Chapter 86 Elara's POV
I tried to see Kaden that day and the next and the one after that.
But he was always in meetings, always busy, always dealing with some crisis. And Selena was always there, blocking access, rescheduling, making excuses.
"He is very busy preparing for the celebration," She would say with that practiced smile. "Perhaps you could speak with him after? When will things calm down?"
By the end of the week, I gave up trying.
Instead, I focused on what I could control, building relationships with the servants, making myself useful around the pack house, showing people I was more than just an injured burden.
But I could feel the tide shifting. Could hear the whispers changing from “poor Elara to Selena would make a better Luna."
One afternoon, needing to escape the increasingly hostile atmosphere, I found myself in the pack library.
It was in a secluded corner of the pack house. Only a few people have ever come here.
Perfect.
I settled into a comfortable chair and pulled a book at random from the shelf. Something about pack history that I had no real interest in but gave me an excuse to be here.
The library was peaceful; the only sound was the occasional creak of the old building settling.
Then the temperature dropped that same unnatural cold I'd felt before. I looked up from my book and the dark figure stood in the corner. Just standing there watching me.
"What do you want?" I whispered.
It moved faster than should have been possible. One moment it was across the room. The next one was right in front of me.
I tried to scream but no sound came out. Cold hands if they were hands wrapped around my throat.
Not squeezing just holding making it clear that it could squeeze whenever it wanted.
I grabbed at the hands but my fingers passed through darkness. There was nothing solid to fight nothing to push away.
The pressure increased.
I couldn't breathe couldn't call for help. Couldn't do anything except struggle uselessly against something that wasn't quite there.
My vision started to blur. Black spots appearing at the edges.
The baby…I had to protect the baby.
I pressed my hand to my stomach, trying to shield it. Trying to...the figure released me. Just like that. As suddenly as it had appeared.
I collapsed forward, gasping for air, my throat burning.
When I looked up, it was gone.
I sat there for several minutes, shaking, trying to understand what had just happened.
Three times now. Three times this thing had appeared. And this time it had actually touched me. Actually tried to hurt me.
What was it? Why was it targeting me? And why did it keep disappearing?
I stood on trembling legs and left the library quickly. I needed to tell someone Damian. Kaden anyone.
But who would believe me? A dark figure that only I could see? That appeared and disappeared at random? That left no evidence except my fear?
I was walking back toward my quarters when I heard voices in the main entrance hall.
"Welcome to Blue Moon Pack, Alpha Helena. We are honored to host you."
Selena's voice warm and gracious and perfect.
I turned the corner and saw them. Selena standing beside Kaden, both of them greeting a woman I recognized from the summit.
Alpha Helena of Red Stone Pack. Tall, elegant, with sharp eyes that seemed to see everything.
She was one of the Alphas attending the celebration.
"Thank you for the welcome," Helena said. Then her eyes landed on me.
I saw recognition flash across her face. But not the recognition of someone she'd seen at the summit.
Something else something deeper.
She stared at me for a long moment, her expression shifting from pleasant greeting to intense scrutiny.
"You," She said, moving toward me. "What's your name?"
"Elara."
"Elara." She repeated it like she was testing the word. "How old are you?"
"Twenty-three."
Helena stopped directly in front of me, studying my face with an intensity that made me uncomfortable.
"You look familiar," She said. "Very familiar. Have we met before?"
"I don't think so I would remember meeting an Alpha."
"Not at the summit before that much before that."
Her eyes narrowed. "Who are your parents? What pack are you from originally?"
"I don't know. I don't have any memory of my life before a few months ago."
"Amnesia?"
"Yes."
Helena's expression grew more troubled. She turned to Kaden. "This woman. This Elara. She's important to your pack?"
"She's my mate," Kaden said quietly.
Helena's eyes widened slightly. Then she looked back at me with something that might have been shock or recognition or fear.
"Your mate," She repeated. "This is your mate."
"Yes. Why?"
Helena didn't answer immediately. Just kept staring at me like I was a puzzle she couldn't quite solve.
"Because," She finally said, her voice careful, "I think I know who she is. Or rather, who she was before she lost her memory."
The room went silent.
"What do you mean?" I asked, my heart pounding.
Helena took a breath. "You look exactly like someone I knew. Someone who disappeared fifteen years ago someone everyone assumed was dead."
"Who?"
Helena's eyes met mine.
"You look exactly like Elena Silvercrest. Daughter of the Silver Moon Pack's Alpha. The girl who vanished without a trace when she was eight years old.”