Chapter 70 Elara's POV
The visiting Alpha from Dark Moon Pack. The one who had kissed my hand. The one Kaden had reacted so strongly to.
What was he doing here? Why was he on pack grounds in the middle of the night?
The fight continued. Xavier landed a solid punch to the follower's jaw, sending him staggering backward. But the follower recovered and pulled another weapon from his belt, a knife, also silver.
"You're interfering in matters that don't concern you," The follower snarled.
"Someone attacking a pregnant woman on my ally's territory definitely concerns me," Xavier replied calmly.
"Your ally? Kaden is weak. This pack is weak. Erebus will destroy them all."
"Maybe but not tonight and not this woman."
They fought again, even more viciously. The follower was trying to get past Xavier, trying to reach me. But Xavier wouldn't let him through.
I lay there shaking, unable to move, unable to help. My leg was on fire from the silver poisoning my vision kept blurring. I could feel myself slipping away.
The baby. I had to stay conscious for the baby.
I pressed my hand to my stomach and felt movement. The baby was still alive, still fighting.
"Hold on," I whispered.
"Please hold on."
Then I heard footsteps of multiple people running. Coming from the direction of the pack house.
"Elara!"
Kaden's voice was desperate and terrified.
"Here!" I tried to scream, but it came out as barely a whisper. "I'm here!"
Xavier heard though. "Over here! She's injured!"
Kaden burst through the trees, Ethan right behind him. His eyes found me on the ground and something in his expression shattered.
"Elara!" He was beside me in seconds, his hands on my face, my shoulders, checking for injuries. "What happened? Who did this?"
"Erebus," I gasped.
"One of his followers was waiting for me. I fell from the window and he-"
"The window? You climbed out the window?" Kaden's voice was a mix of horror and fury. "You are on the second floor!"
"I was trying to leave to protect you from the elders. I didn't know-"
"We will discuss that later right now we need to get you to Damian."
He looked at my leg and his face went white. "Silver. He stabbed you with silver."
"It burns," I sobbed. "It hurts so much."
"I know...I know, love we are going to fix it I promise."
The sound of fighting made us both look up. Xavier and the follower were still battling, but the follower was clearly losing blood streamed from multiple wounds. He was slowing down.
"Ethan," Kaden commanded.
"Help Xavier take that bastard alive. I want answers.
Ethan shifted partially, his claws extending, and joined the fight. With two against one, the follower didn't stand a chance.
Within minutes, they had him pinned on the ground. Xavier's hand was around his throat while Ethan held his arms.
"Who sent you?" Kaden demanded, still kneeling beside me but his eyes locked on the follower. "How did you get past our borders?"
The follower laughed and blood bubbled from his mouth. "You think I would tell you anything? You are already too late, the master's plans are in motion. This pack will fall, the blessed child will die and there's nothing you can do to stop it."
"Tell me how you got in," Kaden growled, his Alpha power bleeding into his voice. "Tell me now."
"The master has eyes everywhere inside your pack. Inside your house, inside your very council."
The follower smiled through bloody teeth. "You are surrounded by traitors and you don't even know it."
"Name give me names."
"Never. I will die before I betray-"
The follower's words cut off abruptly. His eyes went wide and his body started convulsing.
"What's happening?" Xavier demanded, tightening his grip. "What's he doing?"
"I don't know," Ethan said. "He's not doing anything we have him pinned."
But the follower was changing and his skin was turning gray. Cracking like it was drying out from the inside.
"Let him go!" Kaden shouted.
"Get away from him!"
Xavier and Ethan released him and jumped back.
The follower's body continued to change the gray spread across his skin. Cracks appeared, spreading like a spiderweb.
And from those cracks, light began to glow. Not normal light. Dark light. Purple-black, like a wound in reality itself.
"What the hell-" Ethan started.
The follower's body ignited.
Not with normal fire. With that same dark light. It consumed him from the inside out, burning through flesh and bone in seconds.
He didn't even have time to scream.
Within moments, there was nothing left but ash. Gray ash that the wind immediately began to scatter.
We all stood frozen, staring at the spot where the follower had been.
"What was that?" I whispered.
"A failsafe," Xavier said grimly.
"Some kind of spell or curse that activates if they're captured. Destroy them completely so they can't reveal information."
"That means we got nothing," Ethan said. "No answers about how he got in. No names of the traitors he mentioned nothing."
Kaden's jaw was clenched so tight I could see the muscle jumping. "We know there are traitors. That's something. We know Erebus has people inside the pack. Inside the council."
"The council?" I asked. "Are you sure?"
"He said it himself eyes inside the council."
Kaden looked at Ethan. "We need to investigate every elder, every pack member with access to sensitive information. Someone is feeding intelligence to Erebus."
"That will take time." Xavier said. "And based on what that creature said, you might not have much time left."
Kaden turned his attention back to me. His expression softened when he saw the tears still streaming down my face, the way I was cradling my stomach protectively.
"How's the baby?" He asked, his voice gentle despite the fury still simmering beneath.
"Moving. Still moving. I think... I think the baby is okay."
"And your leg?"
I looked down at the damage. The silver had burned a deep wound, black and infected-looking. The bone was still broken, still visible through torn flesh.
"It's bad," I admitted. "Really bad."
"We need to get her to Damian immediately," Ethan said. "Silver poisoning can spread fast, especially in pregnant wolves."
Kaden slipped his arms under me, lifting me as gently as possible. I still cried out from the movement, pain exploding through my leg.
"I'm sorry," he murmured.
"I'm so sorry…..I should have protected you better. You should have known you would try something like this."
"I was trying to help," I sobbed against his chest. "The elders want me gone. I was trying to make it easier for you."
"By climbing out a second-story window while pregnant? That's not helping, Elara. That's trying to get yourself killed."
"I didn't know the follower was waiting. I thought-"
"We will talk about what you thought later. Right now we need to save your leg and make sure the baby is okay."
He started walking back toward the pack house, moving as quickly as he could without jostling me too much.
Xavier and Ethan followed.
"Thank you," I said to Xavier. "For saving me. If you hadn't been there-"
"Don't think about it," Xavier said. "
Kaden's arms tightened around me protectively.
"You're safe now," he murmured. "I've got both of you. I won't let anything happen to either of you."