The days blurred into a gentle, busy routine for Elara.
Sunrise found her in the clinic, sorting herbs and preparing treatments. Noon was spent tending to injured warriors, soothing aches, stitching cuts, and teaching breathing exercises for trauma recovery. And somewhere in between it became more often than she expected, she found herself accompanied by Harvey.
At first, it was small things.
He brought her breakfast when she forgot to eat.
He followed her around during rounds, asking questions, making her laugh with ridiculous jokes that didn't match his serious Beta face.
Sometimes he just sat nearby while she worked, quietly handing her tools before she even asked.
And strangely… it wasn't uncomfortable.
In fact, she felt lighter around him.
Harvey reminded her what it felt like to breathe without pressure on her chest.
Bella, too, quickly became part of her days. The young warrior would drop by the clinic often, claiming she needed Elara to check on a "mysterious bruise," only to end up sitting on the edge of the examination table gossiping or sharing stories of growing up in the pack.
"You know," Bella teased once, swinging her legs like a child, "if Harvey keeps following you like a lost puppy, people will think he's courting you."
Elara had nearly dropped the jar of salve she was holding.
"He's just being kind," she insisted.
"Sure," Bella smirked. "Let's go with that."
Elara laughed it off… but a tiny, warm spark settled in her chest. Harvey was kind, steady, comfortable. A friend she could rely on.
But every time she smiled at him,
every time Bella made her laugh,
every time she felt even a moment of peace…
she felt eyes on her.
It was constant and Unrelenting.
She sensed him long before she saw him.
Lucian was always at a distance, always silent, always watching.
Sometimes from the hallway outside the clinic.
Sometimes half-concealed near the training grounds.
Sometimes standing in the shadows just beyond the greenhouse.
She would turn, and there he'd be with a stiff posture, unreadable eyes, jaw tight.
He never said a word.
Never approached.
Never explained.
Elara tried to pretend it didn't matter, but her wolf stirred each time, curling with confusion, curiosity… and something that felt dangerously close to longing.
Why was he watching her?
It happened on a quiet afternoon in the clinic.
Elara was balancing a tray of freshly mixed tinctures, weaving between shelves when her foot caught on the edge of a loose floorboard. The world tilted sharply.
"Careful..!"
Harvey was there in an instant, arms circling her waist as the tray wobbled dangerously. Elara gasped, fingers gripping his shoulders to steady herself. For a moment, the room fell away.
Their faces were inches apart.
Close enough to feel each other's breath. Close enough that her heartbeat stuttered. Close enough that one wrong movement might have turned the moment into a kiss.
Harvey blinked, throat bobbing as color rose to his cheeks. "Are you okay?" he murmured, voice suddenly rough.
"I...I'm fine," Elara whispered, her voice softer than she intended.
But then the temperature in the room plummeted.
A low growl vibrated through the air.
Harvey stiffened. Elara's wolf went still. Even the humming crystals on the shelves seemed to quiet.
Lucian stood in the doorway, eyes ablaze, the fury rolling off him so thick it felt like the walls were shrinking.
"What," he snarled, "exactly is happening here?"
Harvey immediately stepped back, hands raised. "Alpha, she slipped..."
"I can see that she slipped," Lucian snapped, though his eyes never left Elara. "What I don't see is why my Beta isn't focusing on making sure patients receive proper treatment."
The words cracked through the room like a whip.
Elara straightened, jaw tightening, but before she could speak, he turned his rage on her.
"And you," he bit out. "Perhaps you should focus on healing people and stop trying to seduce my Beta."
The accusation hit her like ice water.
Her breath hitched. Harvey's eyes widened in disbelief. The room went painfully silent.
"Alpha, that's not..." Harvey tried again, but Lucian's glare shut him up instantly.
Before anyone could react further, Bella walked in, munching on an apple she immediately stopped chewing when she saw the tension.
"Whoa," she said slowly, eyes bouncing between them. "Okay, first—relax. Elara slipped. And second…" she grinned wickedly, "if the universe wants Harvey and Elara together, who are we to stop destiny?"
Lucian's entire body went still.
His nostrils flared. His fingers curled as if he was stopping himself from breaking something. For a fraction of a second, something raw and almost desperate, flashed in his eyes.
He opened his mouth, and Harvey and Elara both felt the matebond pulse in warning.
He almost said it. He almost told them.
But Lucian snapped his jaw shut so hard Elara heard the click.
He spun on his heel and marched out of the clinic before a single dangerous word could escape.
Bella blinked after him. "…Huh. Touchy."
Harvey exhaled shakily. Elara stood frozen, heart pounding as the echoes of Lucian's anger lingered like smoke.
She didn't know what hurt more.
his accusation or the truth he refused to say.
The silence left behind by Lucian's outburst finally cracked when Bella rolled her eyes dramatically.
"Seriously," she huffed, tossing her apple core into the bin. "Don't mind him. Alpha's been grumpy for days. Like, bite-your-head-off-if-you-breathe-too-loud grumpy."
Harvey let out a slow breath. "That was more than grumpy."
"That," Bella said, pointing toward the door Lucian stormed through, "was Alpha Lucian being a dramatic, overgrown wolf pup who needs a nap."
Elara didn't laugh, though Bella clearly expected her to. Her hands were still trembling slightly. Bella softened immediately.
"Hey," Bella moved closer, her expression gentler. "You okay? He shouldn't have talked to you like that."
Elara swallowed. "I'm fine. Really."
Harvey glanced at her with worry lingering in his eyes, but he didn't push.
Bella turned to him next, planting her hands on her hips. "And as for you, thank you. Don't let a little Alpha meltdown stop you from saving a girl's life."
Harvey snorted. "It was barely a save."
"Still counts," Bella said with a wink.
Elara shook her head as she moved toward the back room to gather herself. "I'm going to pretend none of this happened."
Bella stepped in her path, wiggling her eyebrows mischievously. "Oh no, sweetheart, we're absolutely talking about how you fell straight into Harvey's arms. Very romantic. Very dramatic. Ten out of ten."
Elara narrowed her eyes. "Bella," she warned.
Bella took one step back.
Another.
Then she grinned, spun around, and skipped out of the room. "Can't stop me! I'm telling the training hall you two had a moment!"
"Bella!" Elara called after her, half exasperated, half amused.
Bella just giggled and vanished around the corner, her laughter echoing down the hallway.
Harvey rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "She's… energetic."
Elara sighed, trying and failing to hide her smile. "That's one word for it."
But as the laughter faded, so did the lightness.
Because beneath it all…
Elara still felt the burn of Lucian's stare.
And the sting of his words.