Chapter 53: A Prince against a Queen

ELAINE

“You’re not going to fight. Not if I can help it.”

I stood my ground, arms crossed, patience stretched thin. My mate, Connor, was being stubborn, blocking my path out of the room.

He was shirtless, his joggers hanging low on his waist. A trail of hair led to a bulge that was distracting me from the real issue at hand.

His arms were crossed over his chest, mirroring my stance. His face was a mask of anger.

“What were you thinking?” he demanded, teeth clenched.

“~You~,” I replied, a smile playing on my lips. I uncrossed my arms, leaning against the bed, my gaze fixed on him.

The scars that marred his body were a constant reminder of Enora’s cruelty. I was close to losing my cool with her.

After our agreement last night, I had returned to our room to find Connor awake, worry etched on his face.

He wanted to know why I had met with Enora. I explained, but it felt like my words fell on deaf ears.

Connor didn’t think I should have challenged her to a duel. He believed his punishment was his burden to bear, not mine.

It wasn’t fair. Seeing him suffer while I was away was unbearable.

But there were things I didn’t know, things that pushed our conversation aside. The priority was my well-being, my rest. They didn’t understand that I was fine, except for the haze in my mind and the half spirit of Khan within me.

“Connor, I’m not going to argue about this. I don’t want to fight with you,” I sighed, crawling to the edge of the bed.

I reached out to him, hoping he would reciprocate. But Connor remained unmoving. He was as stubborn as a mule.

Mumbling under my breath, I stood up. If he wanted to be stubborn, I could be stubborn too.

I grabbed my clothes and was about to head to the bathroom when a knock on the door stopped me.

I glanced at Connor, who shrugged and went to answer the door. To our surprise, it was someone we didn’t expect.

“Prince Darian?” I questioned, frowning.

Connor growled as I moved to his side, placing a calming hand on his arm.

“May I speak with you?” Darian asked, ignoring Connor completely.

“My mate has nothing to say to you!” Connor snapped.

“I asked her, not you. So, shut up,” Darian retorted. “I really need to talk to you.”

“Is this about our duel?” I asked, curiosity piqued.

Darian shook his head.

I sighed, looking between the two men. “Connor, let us talk for a bit,” I instructed, turning away from him. I knew he was seething.

“Elaine, you shouldn’t be alone with him. This jerk!” he growled.

“Enough,” I pleaded. “Just give us twenty minutes. That’s all I’m asking.”

I didn’t look back as I heard him walk away, grumbling under his breath until the door closed behind him.

I moved to the coffee table, where a pot of warm coffee was steaming. Connor needed to understand that I had to clear my mind before we could return to our normal life.

I couldn’t let things continue as they were, not with that bastard still out there.

“Want some?” I offered, pouring myself a cup.

Darian took a seat but didn’t respond. I poured him a cup anyway, black, and slid it across the table to him.

I took a sip of my coffee, the warmth soothing my stressed body.

“I will forfeit,” Darian whispered. I looked up, confused.

“Excuse me?” I choked, wiping my mouth. “Forfeit what?”

“Our duel. I don’t want to fight you,” he said, sounding defeated. This left me even more confused.

I watched him silently, his posture slumped, his expression weary. Seeing him like this, I decided to give him some space.

“Grandmother has been harsh with your family,” he said, taking a sip of his coffee and grimacing. I gave a rueful smile.

“Yes, she hurt your mate. No, she ordered me to, but I never enjoyed it, Elaine. I know this is sudden, but I can’t continue this.”

“Why?” I asked.

Darian met my gaze. His eyes sparked a memory, a fleeting recollection that made me wince.

“When our grandmother saved you, you were near death. You were barely conscious, but we knew what was happening.

“I don’t know if you remember the nurse who took care of you when you were a prisoner.”

“I do.” I smiled, remembering her face, but not her name. It was strange. I couldn’t remember her name, but it didn’t matter now.

“She worked for us,” Darian revealed. I looked at him in surprise.

“She did?” I asked. He nodded, smiling.

“We got all the information we needed from you. What they did to you, if you were hurt or suffering. Then we found out Sorin was the real culprit, the mastermind, as humans call them.

“But we still had a few lycans in the mansion.”

“And you were one of them?” I asked.

“How did you know?” he asked, his eyes wide with surprise.

I shrugged.

“Just a guess.” I smiled, taking another sip of my coffee.

“I see,” he murmured. “When you escaped, we alerted the rest of our pack, including grandma. She moved, and we started killing the hunters, but then your mate and his pack arrived, and we saw ~her~.”

“Who?” I asked, eager to hear more about that day.

“Connor’s mother,” Darian replied. I frowned. “She knew your mother, my aunt, Elaine.”

I was so shocked I spilled some of my coffee on my dress.

“What do you mean?” I asked, putting my cup down. “My mom’s gone.”

“But that was before you and Connor came into the world. She knew him, and in a way, she gave him her blessing.”

I stared at Darian, my mind reeling from his words.

“That’s not true!” I snapped.

“Ever wonder why Connor’s spirit is a lycan and not a wolf?” he asked, ignoring my outburst.

His voice was a low rumble. “Ever question why he’s the only male in your pack with a lycan spirit, even though no one in his family has lycan blood?”

I leaned back on the couch, my eyes locked on his face.

“You’re just talking nonsense,” I mumbled, still in shock.

“No, Elaine,” he said, shaking his head. “Your mom blessed Connor when he was still in his mother’s womb. It wasn’t just any blessing, but a special one that required a ritual.”

A cold shiver ran down my spine, and a pounding headache made me reach for my temple. I groaned but tried to hide my discomfort.

Darian just watched me, his eyes filled with curiosity. He knew I was hearing this for the first time.

“Leave!” I demanded. “Get out of here!”

“Wait, Elaine,” he pleaded.

“Get out now!” I shouted, standing up. My head felt like it was about to explode. “I don’t want to hear another word about my mom from you!”

“But it’s the truth, Elaine! Your mom used a blessing that linked Connor to you!”

“NO!” I screamed as my vision started to fade.

I felt a hand on my waist as my knees gave out.

“Connor…,” I whimpered, but Darian sighed behind me.

“I know this is hard for you. But there’s a diary here that belonged to her. And our grandmother knows about it,” he said, helping me back onto the couch.

Holding my head, I leaned on my arm. Darian brushed a strand of hair away from my face, his smile filled with sadness.

He looked worried.

“No, she wouldn’t do that,” I choked out.

“But she wanted to kill your dad, didn’t she?” I looked at him, shocked.

He let out a heavy sigh and rested his hand on mine. “I know what she did, what she wanted, because it was Enora’s idea. If you want to know more, I can help you.”

I swallowed hard.

“Enora?” I asked, my voice shaking.

“Yes,” Darian nodded. “Enora convinced your mom to become the pack’s queen.

“She manipulated her, because she’s always been a control freak, and having your mom under her thumb was a point of pride for her.”

Tears blurred my vision as they rolled down my cheeks. If what he said was true, then everything I thought I knew about my mom, everything she wrote in her diary, was a lie.

Her secrets, her desires… They weren’t hers, but Enora’s. But why? What was her motive?

***

I ran my fingers through my hair, my mind stuck on Darian’s last words before he left.

“I can help you. You need answers. I have them,” he had said before walking away, leaving me in a state of emotional turmoil. Later, Connor found me in the bathroom, sick to my stomach.

The thought that Connor might not be my true mate made everything worse. I felt nauseous, disgusted with both Enora and my mom for what they did.

To find out more, I would need to talk to someone, and that someone was Connor’s mom. But to do that, I would need to get out of here, and the only way to do that was to fight Darian.

“Elaine!” Connor shook me out of my thoughts. I blinked, my hairbrush frozen in midair and my face streaked with tears. “Talk to me!”

I blinked away the tears and put the brush down. Clearing my throat, I stood up and turned away from him.

“Elaine, you’re scaring me,” Connor whispered, taking my hand. “What did Darian tell you?”

I tried to hold back the tears, but it was impossible. I turned around and threw my arms around him, burying my face in his neck as I sobbed uncontrollably.

“Baby, what’s wrong?” he asked, guiding us to the couch.

I sat on his lap, keeping my face hidden from his worried gaze.

I heard him sigh, and he leaned back, pulling me with him.

“I won’t stop you from fighting,” he said suddenly. “But remember, we can leave whenever you want.”

Surprised, I looked up.

“We can leave?” I asked, confused. “No, Enora made it clear we can’t.”

“And I’m telling you we can,” he smiled, kissing my cheek. “I know you’re confused, and I know you want to sort things out, but we need to take it one step at a time.”

Connor was right. I was rushing things, and I didn’t understand why. Was it because I was desperate for answers?

Sighing, I wiped my face and got up from his lap. I hurried to the closet and started looking for some fighting gear, a gift from Enora.

The thought made me cringe, but I needed it for my fight.

Once I was ready, I turned around and saw Connor leaning against the bedroom door, also dressed for a fight.

“You’ve lost weight,” I noted, making him look up. He seemed as lost in thought as I was, which made me wonder what was on his mind.

“I was asleep just like you were, and it wasn’t easy without you by my side. Every day and night was a struggle, knowing that you might never wake up,” he said, forcing a smile.

“It was tearing me apart every night.”

That was something I’d been curious about, what it was like for him while I was asleep. What did he feel?

“You know, when I was in that state, I don’t know what to call it. I remember feeling you. Pushing through my walls. You were persistent, I’ll give you that,” I smiled.

“Yeah, I did. I felt our bond flicker a few times, and Enora asked me if I was trying to reach you through our mind-link.”

“Why?” I asked, puzzled. “Did she have a reason to ask?”

“I’m not sure.” Connor shrugged, his gaze dropping to his wrist. “But I think she was worried about you.

“Despite her harshness, I got the feeling she was genuinely concerned.”

“But she let Sorin go,” I pointed out, feeling a twinge of annoyance. “Why? Do you know why she did that?”

“My mom asked her about it once.” Connor’s face creased as he remembered. “That very day, actually. She wanted to know why Enora let him go when she was the one who was supposed to be looking after him, not Enora.”

“Your mom?” I echoed, taken aback. Connor chuckled.

“I know, right? We were all shocked when she said she’d kill him. I guess the idea must have bothered her.”

“And what about you? Would you have killed him if you had the chance?”

There was a pause.

“I would,” Connor said, his eyes serious and determined. He walked over to me and gently placed his hand on my cheek. I leaned into his touch.

His hand was warm and comforting.

“If you had died that day,” he began, his voice catching as I opened my eyes.

“But I didn’t die,” I whispered. “I’m alive because of you and Khan.”

He managed a smile.

“Thank you,” I said, the words I’d been wanting to say since I saw him again. “Thank you for not giving up on me, even though I was a mess you could have easily discarded.”

Connor laughed and pulled me closer by the waist.

“Yeah, you were a mess, but I couldn’t let you go.” He smiled and kissed the mating mark. “You’re everything I’ve ever wanted.”

“Even though I hated you at first?” I asked, returning his smile.

“Well, when you put it that way, I was the one who provoked you first, wasn’t I?” he asked, grinning at me. I shook my head. “Do you remember the first time we met?”

I smiled as the memory surfaced.

“Yes, we were just kids. I was seven, and you were eight.”

“Right, and there was a hunting competition. You hadn’t shifted yet, and I could.

“You kept your lycan hidden, so everyone in the pack thought you were strange, a weird kid without a wolf,” Connor said, causing me to raise an eyebrow.

“Strange?” I repeated, incredulous. “~Ouch~. Thanks a lot.”

“Wait,” he said, pulling me closer. “Now that I think about it, the first thing I noticed about you was your eyes. They were the purest blue I’d ever seen. Clear like the morning sky but as mysterious as the night.

“I wanted to talk to you the first time you joined the group of kids for practice, but then you pushed that boy down the stairs and got in trouble, and I started seeing you in a different light.”

“The boy I pushed?” I frowned, not remembering.

“Yeah, what was his name?” Connor frowned.

Suddenly, my head started to throb. I couldn’t remember anything except meeting him on the training field. We were standing face-to-face, surrounded by a group of boys.

I only had eyes for him. It was as if I was instinctively drawn to him, like a magnet slowly tilting.

“…So you started cursing at me, and then your brothers showed up. Regulus got mad and punched me.”

“Oh, yeah…,” I said, pulling away from him. I looked to the side and sighed. “We should get going. Everyone’s waiting for us, and I don’t want to be late for her.”

As expected, Enora and her little minions were gathered in the same place where I found her that night, beating up my brothers and mate.

I let out a snarl, alerting everyone to my presence. When she saw me, her body tensed, and her face tightened as if she was struggling to keep her anger in check.

I was all about getting under her skin, making her feel the pain of losing Darian. But from what he told me earlier, he wanted to give up. I wasn’t sure how this was going to play out.

He couldn’t just forfeit, not without making Enora mad. I was certain of that.

If he was planning to do that, there had to be another reason, which made me wonder if he was really being honest when he said he could help me learn more about my mom.

He was right, though. I had been so focused on the idea that my mom wanted to be queen that I never took the time to really understand her diary entries.

I remember catching a glimpse of a part where she said she wanted my dad dead. But I never thought it was something I needed to worry about.

I had other things on my mind, like becoming queen, that took priority.

Feeling a squeeze in my hand, I gave Connor my best smile. He smiled back, but there was a hint of worry in his eyes.

I couldn’t resist reaching up to touch his face.

“If you keep making that face, you’re going to age quickly,” I teased, making him smile.

He chuckled and leaned in to kiss me. It was a breathless kiss, and I was grateful for the distraction.

With one last reassuring squeeze, he left, and I turned to face my enemy, Enora.

“Disgusting,” she commented as I approached the platform.

Darian was nowhere in sight, and that worried me.

“Where’s your prince?” I asked her. Enora’s hand twitched on the armrest. “Isn’t he coming?”

The area fell silent. My brothers were a bundle of nerves, their faces filled with anxiety.

I had to shoot Regulus a glare, since he wouldn’t stop scowling at Enora, who seemed to be ignoring everyone but me.

I walked calmly around the platform.

There were still six minutes until the fight was supposed to start. Curious about something, I stopped halfway, my hands behind my back and my head tilted in Enora’s direction.

“Someone told me my mom blessed Connor as my mate?” I said, the words flowing easily from my lips.

The whispers that had been floating around from her followers abruptly ceased. Everyone, including Connor, was staring at me in a silence that was beyond words.

Enora started to speak, but I cut her off before she could get a word out.

“Don’t even try to tell me you don’t know what I’m talking about, or that it’s all lies. I know it’s not!” I snapped, baring my teeth in anger.

Her hands clenched on the armrests and her face flushed with fury.

“Did you also instruct her on what to do with my father? Did you tell her how to be the queen of the pack?” I asked, raising my voice so everyone could hear. “Please, enlighten me, since you seem to know more than I do.”

“Don’t push it, Elaine.”

“Why?” I asked, a smile playing on my lips. “You think I’m scared of you?”

“You don’t know anything!” she yelled back.

“Then explain why you were so desperate to keep me here. And why,” I said, glancing around, “is everything here dead?”

The look on Enora’s face shifted from anger to pure shock. I gave her a small, victorious smile and continued with my questions.

“The night I woke up, I had a dream,” I said, moving closer to the edge of the platform. “I saw things creeping into this place like a plague, and I saw black blood splattered on a platform.

“I don’t know if it was a dream, but I’m sure it meant something. And when I found you all here with my mate and brothers chained up like animals, I saw a dismembered body.”

Her face had turned so pale it looked like she might faint.

“That wasn’t just a lycan, was it?” I asked, studying her face. “Something is wrong with this place, and that’s why you want me to stay so badly.”

“Elaine,” a familiar voice called. I glanced to the side and saw Darian, panting and looking at me with a hint of irritation.

I lowered my gaze and saw him holding a small, weathered book. Its blue cover had faded to a grayish hue over the years.

“This place became like this because of her, right?” I asked, turning back to Enora. “My mother’s death caused this, didn’t it?”

Enora stood up. Her hands were shaking so violently that Darian started to move, but I growled at him as a warning.

“Stay where you are,” I commanded, making him flinch. “Answer me this. Was making Connor my mate part of your plan too?”

“No,” she choked out. “I…”

Her eyes flicked to Connor, who was staring at me, his face filled with horror.

I felt a pang of guilt for not having mentioned any of this before, but seeing Enora’s reaction told me I was on the right track.

I sighed and looked at Darian, who was staring down at the book.

“Give it to me,” I demanded, and he looked up, his face filled with resignation.

As he approached, he handed me the diary. Instead of taking it, I grabbed his neck.

Darian’s eyes widened in surprise.

If I killed him before Enora, I would win the bet. I could leave with everyone and go back to our home. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

I tightened my grip, and Darian stopped struggling. His face turned red and he gasped for breath.

He didn’t resist.

He wanted to die.

My vision started to blur, and I let go of him. Ashina was pushing at the back of my mind. She wanted to kill him, to spill his blood.

I cursed under my breath and backed away slowly. Darian gasped for air.

“Darian!” Enora screamed.

She jumped onto the platform and reached for him, but I was faster. I went for her instead.

I hit her across the face with the book I was holding, and she gasped in surprise, tripping over her own feet and falling.

“You think you can control me, Enora? Let me tell you, I’m not my mother!” I spat.

Furious, I hit her with the diary again, then closed the distance between us.

“No one will tell me what to do, or how to behave. No one but me shapes me into the person I want to be!”

Enora looked at me, speechless. Blood was streaming from her broken nose.

“If you think for a second that I would become like my mother, then I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I turned out to be worse. My goal has always been to claim the throne my mother wanted.

“Yes, I hated my father for killing her, but I would never manipulate someone to be my puppet.

“And while I did want to kill him, I had other ways to make him suffer, to make his life a living hell.

“What you did to her, brainwashing her for your own selfish ends… How pathetic. Couldn’t you do it on your own? Or did you trick the last person who sat on that throne too?”

Enora snarled and lunged at me. Her nails scratched my arm as I stepped back.

“Yes, I might have manipulated her, but it was for her own good. Yet that ungrateful daughter of mine defied me and married your father, a worthless alpha, and tied you to ~him~!” Enora shrieked.

I glanced over my shoulder to see Connor being held back by my brothers.

“Yes, a good choice,” I replied, smiling. “It was a good one, even though it hurts to see him suffer because of everything I did.”

I turned back to Enora.

I dusted off the diary and opened it. Flipping through the pages, I stopped at a particular entry.

“~My mother thinks that if I move to the Black Rose Pack, I won’t be able to achieve her goal of becoming a queen of the lycans. But I can, if I find a mate outside these walls.~”

I looked at her with contempt, then lowered my gaze back to the entry.

“~I can be queen of the Black Rose Pack. That is my dream. It will be a long road to achieve that, but with my mate, now I can.~

“~They’ll suffer because of me. Innocents will suffer. I wish my mother could see things differently…~”

I stared at the diary entry, my heart pounding as I read the words.

“~She’s so angry with me, says I’m a disgrace. I can’t help but hate her. Tonight, I’ll kill her, then I’ll leave this place for good, leave my old life behind.~

“~He’s waiting for me, and I made him a promise. Lycans don’t break promises, and even though he’s just an alpha, I’ll keep my promise until I get what I want.~”

I nervously flipped to another entry.

“~I got away, but I can’t ever go back. If she finds out I’m with the pup, she won’t forgive me. She’ll try to kill the pup, and I can’t let that happen.~”

Each entry was dated, day by day. It was like her whole life was laid out in these pages.

My hands trembled as I continued to read her diary.

“~My three sons are perfect,~” I whispered, reading her words. “~Now I need a girl, one who will be like me, or better.~”

I read entry after entry until I found one with my name.

“~Elaine, that’s what I’ll call her. My beautiful ray of sunshine, my girl I haven’t met yet but who already has a destiny like no other.~

“~Yesterday, I blessed my friend’s pup with a small ritual. He’ll be born with lycan blood, something I shouldn’t have done if I didn’t want to face the consequences.~

“~But Elaine will need someone strong, and he’ll be the one for her. My mother can never find out, or she’ll try to take her away from me. She can never know what I did.~”

Feeling a hand steady mine, I looked up to see Jyn standing there, his face unreadable.

I hadn’t even realized I was crying.

“That’s enough, Elaine,” Jyn said, his voice clearer than I’d ever heard it.

I turned to Enora, who was staring at me, her face devoid of emotion.

“You knew about all this, didn’t you?” I asked. “You knew my mother, ~your daughter~, hated how you treated her. Like a puppet you could control, with no freedom or choice.”

My head started to throb.

“We’re leaving this place,” Regulus declared, standing by my side. “Whatever you did to our mother, Elaine won’t do it.”

“Your mother should never have left this pack! An abomination like him should never have been born!” I stopped as we turned away from her.

“Lycan blood was never meant to mix with wolves. We’re unique, and she ruined it by blessing him!”

I turned back around. Jyn gripped my hand, begging me not to respond, but I couldn’t help myself.

“So?” I asked, my head throbbing.

“He was never meant to have our blood. But she foolishly blessed him for ~you~! Do you understand what that means?” Enora smirked.

“I don’t care,” I replied. “I’m glad she did. And I’m sorry I let her down.”

Enora frowned at that.

“I did things thinking they were right. I thought she wanted to be queen because they forced her to mate with my father.

“Now I understand her. Everything was a lie, a mistake. You wrote that diary I have, didn’t you?”

Enora’s jaw tightened. Her hands shifted between human and lycan.

“She was trying to make you believe she was under your control. You thought she would do what you wanted, but she never wanted that, so she lied and faked everything.

“The real diary is this one,” I said, showing her the book. “The real her is in here, and the rest was all lies. You tricked me!”

“Yes,” Enora chuckled. “I had to think carefully to get you here.

“I knew she wanted to be far away from me, where I could never find her. Such a foolish daughter.”

“No, she wasn’t.” I smiled sadly. “I was the fool for believing what I saw. For trying to be someone I could never be.”

“But you are, and more.” Enora smiled. “You’re perfect.”

“Grandma!” Darian interrupted. “Enough!”

“It’s not enough!” she yelled. “Not when we’re dying. We need her here. Her blood, her powers, they can restore this place!”

We all watched, stunned, but I was more confused than anything.

“Why?” I asked. She turned to me, her face a mix of lycan and human.

“Lycans born to be queens can never leave their lands. They curse them.”

“And their people.” Connor spoke for the first time since we’d arrived. “Those things you hunt are your pack members, aren’t they?”

Enora’s lips curved into a smile.

“Yes, they are,” Darian answered. “As time passes, more of our people die.

“When your mother left, our pack started suffering from diseases, hunger, deformities, until those infected lost their humanity and we had no choice but to hunt them, then kill them.

“But we didn’t know that their spilled blood was killing our lands until they looked like this,” he said, gesturing around us.

“Having you here with him was our best chance, Elaine. We can restore our lands, which are ~ours~. No one should leave this place.”

“But we wolves can leave, visit the cities, live among humans.” Yuki frowned as he stepped forward. “Why can’t you?”

“Because we were born from the gods.” Enora smiled. “We were created by our makers and the moment they created these lands.

"Our mother told us to never leave these lands if we wanted our race to live for generations.”

“So, you had Sorin kidnap me as part of your plan?” I asked, piecing together the puzzle. “And you let him get away because he was in on it. He was working for you?”

Enora’s gaze hardened, and a growl escaped her lips.

I recoiled from Jyn.

“You orchestrated my kidnapping so that when you came to my rescue and revealed our family ties, I’d willingly stay here? Is that your game?”

Enora’s growl deepened as I lunged at her, but Darian intercepted me, and my nails dug into his chest.

He grunted, stumbling backward, and I recoiled in surprise at my own attack.

“Darian,” I murmured. He offered a weak smile as blood seeped through his shirt.

“You just don’t get it, do you?” Enora hissed, closing in on us. “You’re alive because his lycan and yours are powerful, are ~one~.

“I won’t deny that I despise him as your mate, but he is undeniably strong and he loves you. But life isn’t just about love, Elaine. There’s more to it. This is bigger than you can imagine.”

“No!” I snapped, my hands balling into fists. “My life, my people, my love—they’re everything to me, ~my world~. And I…”

I glanced around at the worried faces surrounding me.

It hurt to see their concern, their fear that they might suffer again, that if I left, I wouldn’t be able to protect them. But I was a lycan, the offspring of a strong woman I never had the chance to meet.

“Let’s go, Elaine,” Jyn urged, tugging my hand. I stared at our intertwined fingers.

With a heavy sigh, I turned away from Enora, picked up the diary, and started to walk away.

“If you leave now, we’ll all die, Elaine. The lycans ~will~ become extinct, and there will be no stopping it.”

We began descending the stairs, but I hesitated. A tiny voice in my head urged me to stay.

I tightened my grip on Jyn’s hand as Connor reached out to me. His eyes were filled with questions. I offered him a small smile and turned to Connor.

His lips curled into a smile, his eyes silently communicating with me.

~“Whatever you decide, I’m with you,”~ he mind-linked.

I reached out and took his hand, his warm touch a comforting reminder of his love for me.

Slowly, I turned back to face Enora.

“Darian is coming with me.” As I spoke, Yuki moved to help Darian to his feet.

Without a backward glance, we left the pack where my mother had grown up, leaving behind a yearning that echoed within me.