Chapter Eight- Silk
602 Words
The silver light of the moon had been replaced by a cruel, blinding morning sun that sliced through the heavy velvet curtains. Elara groaned, her head throbbing in time with the dull ache in her body. She stretched, her skin sensitive and humming with a lingering warmth she didn't recognize—until the memories hit her like a landslide.
The hallway. The scent. The mark.
"My mate," she whispered, her voice raspy. Then, the panic spiked. "Oh god, I don't even know his name."
She sat up abruptly, clutching the silk sheet to her chest. The room was a battlefield of discarded luxury—her champagne gown lay in a heap near a pair of heavy leather boots and a charcoal suit jacket that looked large enough to shroud her entire body.
From behind a frosted glass door, the steady hiss of a shower echoed through the room. He was still there.
Elara slid to the edge of the bed, her legs trembling as her feet hit the plush carpet. She needed to know who he was before the steam cleared. Her eyes scanned the room, landing on a heavy mahogany desk near the window. Resting there, in the center of the blotter, was his dark leather mask, a set of keys, and a heavy gold signet ring.
She crept toward it, her heart hammering against her ribs. She reached out, her fingers brushing the cold metal of the ring. Her breath hitched. Engraved in the gold was the Thorne crest—the snarling wolf and the crown of briers.
She gasped, her hand flying to her mouth to stifle a sob of pure terror. "No," she whimpered, backing away as if the jewelry had burned her. "No, no, no."
It wasn't just a pack member. It wasn't a stranger. It was the Alpha. It was Silas.
The shower shut off. The sudden silence was more terrifying than the noise.
Panic, raw and cold, flooded her system, drowning out the satisfied purr of her inner wolf. Her wolf was content—the bond was sealed, the mate was found—but Elara’s human mind was screaming. Maya. Her best friend. Her father.
She didn't think. She acted on pure adrenaline. She scrambled for her clothes, pulling on the silk dress with trembling hands, not caring that the zipper was stuck halfway or that her hair was a wild, tangled mess of red waves. She grabbed her heels, her breath coming in shallow hitches, and bolted for the door.
She ran down the grand staircase of the mansion, her mind a whirlwind of static. She burst through the double doors into the crisp morning air, stumbling down the stone steps. She didn't look back at the Pack House or the stream. She didn't look for Elias.
She ran until she reached the main road, her lungs burning, and frantically hailed a passing cab heading toward the city.
As the car sped away, Elara pressed her forehead against the cool glass of the window. Her neck burned where he had marked her—a permanent, physical Brand of her betrayal.
He will find us, her wolf whispered with a terrifying, possessive certainty. He is the Alpha. He is ours.
Elara squeezed her eyes shut, the skyline of the university campus appearing in the distance. She had gone from an Omega-born nobody to the secret mate of the most powerful man in the territory, and the only thing she knew for sure was that her life was officially over.
- Writer
