was just a dark blur. Running off the anger, the violence the need to hunt and kill and protect.
I waited ten minutes and started to worry that maybe he wasn't coming back.
Then I saw him walking back through the trees in human form, naked but clearly more in control than before. He went to the trunk of the car and pulled out clothes he must have stored there for exactly this purpose.
When he got back in the car, dressed and calmer, his eyes were their normal dark brown.
"Thank you," He said quietly.
"Are you okay?”
"Better, my wolf needed to run."
He started the car. "I'm sorry for losing control like that."
"Don't apologize. What Selena said was horrific, you had every right to be furious."
"But not every right to almost shift and attack her without thinking. That's not who I want to be. Not the kind of Alpha I want to be."
We drove the rest of the way in silence. But it was different now. Less tense. He was still angry. I could see it simmering beneath the surface but he had control again.
When we reached the house, he walked me to my quarters. The guards snapped to attention when they saw us.
"No one goes in except Damian," Kaden told them. His voice had changed. It was his Alpha voice now commanding, authoritative, impossible to disobey.
"And if Selena Voss or anyone associated with her family tries to approach, you detain them immediately and call me understood?"
"Yes, Alpha," they said in unison.
He turned to me. "I need to go handle some things. Make sure the borders are secure. Talk to my council about what happened. But I'll check on you later. Okay?"
I nodded. "Okay."
He hesitated, like he wanted to say something more. Then he turned and walked away, his posture rigid and controlled.