Chapter 49 -Distance
1179 Words
Elara pushed the food around her plate, her appetite gone.
The night had been miserable.
Every time she closed her eyes, Nyra's words returned.
Draegon was connected to Draven's death.
The information didn't shock her.
She had suspected as much for years.
What changed everything was the confirmation.
For the first time, there was something beyond suspicion.
Something beyond anger and grief.
There was evidence.
Enough to convince her that she hadn't imagined the connection.
Sleep had been impossible after that.
She spent most of the night staring at the ceiling while her thoughts chased each other in circles.
One moment she was furious.
The next she was thinking about Rafe and Seren.
About Kaia.
About Rowan.
About the wolves she had come to know since arriving in Draegon.
Most frustrating of all, she found herself thinking about Thorne.
The Alpha she had crossed an entire territory to hate.
The Alpha she still had every reason to distrust.
Yet the man she had come to know didn't fit the image she had carried with her for years.
That contradiction followed her through the entire night.
For years she had wanted answers.
Now that she stood closer to them than ever before, they seemed more complicated than she had imagined.
"You're up early."
Thorne's voice cut through her thoughts.
Elara looked up sharply.
He stood near the kitchen counter, one hand resting against the edge as he watched her.
She hadn't heard him enter.
Hadn't even felt his presence through the bond.
Her thoughts had been so tangled that everything around her faded into the background.
"Couldn't sleep?" he asked.
He moved toward the coffee machine and reached for a mug.
The rich scent of coffee soon filled the room.
When no answer came, he glanced over his shoulder.
A faint frown appeared on his face.
Elara looked away first.
The question sat at the tip of her tongue.
Had Draegon killed Draven?
Had Thorne known?
Had he given the order?
The words pressed against the back of her throat, demanding to be spoken.
She swallowed them.
Too many questions remained unanswered.
Accusing him now would give her anger a target.
It wouldn't give her the truth.
So she reached for the first answer she could find.
"Something like that."
Thorne didn't believe her.
She could see it in the way he watched her.
Whatever he sensed through the bond only seemed to deepen the frown on his face.
After a moment, he shook his head and moved toward the counter.
Elara bit her lip.
"There is something I need to talk to you about."
Thorne nodded for her to continue and took a sip of his coffee.
"Now that Marina has been found out, I can move into my own room."
If Elara hadn't been watching him so closely, she would have missed it.
The mug paused halfway to the counter for a fraction longer than normal.
Thorne took another drink, far larger than the first.
He swallowed, coughed once, then lowered the mug.
Several emotions crossed his face. Surprise was easy enough to recognize. Confusion came next. The final expression disappeared before she could identify it.
Through the bond she caught a flash of uncertainty.
Thorne cleared his throat.
"I hadn't thought about that."
Elara nodded.
"That was the reason we shared a room in the first place."
Her fingers tightened around her fork.
"The spy in your pack."
The reminder probably wasn't necessary, but she gave it anyway.
Neither of them spoke.
Thorne looked down at his coffee while Elara watched him.
She wanted distance.
She needed distance.
Every time she looked at him, Nyra's words returned.
Draegon was connected to Draven's death.
Sharing a room with him felt impossible.
What surprised her most was that Thorne hadn't immediately agreed.
The request was reasonable.
The spy was gone.
There was no reason for her to remain in his room.
Eventually, Thorne placed his mug on the counter and looked up.
"I'll have Seren prepare a room for you."
Relief loosened some of the tension in her shoulders.
At the same time, an unfamiliar emotion touched the bond.
The feeling disappeared before she could make sense of it.
Thorne rose from his chair.
"I need to get to the training grounds."
A few moments later he was gone.
The door closed behind him.
Elara stared at the empty doorway.
If her thoughts had been somewhere else, she might have noticed that the rhythm of his footsteps was slightly different from usual.
With Thorne gone and a clear direction in mind, Elara returned to the room.
Packing didn't take long.
She didn't own much beyond her clothes and a handful of personal belongings.
Most of it fit into a single bag.
As she gathered the last of her things, her attention shifted to the wardrobe.
The doors stood open, revealing the clothes Thorne had bought for her after she arrived in Draegon.
For a moment, she simply stared at them.
At first, accepting anything from him had felt impossible.
Somewhere along the way, she had stopped thinking about where the clothes came from and started treating them as her own.
Now everything felt different.
Nyra's words had changed that.
Her gaze moved across the neatly arranged clothing before she looked away.
Taking them felt wrong.
Leaving them behind felt wrong as well.
The situation should have been simple, yet she found herself standing there far longer than necessary.
Eventually, she closed the wardrobe doors.
The clothes stayed where they were.
She would leave with the things she had arrived with and nothing more.
For reasons she couldn't explain, the decision left an unpleasant feeling in her chest.
Once she finished packing, a knock sounded on the door.
Elara grabbed her bag and crossed the room.
She pulled the door open before Seren could knock again.
Seren stood in the hallway with a gentle smile.
"Need some help?"
Elara lifted her bag.
"I've got it."
Seren's gaze dropped to the bag before returning to her face.
"Okay."
"So, my room?"
Seren nodded and turned.
Elara followed her into the hallway.
Three steps later, Seren stopped and opened a door.
Elara blinked.
Her gaze moved from the room to Seren.
"Isn't that Rafe's room?"
Confusion crossed her face.
The room sat directly opposite Thorne's.
Seren bit her lip.
"Uh..."
The response immediately caught Elara's attention.
"Seren."
"Rafe moved out."
One eyebrow rose.
"Moved out where?"
"His girlfriend's room."
The answer came so quickly that Elara almost laughed.
Seren suddenly became very interested in the wall beside her.
"Girlfriend?"
Elara searched her memory.
Rafe had never mentioned a girlfriend.
Neither had Kaia.
Neither had Rowan.
As far as she knew, the man spent most of his time training, working, or annoying his friends.
Seren shifted on her feet.
"Apparently."
The single word carried enough guilt to make Elara suspicious.
She decided not to press the issue.
Whoever this mysterious girlfriend was, Elara appreciated the timing.
The room gave her exactly what she needed.
Space and distance.
A chance to clear her thoughts.
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