Chapter 78 Elara's POV
Getting Alpha Xavier settled was actually easier than I expected.
Kara pushed my wheelchair while I directed, showing Xavier through the pack house and into the private guest wing Kaden had assigned him. The rooms were large and well-furnished, with windows overlooking the forest and a private bathroom.
"I hope this is acceptable," I said from the doorway while Kara helped arrange fresh towels. "I know it is not what you're used to as an Alpha in your own territory."
Xavier looked around the room with genuine appreciation. "This is more than acceptable. This is comfortable."
He sat in the armchair near the window and looked at me. "You didn't have to do this yourself, you are injured, you should be resting."
"I wanted you to save my life. Proper hospitality seemed like the least I could offer."
"You don't owe me anything."
"Maybe not but I wanted to do it anyway."
I gestured at Kara. "Kara will bring whatever you need throughout your stay. If there's food you prefer, just let her know and the kitchen will prepare it. If you need anything else, more blankets, different pillows, anything she is available."
"I appreciate the thoughtfulness." Xavier studied me with those sharp eyes. "How are you feeling? Truly? Not the answer you give everyone else."
The question surprised me. "Honestly? In pain, exhausted, scared but also more determined than I've ever been."
"Determined to do what?"
"To stop letting other people decide my fate."
Xavier nodded slowly. "That's a good answer." He paused. "Kaden is lucky to have you. Even if he doesn't fully understand that yet."
"He is getting there," I said.
We talked for a few more minutes, small talk about his journey, about the summit, about the alliance he'd formed with Kaden. Xavier was easy to talk to directly but not aggressively warm but not intrusive.
I could understand why Kaden had agreed to the alliance. Xavier was the kind of person you instinctively trusted.
"Rest well," I finally told him.
"Dinner will be sent up around seven."
"Thank you, Elara for the welcome for making me feel like a guest rather than a political transaction."
I smiled at that. "You are welcome."
Kara wheeled me back toward the corridor. My leg was aching from the activity, despite the pain medication Damian had given me that morning. I needed to sit down somewhere quiet and let myself recover.
I was almost to the main hallway when I heard heels clicking against the floor.
I knew those heels.
Selena appeared from around the corner, stopping when she saw me. For just a second, something flickered in her expression of frustration, maybe then the mask went up.
"How sweet," She said, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. "The injured omega playing hostess. I hope you didn't overexert yourself."
"I'm fine thank you for the concern that I know isn't real."
"Oh, it's real. I'd hate for you to damage yourself further. Who would Kaden fuss over then?"
"Was there something you needed?" I asked. "Or did you just want to block my path for fun?"
Selena straightened. "I wanted to talk to you. Privately."
"We have nothing to say to each other."
"Really? Because I have plenty to say about Xavier. About this alliance Kaden just signed. About how you think waddling around in a wheelchair playing house is going to make you look like Luna material."
"I'm not trying to look like anything. I'm just trying to take care of people."
"By stealing credit for hospitality that should have been mine? I was the one who prepared those rooms-"
"No, you were the one who put on a show because an important Alpha was watching. That is not hospitality, that's performance."
I kept my voice steady. "There's a difference, Selena, I don't expect you to understand it."
Her eyes narrowed. "You think you are so much better than me."
"I don't think I'm better than anyone but I do think I'm better than what you're trying to make of me. An obstacle, a target someone you can eliminate because she inconveniently exists."
"Brave words for someone who spent weeks hiding in a room."
"I wasn't hiding, I was healing from the injuries your hired rogues gave me."
Silence.
Selena's expression didn't change but something shifted in her eyes. A subtle tightening. A faint flicker of alarm she quickly suppressed.
"I don't know what you're talking about," She said.
"Yes, you do." I watched her face carefully. "I remembered, Selena. I remembered standing in that hallway hearing you on the phone. Giving them the route I always took telling them where I would be."
"That's a lie."
"Is it? Because I can still hear your voice. The exact words you used. The way you told them to make it look random."
Selena laughed. It sounded forced. "You hit your head, you had amnesia for weeks. Now you're building memories from nothing because you need someone to blame."
"Maybe but I'm not the only one who knows the truth. And eventually, evidence catches up with the guilty."
I tilted my head. "How much did you pay them? Was it enough to feel worth it? Now that three of them are dead and you're still not Luna?"
Something snapped behind Selena's eyes. "Be very careful."
"I'm done being careful around you, careful is what got me thrown off pack lands and left for dead."
I met her gaze and held it. "You tried to have me killed twice. You failed both times and now you're back here, pretending to be a reformed pack member, hoping I will be too scared or too weak to call you out."
"If you had proof, I would already be in a cell," Selena said but her voice had lost some of its certainty.
"Evidence takes time to gather but it gets gathered eventually." I let the implication settle. "Enjoy the freedom while it lasts."
I nodded to Kara, who wheeled me past Selena without another word.
I didn't look back even though every nerve in my body was telling me to watch her. To make sure she wasn't reaching for something.
But I'd said what I needed to say. And walking being wheeled away was more powerful than staying to trade more words.
I heard her heels clicking away angrily in the other direction.
Good.