Chapter 25: A Declaration of War

CLARA

Despite his wounds, Elias carried me up the cabin stairs and into his bedroom.

“I don’t see much reason for you to sleep in a guest room anymore,” he said, his voice particularly gruff.

I didn’t argue. I had too many thoughts buzzing around in my head to spend the night alone.

His room was plainer than I expected. Floor-to-ceiling windows filled two walls, with his bed on the third, and two doors and a dresser on the fourth. Unsurprisingly, every other spare inch was covered with paintings of eye-filled forests and wolves.

“Used up all of your interior decorating skills on the rest of the house?” I teased as I slipped out of my clothes and into one of Elias’s shirts. It hung nearly to my knees and smelled just like him.

“Perhaps I did,” he replied, dropping his own pants.

He pulled down the red plaid covers and lifted me into bed before climbing in after me. I pressed my back into his chest, which was even warmer than usual. Elias draped his thick arm over me and pulled me close. I felt a bit like a teddy bear, but I wasn’t upset about it.

I quickly dropped into the darkness of sleep.

***

I was, once again, in the clearing standing on the flat stone. Elias stood beside me, his silver wolf practically glowing in the moonlight.

I turned and nuzzled the underside of his chin fondly and nipped at his paws, but he didn’t seem to be in the mood to play.

I found this terribly upsetting. I sat back on my haunches and stared up at the moon, which was full and bright. A mournful howl rose toward the heavens, and Elias soon joined me, as did many other voices from the darkness.

“~Not much longer,~” I heard multiple voices echo in my head.

The sentiment filled me with joy, anticipation, and fear. My howl faded into the distance, and Elias stood by me protectively, his lips curled back into a snarl.

Before I could see what he was reacting to, he knocked me aside and slammed into a black wolf who had been entirely invisible in the darkness. Their teeth and claws reflected the moonlight as the two wolves snapped and swiped at each other.

“~Stop!~” I screamed.

Not only did the alphas ignore me, but the rest of the packs emerged from the woods and also began fighting, filling the air with their cries.

~“Can’t you see what you’re doing? You’re tearing each other apart!~”

I woke in a cold sweat, squirming against Elias’s firm grip. My chest heaved as my lungs begged for breath, despite the fact I’d only been dreaming.

His scent was strong in my nostrils, and I drank it in, allowing the pine and musk to ground me.

When my heart had stopped pounding and my muscles relaxed, I attempted to focus on my other senses for further grounding. My sight was particularly good in the dim room, for whatever reason, and I forced myself to stare at each painting for at least fifteen seconds.

Then I focused on what I could hear: Elias’s breathing. The wind in the trees. The far-off howling of a wolf.

That one did ~not~ help calm me down.

So I abandoned my hearing and instead drew my attention to the warmth of Elias’s skin. I buried my face in his chest, and he instinctively pulled me closer, his breath causing my flyaway hairs to dance. It tickled, but only a little.

I raised my face and kissed the bottom of his chin, and Elias began to stir.

“Why are you awake?” he mumbled, his deep voice thick with sleep. “It’s not morning yet.”

I cuddled in closer and closed my eyes. “I had a nightmare. I know, bad dreams are for kids. But try telling them that.”

I felt Elias’s chest vibrate with a silent chuckle and his fingers as he buried them in my hair.

“Nightmares don’t discriminate.” He kissed my forehead and yawned, closing his eyes again. “What were you dreaming about?”

“I was dreaming about you and Xavier fighting. I tried to get you to stop, but neither of you would listen. And then both of the packs came out of the trees and started fighting too. I felt so entirely useless! There wasn’t anything I could do.

“And I don’t know that there’s anything I can do for real, either. How could I possibly do anything to help stop the fighting? I’m just a thirty-three-year-old divorcee trying to figure out life on my own. I didn’t even have a bed for weeks!”

Elias sighed and rolled onto his back, pulling me up to lay on top of him like a child.

“Prophecies don’t care if you believe you can fulfill them or not. That’s already taken into account. And when we prove the whole ritual thing is bullshit? Then we can focus on more logical ways to end this war.”

“I suppose you’re right,” I said, resting my head on his chest.

The rhythmic thump of his heart calmed my remaining nerves, and before I knew it, I’d fallen back into a sleep—dreamless this time, thank literally everything.

The next time I woke, it was due to a stray sunbeam deciding to traipse right across my face. I rolled over to get rid of it and realized I was alone in the bed.

“Even in your room, I have to wake up alone, Elias?” I mumbled under my breath, annoyed.

But the scent of maple and bacon quickly replaced my irritation with hunger.

I wandered out into the main living area, pausing at the top of the stairs to watch Elias move around the kitchen.

A smile played with the corners of my lips as I watched his muscles ripple beneath his tanned skin. As usual, he was shirtless, and he hadn’t bothered to replace his pants, either.

I was ~more than okay~ with this.

He looked up and spotted me and gave me one of his rare smiles.

“Breakfast is almost ready,” he said, pointing to the table with his spatula.

Sure enough, it was loaded with pancakes, sausage, bacon, and scrambled eggs.

“Pack leaders coming over to eat, I’m guessing?” I asked, and he nodded.

A small part of me was disappointed, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it. I’d already had Elias all to myself since yesterday, anyway.

I took the stairs two at a time and started filling my plate before the others arrived and ate all the best bacon.

I wasn’t that far ahead, either. No sooner had I put the first bite in my mouth than the door opened, and in poured six broad men. They gave me a nod of acknowledgment, but that was all I got before they began filling their plates with food and the air with chatter.

Benson sat to my left and elbowed me in the ribs.

“Alpha Elias tells us you’re the new luna. Did you really agree to mate with that ugly mug?”

Everyone at the table began to laugh, and Elias poked his head around the corner.

“Damn straight she did, Benson. You keep your dirty paws off her, or I’ll have to kick your ass and make Hunter my new beta.”

Benson simply laughed and stuffed an entire half of a pancake in his mouth.

Elias emerged a moment later with another plate of bacon and then headed upstairs.

Unlike the last time I’d eaten breakfast with the pack, I felt quite comfortable in their midst. I still didn’t feel like I quite fit in, but I didn’t feel like a complete outsider, either. They laughed and joked around me, and I just soaked it all in.

Was this what it felt like to have a large family? It was nice.

Very nice.

Elias returned a few minutes later wearing pants and sat down in the empty chair to my right. He filled up his plate and ate in silence, his stone face firmly in place.

The atmosphere of the room changed as each of the other wolves noticed their alpha’s mood. The laughter stopped, and they quickly finished their meals, but none of them left the table.

When Elias’s plate was empty, he pushed it away and looked at each of the pack members in turn. His lips were pursed into a tight line, and I could feel the pack shifting nervously. The silence grew deafening before Elias finally broke it.

“There has been a shift. Xavier and his beta attacked last night while I was showing Clara where the ritual would be taking place.”

Each face at the table grew grim, but it didn’t seem they were ready for the next statement.

“Graveridge attempted to steal Clara, and I have declared war on them.”

Pandemonium ensued. Benson stared in open shock, while the other five began shouting—so many voices overlapping that I couldn’t make out a single word.

Elias allowed them a few moments to get their initial reactions out before pounding an open palm on the table and startling them all into silence.

“I am aware this was not part of the plan. But we can’t ignore Xavier’s advances into our territory and attacks on our pack any longer. He is convinced that Clara is the key to the prophecy.

“You all know where I stand on the idiotic belief in the words of a crazy woman. But I want you to make sure the entire pack knows we’re no longer standing by.

“Obviously, I expect everyone to step up and defend your new luna. If you come across a Graveridge member in our territory, alert the pack immediately.”

Everyone returned to shifting uncomfortably and communicating silently through glances and grimaces.

I felt my anxiety spiking as their gazes turned on me, and the weight of accusation settled on my shoulders.

I had caused this.

I jumped up from the table and ran into Elias’s bedroom, slamming the door behind me. Even with the solid wood door and what I thought were thick walls between me and the pack, I could hear Elias’s angry voice.

I slid down the wall until my butt hit the floor. I tucked my knees into my chest and pressed my hands over my ears in an attempt to block everything out.