Elara wasn't sure how long had passed since the omega left the room.Minutes? An hour?Her body could not yet trust time — everything felt soft around the edges, her senses coming and going like flickering candlelight.
But she kept her eyes on the door.
Waiting.
For him.
For answers.
For anything that would tell her she wasn't simply floating between one nightmare and another.
The handle turned with a soft click.
Kael entered.
And Elara's heart lurched.
He looked… drained.
Not the fierce Alpha who stormed the Silvercrest dungeons.Not the intimidating warrior the omegas whispered about.Not the unshakable force she expected.
He looked like a man who had been holding up an entire world on his shoulders.
His hair was slightly disheveled, dark shadows carved beneath his eyes. His usually rigid posture sagged just a little — not enough for most wolves to notice, but Elara saw it instantly.
Her wolf stirred painfully, wanting to push her forward.
Kael shut the door behind him, exhaling slowly. "You're awake."
"I— I didn't want to sleep too long," she said softly. "I wanted to make sure you were… okay."
Kael blinked, surprised.
"You're worried about me?"
"You look tired," she murmured, fingers twisting in the blanket. "And you didn't rest earlier. Mirael said so. And the omega mentioned you rushed out because of something urgent… so…"
Kael crossed the room in three slow steps and sat on the chair beside her bed — the same chair where he'd slept holding her hand.
"Elara," he said gently, "you don't need to worry about me."
She frowned. "That's… not how worry works."
He froze for a moment.Then the faintest smile touched the edge of his mouth.
But just as quickly, he covered it, looking away.
Elara studied him closer. The tension in his jaw. The stiffness in his shoulders. The heaviness in his breath.
Something bad happened.Or something bad was about to.
Her fingers curled tightly into the blanket.
"What… what will happen to me now?" she finally whispered.
Kael inhaled sharply.
"Elara…"
She forced herself to meet his eyes. "Please. Don't hide things from me. Not about this. Not about… my life."
Kael looked conflicted — as though giving her any answer would somehow hurt her.
But she needed to know.
He rested his elbows on his knees, leaning closer, voice low. "For now, you are safe. And you will remain under Blackridge protection until you can stand on your own feet."
Her chest tightened. Safe. But at what cost? For how long?
"And after that?"
Kael hesitated.
That silence felt like a blade pressed to her throat.
She swallowed hard. "Kael… I don't want to be a burden. If I stay here, I want to help. I want to be useful. I don't want to be the reason the packs fight."
"You're not the reason," Kael said immediately, voice firm.
"But I feel like it," she admitted, voice trembling. "Silvercrest is angry. The Higher Table wants answers. Your pack is restless. I keep hearing whispers — that I'm just trouble. That I'm going to cause a war."
Kael's hand moved as if on instinct — stopping inches from hers, fingers twitching like he had to restrain himself from touching her.
"You didn't cause any of this," he said quietly. "You survived what they did to you. Everything happening now is because others chose greed and fear."
She looked down, tears pricking her eyes.
"I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me."
His voice softened, almost unbearably. "No one will."
Silence settled between them — not tense, but not comfortable either. Something in-between. Something unspoken.
Elara breathed in shakily. "If I do stay here… can I… contribute? I'm not trained for battle, I'm not powerful like your wolves, but I can learn. I can do something. I don't want to sit in a room and wait for whatever comes next."
Kael stared at her with an expression she couldn't read at first — a mixture of disbelief, admiration, and… tenderness?
He exhaled slowly. "Elara… you are recovering from poison. From captivity. You don't need to prove anything."
"But I want to," she insisted, surprising herself with the strength in her voice. "I spent my whole life trying to stay small and unnoticed. And look where it led me."
Kael's gaze sharpened — as if something in her words struck deeper than she knew.
"I don't belong to Silvercrest," she whispered. "Not anymore. And if… if I'm going to be part of your pack… then I want to earn that place."
Something tense flickered across Kael's face — something he quickly hid.
"Elara," he said softly, "your place here isn't earned. It's given."
She blinked. "Given? Why?"
He didn't answer right away.
His jaw clenched, muscles tightening like he was holding back something heavy, something personal.
When he finally spoke, his voice was controlled but gentle.
"Because your life has value, Elara. Because you deserve safety. And because…"He stopped, looking away, as if the next words were too dangerous to release.
Elara watched him, heart beating harder, her wolf pushing against her ribs with strange recognition.
Kael swallowed. "You matter here. That is enough."
For a moment, the world felt too still. Too fragile.
Elara slowly reached out — hesitant, unsure — and let her hand hover over his.
"Kael," she whispered, "please rest. For me."
His eyes lifted to hers.
And for the first time since she'd woken in Blackridge, she saw something vulnerable break through the Alpha's iron facade.
He nodded once — quietly, almost reluctantly.
"As you wish."
He didn't leave.He didn't move far.
He simply shifted the chair closer to her bed, elbows resting on the mattress, eyes softening as exhaustion finally caught up with him.
"I will rest," he murmured, "as long as you stay awake."
Elara smiled faintly. "Then I guess I'll be awake a long time."
Kael huffed a quiet breath — a ghost of a laugh.
And for a moment, despite everything spiraling outside that room…
They both felt less alone.