Chapter 4

Elara POV:

"I'm heading to the neighboring pack's territory," Kaelen's voice echoed in my mind the next morning. "Border patrol. I'll be back in a day or two."

I didn't need the Mind-Link to know he was lying. I could smell Seraphina's scent lingering in the clinic down the hill. He was with her. Without a word, I closed the link between us, the sudden silence a welcome relief.

After my arm was bandaged, I found myself wandering aimlessly, my feet carrying me to the training grounds. This was where he had first taught me to fight, his large hands guiding my stance, his warm breath on my neck as he whispered instructions. The memory was so vivid it ached.

And then I saw them.

Kaelen was standing with Seraphina in the center of the field. He held her hand, patiently showing her how to read the direction of the wind, his head bent close to hers. It was a perfect, painful recreation of a memory that had once been mine alone.

"When I'm with you," I heard him tell her, his voice soft, "I don't feel the weight of being an Alpha. I just feel... like a man. Like a normal wolf."

The words were a physical blow. I had always tried to share his burden, to be his partner in leadership. But he had never wanted a partner. He had wanted an escape.

I turned to leave, but my path was blocked. Seraphina stood there, her eyes wide with a flicker of panic. "Elara, it's not what you think-"

A deep groaning sound from above cut her off. A massive boulder, one of the ones used for climbing practice on the high platform, had come loose. It tilted, teetered, and then plunged towards us.

Instinct took over. Seraphina shoved me hard, pushing me out of the direct path of the falling rock. I stumbled and fell as the boulder crashed to the ground where I had been standing. A smaller fragment flew off, striking her on the forehead. Blood gushed from the wound.

Kaelen was there in a second. His eyes, blazing with fury, landed on me. He didn't ask what happened. He didn't see that she had saved me. He only saw her, bleeding.

"What did you do?" he snarled, the full force of his Alpha Command slamming into me. It wasn't just a voice; it was a physical wave of power that threw me back several feet, my body paralyzed. "You did this! You hurt her because you're jealous!"

He cradled Seraphina in his arms, his wolf erupting in a protective rage. He moved with a speed I'd never seen before, a blur of motion as he raced back towards the clinic, leaving me frozen and forgotten on the training field.

Later, I heard what happened. The clinic's supply of a rare healing herb, Moonpetal, was low. It wasn't a life-threatening injury, but Kaelen was beyond reason.

"Use a life-force transfer," he had commanded the Head Healer.

"Alpha, that's too dangerous! It will drain your own vitality!"

"Do it!" he had roared, his voice shaking the clinic walls. "If anything happens to her, I will burn this entire place to the ground!"

From the window of my room, I saw the pale light of the ritual. I watched as his own life force was siphoned away to heal her superficial wound. I watched until he collapsed from the strain.

And as he fell, the last, stubborn ember of love I held for him finally turned to ash.