Kaius
“That’s it, Frost; I’m going in,” I said, unable to bear the thought of Bowen alone with Kieran any longer.
“It had only been minutes, but I don’t like him in there with her either,” Frost admitted, falling into step beside me as we approached the cell.
“We’ve given her enough time, right?” I couldn’t shake the irrational fear that the longer they were together, the more my hold on her would slip.
Frost’s lips quirked into a half–smile. “Not quite enough; if they were getting at it‘ in there, then they would need a few more minutes.”
I shot him a glare that would have sent any other wolf cowering. Frost merely shrugged, unaffected by my displeasure.
When I pushed open the cell door, I froze at the threshold. Elowen sat on the edge of the cot, her posture straighter than it had been in days. The hollowness in her cheeks seemed less pronounced, her skin holding more color. And there was blood–a smear of it on her lips, more on Kieran’s wrist.
She had drunk his blood. And somehow, impossibly, it had revitalized her.
“Times up, I announced, keeping my voice steady despite the shock coursing through me.
Kieran rose to his feet with deliberate slowness, a subtle display of defiance. “She needs proper care,” he said. “Not this dungeon.”
I ignored him, my attention fixed on Elowen. The change in her was remarkable. Hours ago she’d been weak from starvation, her body slowly shutting down. Now she looked… alive. Alert. The scent of her blood had changed too, carrying notes I didn’t recognize.
“I’ll escort you out,” I said to Kieran, finally tearing my gaze from Elowen.
“I’ll stay with her,” Frost offered, reading the situation perfectly as always.
The walk to the pack borders was tense, silence stretching between us until we were well away from the pack house.
“I’ll let you free passage out of our pack, but don’t you think I don’t know you are involved in the attack,” I said as we approached the boundary markers.
“You can’t hold her here forever.” His reply was calm, measured.
“I think it’s up to me to decide that.”
“You don’t deserve her, Alpha King.” The title was an insult from his lips.
“And do you?” I countered, anger simmering just beneath my skin. “I bet marrying her was a ploy to get your pack more attention and reference.”
A smile touched his lips, infuriatingly confident. “Is it working right? You used her too; we are no different. I do love her, but as you said, that is not the only reason I proposed to her.”
“The only claim you have on her is the simple jewel; don’t be quick to brag.” I gestured to the moonstone ring on his finger,
identical to the one Elowen wore.
“You really think she would fall for you again?” His voice hardened.
wish you were there to see what she went through. For a
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Chapter 196
whole month, she wouldn’t leave her room, she wouldn’t eat, the whole pack heard her cries, she always had nightmares, and she called out you
name. You were never there, so don’t you think you have any claim on her, She might have loved you; she might have obsessed over you, but I guess you taught her how to live without you. When you weren’t there, I was there for her, ready to pick up the pieces. She only stated healing, and yet, here you are, ready to shed her to be pieces once again. But what you don’t know is that she is stronger than ever before.”
His words hit me like a punch to the gut. The image of Elowen, broken and crying out for me while I stubbornly stayed away. thinking I was protecting her… the guilt was almost overwhelming.
“What did you do?” I demanded, my thoughts returning to the blood on her lips, the sudden vitality. “When we left, she had been…
different.”
“By different, you mean healthy?” There was a challenge in his eyes,
“I mean suddenly stronger. The blood. What are you?”
“I did tell you she is not the same person you knew, didn’t I? She’s so much more, and it’s all thanks to you.” There was something like triumph in his smile as he stepped over the boundary markers, leaving Ravenhollow territory.
I watched until he disappeared into the trees, my thoughts racing. Blood that could revitalize. Strength beyond normal werewolf abilities. What had Kieran done to Elowen? What had he made her?
As I turned back toward the pack house, I made a decision. “If he returns to this pack, don’t let him in,” I instructed the border guards.
Regardless of what Kieran had done to Elowen, I couldn’t deny the truth in his words. I had hurt her, abandoned her when she needed me most. My actions, no matter how well–intentioned, had caused her immeasurable pain.
I had no right to hold her prisoner any longer–not in a cell, at least. Perhaps not at all. But I needed time–time to understand what she had become, time to clear my name of the attacks, time to try to undo some of the damage I had caused.
Starting with moving her out of that damned dungeon.
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