Chapter 5

When I woke up, the room was empty and completely silent.

The fire had died down, leaving only a few glowing embers.

The air was freezing and still. The memories of last night felt like a raw, bleeding wound, but my mind was remarkably clear.

I remembered hearing a scream right before I blacked out. It was Lyra's voice. The backlash from the Underworld's magic must have hurt her badly.

I didn't have to wait long. The door banged open, and Kael stormed in.

His face bore no trace of concern for me; he was frantic with worry, but it was entirely for someone else.

"Elara," he began, not with a greeting, but a demand. "The border was attacked last night. Lyra is gravely injured, her spirit broken. She needs a Soulstone to heal. Where is the one I gave you?"

The Soulstone. He had fought through a hundred battles to acquire it, nearly dying in the process.

It was meant to stabilize my fragile soul, to grant me peace in my final days.

The Arbiter himself had instructed me to take it to ease the agony of my soul's dissipation.

I held the small velvet pouch in my hand, feeling the weight of the stone inside. Kael reached for it eagerly.

I turned, pulling the pouch away from his grasping fingers.

He paused, a flash of-was that annoyance?-crossing his face.

He leaned in, his voice softening into that familiar, coaxing tone he always used with me.

"Elara, don't be afraid. You have my blood in your veins. You'll be fine. You've always been fine."

I looked up at him, my voice as light as the wind. "But Kael... I am in pain. I have always been in pain."

He stared at me, failing to process my words for a second. Then he sighed, the kind of sigh a man gives when dealing with a difficult child. "She doesn't have time for this, Elara. She's dying."

My fingers gripped the pouch so tightly my knuckles turned white. "Tell me, Kael. Was she really injured by some rogue? Or is there another reason?"

He hesitated, just for a fraction of a second.

"She is dying, Elara. If she doesn't get the Soulstone, she won't survive. You are the kindest person I know. You took her in, you loved her like a real sister. Don't you want to save her?"

"She is not my sister!" The words burst from my lips like blades. "She is not my family."

A real sister wouldn't try to destroy me.

A spark of anger flared in Kael's eyes. "Elara, when did you become so cold and heartless? When you were human, you would heal wounded rabbits. You would give your last crumb of bread to a starving child."

Before I could reply, Lyra's handmaiden, an old woman, burst into the room without knocking, her face pale with terror. "Alpha! Please! Lady Lyra... she's fading! You must come now!"

Kael blanched, waving the woman away impatiently.

"Go, I'll be right there." He turned back to me, his tone hardening into an Alpha's absolute command. "Elara. The Soulstone. Give it to me."

The dark mirror reflected a woman I didn't recognize at all. Pale, hollow, broken. A bitter, mirthless smile tugged at the corners of my mouth.

"And if I refuse? Will you take it from me by force, Alpha?"

"Elara, do not push me."

I swallowed back the tidal wave of words, accusations, pleas, and shattered heartbreak.

I asked him one last time, my voice calm and steady. "Are you sure? You absolutely must have it?"

His patience finally snapped. "For the love of the Moon, Elara! Stop being so dramatic! What good will a Soulstone do for you that my blood hasn't already done? A life is on the line! This is not the time for your petty jealousy!"

I looked at him, and for the first time in three hundred years, I felt completely numb.

The pain vanished. In its place was a vast, sprawling emptiness.

"Alright," I whispered. "Take it."

He didn't even hear me. He snatched the pouch from my unresisting hand, a look of profound relief washing over his face.

He paused at the door, remembering his obligations.

He glanced back at me.

"I will be back, Elara. Once this is all over... I will throw you the grandest ceremony this land has ever seen. I promise."

And with that, he was gone.

I slowly shook my head.

There would be no ceremony. There would be no future. And we would not be together.

I had waited long enough.

The seven-day countdown ended here.