Chapter 75 Elara's POV
Kaden drove in silence.
His hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly I could hear the leather creaking. His jaw was clenched, a muscle jumping in his cheek. His eyes were fixed on the road but I could tell he wasn't really seeing it.
He was seeing Selena planning what he had to do to her and how he had made her pay.
I wiped the tears from my face with shaking hands. The memory was so clear now. Standing in that hallway, hearing Selena's voice on the phone.
"I don't care how you do it, just make sure she doesn't come back, make it look like rogues make it look random."
I stood there frozen, not believing what I was hearing. Not wanting to believe that someone could be that cruel.
"The woods north of the territory she takes that path every Thursday night after her shift ends are waiting."
That's when I ran, grabbed what little I had and fled through the window. But I had been too late. They had been watching, waiting. And they'd found me anyway.
Because Selena had given them everything they needed to hunt me down.
"Elara."
Kaden's voice startled me from my thoughts. "Are you okay?"
"No but I will be."
He glanced at me, his expression softening slightly. "You shouldn't have come to the courtyard. You need rest."
"I needed to stop you from losing everything because of me."
"I would have handled it."
"By attacking more elders? By making them more convinced you're unstable?" I shook my head. "You needed someone to speak to. Someone they couldn't ignore."
"You could have reopened your wounds and could have hurt the baby."
"But I didn't, we are both fine." I looked at him. "And now the elders have backed down. At least for now."
"For now," he agreed. "But this isn't over. Marcus won't stop, none of them will."
"Then we will deal with them when they come back together."
Something in his expression shifted. Warmth replacing some of the cold fury. "Together."
We drove the rest of the way in silence but it was different now. Less tense, more like we were on the same side instead of constantly at odds.
When we pulled up to the pack house, Kaden got out immediately and came around to help me. He lifted me carefully from the wheelchair, cradling me against his chest.
"I can use the wheelchair," I protested.
"You are injured and exhausted, let me carry you."
I didn't argue further, just let myself rest against him, breathing in his scent. Pine and earth and something uniquely Kaden.
Ethan was waiting inside with Damian, both of them looking concerned.
"How did it go?" Damian asked.
"The elders backed down. For now." Kaden's voice was tight. "But we have a bigger problem. Elara remembered something."
"Remember what?"
"Selena hired the rogues who attacked her months ago. Selena is the one who tried to have her killed."
Damian's expression darkened. "Are you certain?"
"I heard her on the phone," I said. "Telling them exactly where I would be. Exactly how to find me. It wasn't random, it was planned."
"Then we need to arrest her immediately," Ethan said. "Get her in a cell before-"
"Before what?" I interrupted. "Before we have proof? Before we can make charges stick? My memory isn't evidence. It's my word against hers."
"Your word is enough for me," Kaden said. "I'm going to her quarters right now. I'm going to drag her out and-"
"No." I grabbed his arm. "You can't."
"Can't? She tried to murder you! Twice!"
"I know but if you go after her now, in this state, you will do something you can't take back. You'll give the elders exactly what they need to remove you from power."
"I don't care about power, I care about justice."
"Then let's get justice the right way with evidence. With proof so that when she's punished, no one can question it."
Kaden's entire body was vibrating with barely controlled rage. "She needs to pay for what she did."
"And she will but not like this, not when you are ready to tear her apart with your bare hands."
"Elara's right," Ethan said carefully.
"Going after Selena now would be a mistake. The elders are already questioning your stability. If you attack her without solid proof-"
"I don't need proof! I have Elara's testimony!"
"What Selena will claim is false, a lie told by a desperate woman trying to discredit her rival."
Ethan moved closer. "You know how this works, Kaden. You know, pack politics, we need to be smart about this."
Kaden stood there trembling, his wolf clearly pushing for violence for revenge.
"Please," I said softly. "Trust me on this we will make her pay but we will do it right."
For a long moment, I thought he would refuse. Thought he would storm off and do exactly what I was trying to prevent.
Then he took a deep breath and set me down carefully in the wheelchair Damian had brought.
"Fine we do it your way but if she tries anything ... .I'm done being patient."
"Agreed."
He turned and walked toward his quarters, his footsteps heavy with suppressed fury. A door slammed somewhere down the hallway.
I sat there exhausted, my leg throbbing, my entire body aching.
"You did the right thing," Damian said quietly. "Stopping him."
"I hope so because if I'm wrong, if Selena tries something else while we're gathering evidence-"
"She won't, she's too smart to make another move right now, not with everyone watching."
Ethan was pacing, his expression thoughtful. "We need to start building a case against her. Quietly carefully find witnesses. Find proof of the money she paid to those rogues."
"That could take weeks," I said. "Months."
"Then we take weeks or months but we do it right."