Chapter 39 - The Storm Breaks
1108 Words
*Elara – pov*
Claire loved Raiden immediately.
Not that she would ever admit it.
But the way she kept smirking every time he opened doors for me or rested his hand against my back or rested on my thigh gave her away completely.
“He’s annoyingly perfect,” she muttered while we drove through the forest roads toward Rosewood.
Raiden glanced at her through the rearview mirror.
“I can still hear you.”
“Good,” Claire replied unapologetically.
I laughed softly and leaned my head against the window watching moonlight flash through the trees.
For the first time in weeks, I felt happy.
Not temporary relief.
Not survival.
Real happiness.
The ring on my finger caught the passing light every now and then and warmth spread through my chest all over again.
Fiancé.
Mate.
Future.
Adira purred contentedly beneath the surface.
Ours.
Raiden’s hand found mine across the center console automatically.
The second Rosewood came into view, Raiden stiffened.
Instantly.
Every muscle in his body locked tight.
Adira surged upright violently inside me.
“What’s wrong, Adira?” I asked.
My smile faded immediately.
The front door stood open.
Wide open.
Fear punched straight through my chest.
Raiden stopped the SUV so abruptly gravel sprayed beneath the tires.
“What’s wrong?” Claire asked sharply.
Neither of us answered. Suddenly I smelled it too.
Iron.
Blood.
Cold dread flooded every inch of me.
Raiden moved first.
One second he was beside me, the next he was already outside the vehicle.
He moved inhumanly fast.
He reached my door exactly as I opened it.
“Elara stay in the car.”
Absolutely not.
Panic exploded inside me instantly.
“No.”
His eyes flashed gold violently.
“Stay. In. The. Car.”
The Alpha command rolled through the air hard enough to shake something primal inside me, but Adira rose immediately.
Move Elara, we need to get in the house.
I shoved past him with force that surprised even me.
Raiden cursed sharply and grabbed for me, too late.
I was already running.
The front door slammed hard against the wall as I burst into the house.
“Mom?” I screamed.
Silence.
Too much silence.
The kitchen lights flickered weakly overhead.
A chair lay overturned near the island.
Broken glass scattered across the floor.
My heartbeat became deafening.
“Dad?!”
Then I saw the blood.
A trail leading down the hallway.
No no no no…
Raiden caught up beside me instantly.
“Elara wait—”
I tore away from him as I heard it.
A weak choking sound somewhere deeper inside the house.
I ran faster.
Please.
Please no.
The sitting room doorway came into view.
And my world ended.
My mother lay crumpled beside the fireplace.
Blood everywhere.
Too much blood.
Her eyes stared sightlessly toward the ceiling.
“No.”
The word came out broken.
Tiny.
Impossible.
I dropped beside her so hard my knees cracked painfully against the floor.
“Mom.”
My hands shook violently as I reached for her.
Cold.
She was cold.
“No no no no…”
Raiden appeared behind me instantly.
His face went completely blank with horror.
“Elara…”
“No!”
I pulled my mother closer desperately like I could somehow force life back into her body through sheer will.
“Mom please wake up.”
Nothing.
No heartbeat.
No breath.
Gone.
The realization ripped through me so violently I physically couldn’t breathe.
A strangled sound tore from my throat.
Somewhere behind us, Claire stumbled into the room.
Then froze.
“Oh my God…”
Her voice broke instantly.
Raiden crouched beside me carefully.
“Elara, sweetheart—”
I jerked away from him violently.
“No.”
This couldn’t be happening.
Not after everything.
Not now.
My fingers tangled desperately in my mother’s blood-soaked sweater.
“She can’t be dead.”
The words sounded hysterical now.
Childish.
But I couldn’t stop.
“She can’t leave me too.”
Raiden’s pain slammed hard through the bond.
Fury.
Grief.
Helplessness.
He reached for me again carefully.
“Elara—”
Then I saw my father.
Collapsed near the doorway.
Motionless.
Something inside me snapped completely.
Not cracked.
Not fractured.
Shattered.
A sound ripped out of me that barely sounded human. The windows vibrated in their frames as the sound of my agony tore through the house.
Raiden grabbed me immediately as my entire body convulsed violently with grief.
“No no no—”
Claire was crying openly now somewhere behind us.
The room blurred.
My chest physically hurt.
Everything hurt.
And underneath the agony—
Something darker rose.
Ancient.
Cold.
Adira stepped forward beside me immediately.
We don’t grief now. We get revenge for our parents. We’ll make him suffer.
Magic stirred violently beneath my skin.
The air pressure inside the room changed instantly.
Raiden felt it immediately.
“Elara…”
His voice held warning now.
Fearful even, because the lights began flickering wildly overhead.
Wind slammed suddenly against the house.
The windows rattled violently.
My breathing became uneven.
Magic poured through me uncontrollably now.
Pain.
Grief.
Fury.
Outside thunder cracked hard enough to shake the walls.
Claire screamed as every light inside the estate exploded at once.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Then moonlight flashed through the windows and I saw them.
Adira beside me.
Huge.
Terrifying.
White as winter snow.
And something else too.
Magic.
Silver light curled around us both violently like living smoke.
Raiden grabbed my face desperately.
“Elara look at me.”
But I couldn’t.
Because all I could see was blood.
My mother’s blood.
My father’s body.
Lucien.
The name slammed through my mind like poison.
He did this.
Adira’s growl shook through my bones.
We will kill him.
The storm outside exploded instantly.
Windows shattered throughout the estate in a deafening crash.
Wind tore through the halls violently.
Claire dropped to the floor screaming.
Furniture overturned.
The entire house trembled beneath the force pouring out of me.
Raiden wrapped both arms around me trying to ground me somehow.
“Elara!”
Lightning split the sky outside.
And finally—
I screamed.
Not human.
Not wolf.
Something older.
More powerful.
The sound ripped through Rosewood like a living thing.
The storm answered immediately.
Thunder detonated overhead while the forest outside bent violently beneath impossible wind.
And somewhere deep inside myself—
Something awakened and united fully.
Not just my wolf.
Not just my magic.
Both.
Together.
Adira stepped forward beside me completely now.
No separation.
No fear.
One soul.
One power.
One purpose.
Vengeance.
And for the first time, the witch inside me opened her eyes completely.
- Writer
