Elara's feet carried her through Stonehaven's cold corridors like she was walking underwater. Each step echoed the words hammering in her skull: engagement party, breeding bond, ceremony next month.
The invitation crinkled in her sweaty palm. Gold letters mocking her stupidity.
She reached Kael's door and stopped. Her reflection stared back from the polished wood—wild hair, tear-streaked cheeks, dreams dying in her eyes.
Knock.
"Come."
His voice sent shivers down her spine like always. She pushed inside.
Kael stood by his massive window, moonlight cutting sharp lines across his face. Even with her world crashing down, her body responded to him. The pull between them crackled like electricity.
"You're late," he said without turning.
"Am I?" The words came out harder than she meant.
He spun around, dark eyes narrowing. "What's wrong?"
Everything. She held up the invitation. "Congratulations."
His face went stone-cold. "Where did you get that?"
"Does it matter?" Tears burned her throat. "Is it true?"
Silence stretched between them like a blade.
"Elara—"
"IS IT TRUE?" Her voice cracked, echoing off the walls.
"Yes."
The single word shattered her heart into a million pieces. She doubled over like he'd punched her stomach.
"But this doesn't change anything between us," he said quickly, stepping forward.
She laughed. Actually laughed. High and broken and terrible.
"Doesn't change anything? You're marrying another woman!"
"It's politics. An alliance. You know how these things work."
"No, I don't!" She threw the invitation at his feet. "I'm just a stupid omega who thought she meant something to you!"
His jaw tightened. "You do mean something."
"What? What do I mean, Kael?" She spread her arms wide. "Tell me exactly what I am to you."
The words hung in the air. Waiting. Hoping against hope he'd say something—anything—that could fix this.
"You're..." He ran a hand through his dark hair. "You're important to me."
"Important." The word tasted like ash. "Like a favorite book? A useful tool?"
"That's not—"
"Then what?" She stepped closer, her hazel eyes blazing. "Say it. Say what I really am."
His control cracked. "You're mine!"
The possessive growl in his voice made her wolf whimper with want. But her human heart was stronger.
"No." She shook her head. "I'm your secret. Your dirty little distraction until you marry your perfect Luna."
"Isolde means nothing to me," he snarled.
"Then don't marry her."
"I have to. The pack needs this alliance."
"The pack," she whispered. "Always the pack. Never just... us."
Something flickered in his eyes. Pain, maybe. Or regret.
"After the ceremony," he said carefully, "things can go back to how they were."
Her blood turned to ice. "How they were?"
"You and me. The nights we share. That doesn't have to end."
"You want me to be your mistress." The words came out flat. Dead.
"I want you to be mine. However I can have you."
"And Isolde? Your wife? Your Luna?"
His face hardened. "She'll understand her place."
Elara stared at him. Really looked at him for the first time in weeks. The sharp cheekbones, the cold eyes, the mouth that whispered sweet lies in the dark.
This wasn't love. This was possession.
"I won't do it," she said quietly.
"What?"
"I won't be your hidden shame. I won't wait in the shadows while you play happy family with her."
"Elara—"
"No." She backed toward the door. "I'm done."
He moved faster than lightning, catching her wrist. "You don't get to leave me."
"Watch me."
"I won't let you go." His grip tightened. "I can't."
For a second, she saw something raw in his face. Desperate. Almost... broken.
Her heart wavered.
Then she remembered Isolde's cruel laughter. The invitation. The breeding bond.
"You already have," she whispered.
She pulled free and ran.
Behind her, something crashed against the wall. Kael's roar of rage followed her down the hallway.
Elara burst into her tiny room and locked the door. Her hands shook as she pulled out her battered suitcase.
Leave. Now. Before he comes after you.
She threw clothes inside without looking. Her mother's necklace. The few coins she'd saved. A photo of her parents.
Nothing else mattered.
Footsteps pounded in the corridor. Heavy. Angry. Getting closer.
BANG BANG BANG.
"Elara! Open this door!"
She froze, suitcase half-packed.
"I know you're in there. We need to talk."
"Go away, Kael!"
"Open the door or I'll break it down."
She believed him. He'd do it too, and damn the consequences.
Her window looked out on the gardens. Two floors up, but there was a tree...
"Elara!" His voice turned dangerous. "Last warning."
She grabbed her suitcase and climbed onto the windowsill. The night air hit her face like freedom.
The door exploded inward just as she jumped.
Branches scraped her arms. Leaves tangled in her hair. She hit the ground hard, rolling to absorb the impact.
Above her, Kael appeared in the window. Their eyes met across the darkness.
"Don't," he said, and for a moment he looked almost... scared.
She ran.
Through the gardens, past the training grounds, toward the main gate. Her heart hammered against her ribs. Behind her, she heard him jumping from the window. Landing. Coming after her.
The guard at the gate looked up in surprise. "Miss Elara? It's past curfew—"
"Let me through, please."
"I can't do that without—"
"Derek." Kael's voice cut through the night like a blade. "Step aside."
The guard's face went white. He moved.
Elara stood frozen in the gateway, caught between freedom and her Alpha's burning stare.
"Come back inside," Kael said quietly. Deadly quiet. "We'll figure this out."
"There's nothing to figure out." She gripped her suitcase tighter. "You made your choice."
"I'm making it now." He stepped closer. "Choose me, Elara. Choose us."
"There is no us!" The words exploded out of her. "There's you and your political wife and your dirty secret on the side!"
"You're not—"
"Stop lying!" Tears streamed down her face. "To me, to yourself, to everyone! You want it all, but you can't have it all!"
"I can have whatever I want. I'm the Alpha."
"Then you don't want me." She straightened her shoulders. "Because if you did, really wanted me, you'd fight for me. You'd choose me over politics and alliances and whatever else you think is more important."
"The pack—"
"Will survive without your precious marriage." She wiped her eyes. "But I won't survive being your hidden shame."
She turned to go.
"You're pregnant."
The words hit her like lightning. She spun around, mouth falling open.
"What?"
"I can smell it on you." His nostrils flared. "Sweet and warm and... different. You're carrying my child."
The world tilted sideways. Her hand flew to her stomach.
No. No, no, no.
"That's impossible. I would know—"
"Your scent changed three days ago." He stepped closer, his voice turning soft. Dangerous. "My child is growing inside you."
The suitcase slipped from her numb fingers.
"This changes everything," he continued. "You can't leave now. My heir—"
"Your heir?" She backed away. "Is that all you see? Another thing to possess?"
"I see the future of my bloodline." His eyes blazed with fierce pride. "And I see the mother of my child, who will be protected and honored—"
"As your mistress."
"As the mother of the next Alpha."
"While you're married to someone else."
His face hardened. "Isolde will understand. She'll have to."
"And if she doesn't?"
"She'll learn."
Elara stared at him. At this man who'd whispered sweet words in the dark. Who'd made her feel special, wanted, loved.
Who saw her as nothing more than a vessel for his legacy.
"I won't do it," she whispered.
"You don't have a choice."
"There's always a choice."
She grabbed her suitcase and ran into the night.
This time, he didn't follow.
Behind her, Alpha Kael Blackwood stood in the gateway of his territory, watching the mother of his unborn child disappear into the darkness.
His howl of rage and loss echoed through the mountains.
In the shadows of the treeline, silver eyes watched it all unfold.
Lysander stepped out of the darkness as Elara stumbled down the mountain path, tears streaming, one hand pressed protectively to her stomach.
His mate. Pregnant with another man's child. Running into danger with nowhere to go.
The time for watching was over.
"Elara."
She spun around, eyes wide with terror. "Who's there?"
He stepped into the moonlight, hands raised peacefully. "It's me. Lysander. Kael's cousin."
"What do you want?" She clutched her suitcase like a shield.
"To help you disappear."
Hope flickered in her eyes. Then died.
"Why would you help me? You're his family."
"Because," he said quietly, his silver gaze holding hers, "some things are more important than family loyalty."
"Like what?"
"Like making sure you and your child survive what's coming."
Thunder rumbled in the distance. The first drops of rain began to fall.
"What's coming?" she whispered.
Lysander's smile was grim. "War. When Kael realizes you're really gone, when his wolf goes mad with the loss... this pack will tear itself apart looking for you."
Lightning split the sky.
"Unless?" she asked.
"Unless you let me get you somewhere safe. Somewhere even an Alpha can't reach."
The rain fell harder now, soaking through her thin dress. She shivered, one hand still protecting her belly.
"Why?" she asked again. "Why help me?"
For a moment, Lysander was quiet. Then he stepped closer, close enough that she could see the pain in his silver eyes.
"Because you deserve better than being someone's secret shame."
"And you know where I can find better?"
"I know where you can find safe." He held out his hand. "The question is: do you trust me?"
Elara looked back toward Stonehaven, where lights blazed in every window. Where Kael was probably gathering his Betas, preparing to hunt her down.
She looked at Lysander's outstretched hand.
Then she looked down at her stomach, where new life was growing. A child who deserved more than a life in the shadows.
"If I go with you," she said slowly, "there's no coming back, is there?"
"No," he said honestly. "There isn't."
"And Kael?"
"Will never stop looking for you."
She nodded once. Sharp. Decisive.
"Then we better make sure he never finds me."
She took his hand.
The moment their skin touched, electricity shot through her. Different from what she felt with Kael. Deeper. Calmer. Like coming home.
Lysander's eyes widened. He felt it too.
"What was that?" she whispered.
"Something that will have to wait," he said, pulling her toward the trees. "Right now, we run."
Behind them, howls began to echo through the night.
The hunt had begun.