ELORA
Help! I wanted to yell out. Help me!
There was black everywhere. I couldn’t see anything.
I tried to lift my hands but I couldn’t. I couldn’t feel my body.
I was floating in a seemingly endless pool of black.
“You promised me they wouldn’t hurt her!” A voice yelled at the edge of my consciousness.
A small ray of light started at the edge of my vision becoming brighter and shocking me out of that empty plane.
“You promised me, father!” The voice came again but this time I could recognize it.
The bed beneath me felt harder than anything I’d ever felt but perhaps it was because I’d been floating for God knows how long.
I tried to lift my hand but couldn’t, they felt too heavy.
I wanted to open my eyes but the pain had me shutting my eyes again.
“Nggh.” I groaned as pain raced through my system the further I regained consciousness.
I groaned rolling to the side, looking for a position that would make it stop.
“Shhh. Stop Elora.” Gael’s voice came as a warm hand pressed softly on my shoulder. “You’re only going to hurt yourself more.”
“I’ll permit you this once to tend to her.” Yaris’ warning came before I heard the grating of steel on steel.
Where the hell was I?
“Water.” I groaned through my aching throat.
I couldn’t still open my eyes because it was swollen shut so he placed the cup in my hand, lifted my head gently, and guided it to my mouth.
I drank greedily, surprising myself at how thirsty I was.
“Gently.” He soothed.
I drank less hurriedly as my thirst subsided, feeling more steady than I had minutes ago.
“Want to sit up?” He asked as he took the cup away from me.
I nodded, wincing as his hand gripped a particularly sore spot on my shoulders.
“Sorry.” He apologized.
“It’s alright, Gael,” I answered. “Tell me… how bad is it?”
He winced and I was sure I heard him turn away from me.
“It’s…”
“Don’t lie to me,” I warned him. “Especially not when you’re the one who brought me here.”
“Don’t say that. I…”
“Am I wrong?” I asked coldly.
If my eyes could open more than the slight fraction I had regained, I would glare at him.
“Elora please…”
“I keep trying to process everything. Who you are. Who you were. Why you’re doing this.” I whispered, my throat raw. “You’re an elf. An elf, Gael! And you pretended to be from my clan. To know me. To know the truth about my family. To be my friend!”
“Elora you don’t understand.” He tried to explain. “It was really for your sa…”
“If it were for my sake, then you would have left me in Hanaerum. Or you would have found a way to save my mother and bring her to me. Or you could have told me the truth.”
“I was only trying to protect you.” He explained.
“From who? From what?” I questioned. “After everything you claimed to know about how these monsters tortured me, you brought me right to them.”
“Truly Elora I…”
“Stop it, Gael. I don’t want to hear it.”
He grabbed my hands in his but I pulled them away.
“Don’t touch me.” I spat.
“from that boy king who forced you to carry his seed!”
“He didn’t force me, Gael! I begged him to.”
I knew I was being cruel but I was way past caring. I might not leave this place alive if any of them had their way and these feelings unexpressed would only eat me alive each moment I tried to deny them.
“The king never wanted to touch me even if I was his mate. I begged him to make love to me because I…”
“You don’t know what you’re saying. You’re still…”
“Oh, I’ve never been more sure of anything.” I laughed coldly. Perhaps if I could see better, this conversation would go a whole lot better.
“You’re only saying this because you’re an honorable woman. You were only doing your duty.” He reasoned, his tone sounding maniacal.
“It’s more than that and you know it.” I spat. “I love hi…”
“You can’t love him!” He yelled grabbing my shoulders.
Pain lanced through me as he shook me.
“Why should you love him when he has done nothing but hurt you?”
“Gael, you’re hurting me.” I whimpered as he aggravated my wounds.
“You can’t! You can’t!”
“Gael!” I begged. “Why are you saying all this? Why are you doing this?”
“Are you blind? Can’t you see I love you, Elora?” He asked pushing me backward.
“You can’t…” I whispered. “You can’t. How…? When…?”
“If you had run away with me then I could have saved you from all this. I could have protected you, unlike that Lycan. I could have…”
“You could have what, little brother?” A familiar voice laughed walking into the cell. “I see you still don’t know how to talk to women.”
I turned opening my eyes a little more to see the last person I expected to be here.
“Kano?” I asked unable to keep the surprise out of my voice. “What…?”
“He hasn’t told you yet?” Kano laughed. Noting my confused glance at Gael, he added. “Gael is my half-brother. Sadly, not my better half.”
Pain lanced through my heart so sharp that I had to grip my chest.
Was there anyone around me who wasn’t a liar?
Oh, Lucy.
Was she part of them too?
“Don’t worry about Lucy.” He laughed. “She’s perfectly innocent in all this.”
I looked downward, unable to even take in this betrayal.
What could someone ask in my situation?
I had spent all her energy trying to take in Gael’s betrayal. But Kano…
“Oh don’t look so glum.” He laughed. “You’re making me feel somewhat guilty.”
“What do you want, brother?” Gael asked growling.
Kano smiled knowingly at him.
“I wanted to be here for the surprise.” He mused.
“What…?” Gael started to ask but a commotion outside my cell stopped him.
I turned to look as footsteps and the sounds of struggle drew nearer.
“Where is she?!” I heard a beastly growl. “Give me my mate!”
Oh no!
No no no!
He couldn’t be here.
He shouldn’t be here.
I wanted to run to the gates of my cell to be sure I was only hallucinating but my legs didn’t obey me so I could only sit and watch as the man I’d wanted to see so badly was dragged past my cell.
He turned as they were almost past my cell, pushing his guards to grab onto the gates.
“Elora!” He cried, relief coating his features. “I found you!”
“My king,” I whispered, tears in my eyes.
I wanted to say more but a lump formed in my throat.
“No!” I yelled when he suddenly crumpled back.
“Lock him up quickly.” Yaris ordered walking into my cell, Kain and Alpha Rasmus in tow.
“You do see everything, Yaris.” Kain laughed, slapping the elven leader on the back.
“I don’t think we should have left him alive,” Rasmus stated, worrying his lip between his teeth. “Why would he subject himself to capture so easily?”
“It doesn’t matter, Rasmus.” Kain laughed. “We have him in our clutches now. And whatever magic Yaris worked on him should keep him out for a while.”
“I know but…”
“Enough.” Yaris interrupted. “We still have to agree on what to do with the girl.”
“We’ve already agreed, Yaris,” Kain answered smiling at her. “We’ll get rid of that Lycan bastard inside her and then use her to get what we want as you promised.”
“I don’t support killing innocents even if they’re my enemies, Kain.” Yaris glared. “We could wait until the child is born. The…”
“No!” Rasmus begged. “My son has suffered too long because of this bitch. We do it today.”
I placed a hand on my stomach protectively.
They wanted to hurt mine and the King’s child.
“You won’t hurt my baby.” I glared. “I won’t let you!”
Yaris looked over at me with a bored look and turned away from me.
“Very well.” Yaris nodded. “I won’t be here for that. When you’ve succeeded, I’ll send word.”
He and Kano turned to leave the cell but Gael stood, blocking their way.
“You can’t be serious, father.” He glared. “Look at what they did to her and the child still didn’t die. They may end up killing her at this point.”
Yaris was silent but the temperature in the room dropped so suddenly, I could see my breath fog up in front of me.
“Kano.” He called.
“Yes, father,” Kano answered like he already knew what was coming next.
“It seems your brother has forgotten his lessons,” Yaris stated with an air of nonchalance that scared me even more than if he’d been threatening. “Why don’t you remind him?”
He placed a hand on Gael’s shoulder and smiled softly at him.
“I have always known you’d be a disappointment. I just didn’t expect it to be so often.”
Gael crumpled, seemingly under the same spell that Yaris had used on Rome.
“Gael!” I cried as Kano picked him up.
“Don’t worry, little wolf.” Kain laughed stepping closer to me. “You have your own problems.”