Chapter 6 - Among Them
1222 Words
Elara didn’t move when he turned away.
Thorne shifted his attention back to the documents spread across the desk as though the conversation had already ended and she no longer deserved any part of it.
Like she had already been dismissed.
Elara folded her arms slowly.
“That’s it?” she asked. “Threats, hostility, then pretending conversations are beneath you?”
Thorne didn’t look back.
“If you’re waiting for this to become pleasant,” he said evenly, “you’re going to be disappointed.”
“That makes two of us.”
A slight tension pulled through his shoulders at the response.
“Then leave.”
The command came easily, carrying the kind of authority Draegon wolves obeyed without hesitation.
Elara remained near the door another moment.
“Careful,” she said dryly. “You almost sounded eager to get rid of me.”
The quiet breath that left him sounded dangerously close to irritation.
Good.
At least she wasn’t the only one frustrated by whatever this had become.
She stepped into the corridor and let the door close firmly behind her.
Distance should have helped.
Instead, awareness of him lingered beneath her skin, tugging at her attention no matter how much space separated them. Every few moments she caught herself tracking him instinctively, as though the bond refused to let her forget where he was. Even his scent still clung faintly to her senses beneath the cleaner smell of paper, cold air, and dark wood lingering from the office.
Her wolf stirred uneasily beneath the surface, restless and alert in a way that immediately irritated Elara.
He wasn’t hers.
The bond existed, but everything surrounding it felt forced.
Wrong.
She pushed the feeling aside and continued down the corridor.
Muted lighting stretched overhead while distant movement echoed deeper inside the territory. Somewhere below, voices drifted upward alongside the metallic clang of weapons from the late-night training grounds. The scent of rain carried faintly through the ventilation system, mixing with leather, smoke, and wolves moving constantly through the structure.
Earlier, Draegon had only felt unfamiliar.
Now it felt watchful.
Like the territory itself had already decided she didn’t belong inside it.
The lounge came into view at the end of the hall, warmer than the corridor outside. The scent of coffee and worn leather settled into the room beneath the lingering traces of wolves who had spent hours moving through the territory.
Kaia stood near the center speaking quietly with the others, though conversation thinned the moment Elara entered.
Attention shifted toward her in slow waves.
Elara kept walking anyway.
If they wanted to stare, they could at least do it openly.
Kaia crossed her arms as Elara approached.
“You survived.”
Elara glanced toward her. “You sound surprised.”
“Thorne’s patience isn’t exactly famous,” Kaia replied.
There was no humor in the comment, though something quieter lingered beneath it. Familiarity. Understanding. The kind built through years spent inside the same territory.
Elara noticed it immediately.
Kaia motioned toward the tall man standing near the windows.
“Rowan. Gamma.”
Rowan inclined his head once in acknowledgment. Calm settled around him naturally, the kind that came from someone who preferred understanding situations before reacting to them.
“Elara.”
“Rowan.”
His attention lingered briefly, thoughtful rather than suspicious.
Kaia gestured toward the dark-haired wolf leaning against one of the support beams.
“Rafe. Delta.”
Rafe looked Elara over openly before shaking his head.
“This is less dramatic than I expected.”
Elara lifted a brow. “Sorry. Should I have arrived breathing fire?”
A grin spread across his face immediately.
“See? That’s already better.”
“Rafe spends too much time provoking people,” Kaia said flatly.
“It’s an important skill.”
“It’s going to get you punched one day.”
Rafe looked entirely unconcerned by the possibility.
Near the edge of the room, another woman finally lifted her attention from the tablet resting in her lap.
“Seren,” Kaia said. “Omega.”
Unlike the others, Seren didn’t study Elara openly. Her attention felt quieter than that. More careful.
Like she noticed details everyone else missed.
Elara nodded once toward her.
Seren returned it calmly.
The silence afterward carried tension beneath it, though it felt different from the hostility outside. More measured. More aware.
Rowan broke it first.
“The territory’s already reacting.”
“I figured.”
“People here don’t trust fast change,” he said. “Especially after the war.”
“Especially this kind of change,” Kaia added.
Her wolf shifted again at the reminder, unease moving sharply through Elara before she forced it back down. The reaction sat badly beneath her ribs, tangled somewhere between agitation and instinct.
Rafe noticed immediately.
Amusement flickered across his face, though he didn’t comment on it.
Instead he asked, “So which part’s bothering everyone more? The forced bond or the fact that Thorne now has to share his space?”
Elara’s attention snapped toward him.
Kaia sighed immediately.
“You really don’t know when to stop talking.”
“What?” Rafe spread his hands lightly. “Council orders weren’t subtle.”
A cold wave of irritation moved through Elara instantly.
Share his space.
Her wolf reacted again, restless enough to tighten her jaw slightly.
No one missed it.
Rowan’s expression shifted almost imperceptibly as he studied her more carefully.
Seren remained quiet, though understanding flickered briefly across her face.
Of course the council would force that too.
As though the bond alone wasn’t enough.
Kaia stepped in before the silence stretched too long.
“East wing,” she said. “Third level.”
Elara looked toward her.
“With him.”
The confirmation landed heavily.
Something dark crossed Kaia’s expression before disappearing again. Disapproval perhaps. Or irritation directed toward the council itself.
That distinction mattered.
“Elaborate,” Elara said evenly.
“The council decided proximity strengthens the bond,” Kaia replied. “Apparently forcing enemies into shared rooms sounded intelligent to them.”
Rafe snorted softly.
“Can’t imagine this ending badly.”
Kaia ignored him.
“You’ll have your own space inside the suite,” she continued. “The arrangement still stands.”
Arrangement.
Interesting choice of words.
Elara folded her arms slowly.
“So the council’s determined to make this as unbearable as possible.”
“That sounds accurate,” Rafe muttered.
A faint sound escaped Seren then, barely noticeable.
The closest thing to amusement anyone had heard from her so far.
Elara caught it immediately.
Interesting.
Kaia watched the exchange carefully before stepping aside.
“Your room’s ready.”
The words sounded simple enough, though the tension beneath them remained impossible to miss.
Elara glanced between them briefly before turning toward the corridor leading deeper into the east wing.
The bond still lingered beneath her skin, unwanted and impossible to ignore, while somewhere ahead Thorne remained at the center of it. Her wolf stirred again the closer she moved toward that side of the territory, unsettled by the pull drawing her forward despite every instinct telling her to resist it.
Behind her, conversation slowly resumed while she continued down the corridor, fully aware that almost everyone inside Draegon expected this arrangement to fail spectacularly.
Elara intended to disappoint them.
- Writer
