Chapter 1 Chapitre 1

Chapter 1

Elena had often wondered how many wounds a heart could take before stopping beating. That night she found the answer. It was not a direct blow, but a succession of Estocades, each more vicious than the previous one, until it arrives at this precise moment, hidden in the shadow of the corridor, her hand plated against her mouth to stifle the cry which threatened to escape.

Kieran's voice resonated, serious and posed, as if all of this was only an ordinary matter. "You knew what to expect, Lisbeth. I never claimed that this link meant something for me. »»

Lisbeth, the Beta of the pack, gleaned gently. "Maybe not. But it's not me who is married to a little mouse unable to roar. »»

Elena felt her nails sink into her palm. Words did not only hurt it; They had rekindled each humiliation that she had suffered for three years. Three years spent carrying the title of Luna, not by choice, but by decree of Sylvia, the matriarch of their clan. Three years to hope, to pray, that one day Kieran would eventually see in it more than a simple pawn in this alliance game.

But she was not stupid. Not really. Basically, she had always known that Kieran did not love her. Their union had been an obligation, a duty, a sacrifice to seal a fragile peace between the packs. But hearing these words - these words that he had never had the courage to tell her in front - tore something in her.

Elena fell, making a superhuman effort so as not to let her breathe turn into a sob. Her bare feet slightly slid over the polished parquet of the manor, but she made no noise. She knew the consequences if we surprised her. Kieran was not just a man; He was the dominant alpha. And her anger, although rarely expressed towards her directly, was legendary.

In her room, she closed the door gently, her heart beating so hard that she expected almost that the walls collapsed under her chest. Lisbeth's words echoed in his mind: a little mouse unable to roar. Was he how he saw her? Was it that they all saw it?

Anger rose, burning and acidic. For the first time in years, she stopped crying. Tears would not save her. Not this time. She opened the wardrobe, grabbed a travel bag and quickly filled it. Some clothes, a folded photo of her missing parents, an old money pendant she had kept like a talisman. Her gaze landed on the white dress she had brought on the day of their union. A bitter laugh escaped him. This dress was nothing more than a disguised shroud.

The door of the room opened suddenly, and it jumped. Her instinct dictated her to turn around, but she held back. It was not Kieran. It was never him. She felt Mathias' sweetness-bitter smell even before he speaks.

"Where do you plan to go?" He asked, his low voice and charged with reproaches.

She forced herself to continue putting her bag away. "It doesn't look at you. »»

"Everything that is going on here looks at me. Mathias gently closed the door behind him. "Do you think he will let you go?" What will they let you go? »»

Elena hated him at that moment. Not because he was right, but because he only confirmed what she already knew. Kieran would not tolerate his desertion. The pack either. A Luna who abandons his alpha? It was more than betrayal. It was a crime.

"I am not a prisoner," she whispered, more for herself than for him.

Mathias crossed his arms, his serious expression. "This is not how they will see it. »»

She finally turned to him, her sparkling eyes of challenge. " And you ? How do you see it? »»

He hesitated, just for a moment, but it was enough for her to know. Mathias was loyal to Kieran. At the pack. Not her.

"I advise you to think, Elena," he said finally. "Once you go, there is no going back. »»

She shrugged, feigning an indifference that she did not feel. "This is the goal. »»

Mathias watched her one more moment, as if he was trying to guess if she was bluffing. Then, without a word, he left the room.

Elena collapsed on the bed, her trembling hands. He was right. Once she would leave, everything would change. She would become a fleeting, a pariah. But she preferred this to a life spent walking on eggs, being trampled on by a man unable to see his value.

The moon was high in the sky when it came out by the window, its bare feet touching the cold floor. The silence of the forest enveloped him, and for the first time, she felt a semblance of freedom. She turned one last time to look at the imposing silhouette of the manor.

The bond that united her to Kieran - this invisible, tangible - burn slightly in her. A strange, almost electric feeling, which pulled it back. Breaking this link would be a unnatural act, a sacred rupture. But Elena had never felt more clarity.

In a murmur addressed to herself, she launched: "You had three years to prove that I counted for you, Kieran. Three years. »»

Then she turned her heels and disappeared in the night, a shadow among the shadows.