Chapter 67 Elara's POV
I sank onto my bed, tears streaming down my face. This was destroying him. Destroying his relationship with his council destroying his pack's trust in his leadership.
All because of me because I couldn't control this power I didn't ask for. I couldn't let this continue. Couldn't let Kaden sacrifice everything to protect me.
Maybe the elders were right. Maybe I should leave. Go somewhere far away where I couldn't hurt anyone. Where my presence wouldn't tear apart the pack.
I could raise the baby alone. Lots of single mothers did it; it would be hard, but possible.
And Kaden would be free to lead his pack without this constant conflict. Free to find someone better suited to be his Luna.
The decision settled over me with a strange sense of calm. I will leave tonight. Before Kaden could stop me before I could lose my nerve.
I went to the window and looked out. My room was on the second floor, not impossibly high, but high enough that jumping would be dangerous.
But there was a ledge and a tree close enough that if I could reach it, I could climb down. I had done harder things and survived worse situations.
I could do this.
I waited until late evening, until I heard the guards change shifts. In that brief moment of distraction, I opened the window as quietly as possible.
The night air was cold against my face. I looked down at the ground below and felt my stomach turn.
This was stupid dangerous , especially pregnant. But staying was more dangerous for everyone.
I climbed onto the windowsill, my heart pounding. The ledge was narrower than it had looked from inside. Barely wide enough for my feet.
I took a deep breath and stepped out and found the ledge. I pressed my back against the wall, not daring to look down.
One step then another slowly moving toward the tree. Almost there are just a few more feet.
Then my foot slipped.
I tried to catch myself, grabbing for the wall, for anything. But there was nothing to hold onto.
I fell.
The ground rushed up to meet me. I tried to twist, to land on my side instead of my stomach, to protect the baby above all else.
i
The impact knocked the air from my lungs. Pain exploded through my left leg. It was sharp, excruciating, and overwhelming.
I tried to scream but couldn't breathe and couldn't do anything except lie there in agony.
Something was very wrong with my leg. It was bent at an angle that wasn't naturally broken, definitely broken.
And I couldn't move, couldn't stand. I couldn't call for help because I still couldn't catch my breath.
The baby. Oh God, the baby.
I pressed my hand to my stomach, terrified of what I might feel. Or not feel please, please let the baby be okay.
I lay there gasping, tears streaming down my face, pain radiating through my entire body.
That's when I saw it.
A shadow detaching itself from the trees at the edge of the clearing. Moving toward me. A dark figure, too far away to identify in the dim moonlight.
"Help." I tried to call out. It came out as barely a whisper.
The figure moved closer, steady and purposeful. Not rushing like someone concerned about an injured person.
Walking like someone who had been waiting for exactly this moment.
Fear cuts through the pain.
"Who is there?" I managed, my voice stronger now.
No answer, just that steady approach.
The moonlight caught the figure for just a moment. I saw the outline of a man. Tall. Broad-shouldered. Wearing dark clothes that blended with the shadows.
And in his hand, something that gleamed silver.
A weapon.
I tried to move, to crawl away, but my broken leg sent waves of agony through me that made my vision blur.
I was trapped, injured, helpless and someone was coming for me.
The figure stopped a few feet away, standing over me. I still couldn't see his face in the darkness.
"Please." I whispered.
"Please help me."
"Help you?" The voice was male unfamiliar cold.
"Why would I help you when I have been waiting so long for you to make a mistake exactly this stupid?"
He stepped closer, and the moonlight finally illuminated his face. I had never seen him before and didn't recognize him at all.
But the symbol burned into his neck three marks arranged in a triangle told me everything I needed to know.
Erebus's mark.
One of his followers is inside pack territory.
"You are a hard woman to get to," He said conversationally.
"Guards everywhere, the Alpha watching over you constantly. I was starting to think I'd have to attack the pack house directly. But then you went and made it easy. Climbed right out the window like a gift from the heavens."
He crouched down beside me, that silver blade still in his hand.
"The master will be pleased when I bring him your head. Even more pleased when I bring him the blessed child you are carrying."
He reached for my stomach.
And I screamed.