CHAPTER 22
1722 Words
The words they had said, the judgements, the stares, the disapprovals all still lingered long after the Council left.
By the time the sun had reached its peak, Elise sat alone on steps of the backyard at the packhouse, her fingers clenched tightly to the hem of her sweater.
Her breath showed in the early morning air, though spring had technically arrived.
She kept sighing in the cold which made her throat dry.
She barely felt it.
Not the air.
Not the warmth of the day.
Not the dryness of her throat.
Nothing.
She had become a ghost in her own story.
Inside the packhouse, the Council had come together once again.
Another meeting.
Another door closed in her face.
This time, they wanted to talk to “the truth wolves”. The thought of this made Elise’s stomach churn.
She could hear the low hum of voices from the war room—Kai, Elder Kion, Marcellus, and others speaking in sharp husky tones.
Occasionally, a voice would rise above the rest before falling silent again.
They had been meeting for over an hour now.
No one had invited her. Again.
“Elise?” A soft voice drew her from her thoughts.
She turned to see Anya, one of the junior warriors, holding out a cup of tea. “You looked cold.”
Elise blinked, then forced a smile as she took it. “Thank you.”
Anya hesitated before sitting beside her. “They’re still in there.”
“I know.”
“I don’t think they’re excluding you because they want to,” Anya added carefully. “It’s… it’s complicated.”
“No,” Elise said, her voice cool. “It’s exactly because they want to.”
Anya looked away asif she had been caught lying to a toddler, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.” Elise took a sip of the tea, even though it had already gone lukewarm in the cold. “It’s just funny, you know? Everyone’s so scared of what I might be, they won’t even let me in the room.”
“Maybe they’re trying to protect you.”
“By hiding things from me?” Elise let out a hollow laugh. “No. They’re protecting themselves.”
Footsteps echoed behind them, and Kai emerged from the hallway, his shoulders dropping, looking tensed.
Elise stood immediately, placing the teacup on the step. “Are they done talking about me yet?”
Kai looked like he wanted to say yes. Instead, he glanced back toward the hallway. “They’re not ready for you to join the discussion.”
“I see.” Her voice wobbled, but she kept her spine straight. “How convenient.”
“Elise, it’s not that simple.”
“Isn’t it?”
“They’re trying to understand what happened. You saw their reaction—they don’t know how to place you.”
“Then maybe they should ask me instead of talking behind my back.”
His jaw tightened. “This isn’t what I wanted.”
“And yet, it keeps happening.”
The air between them was filled with the tension of all the words they weren’t saying.
Elise stepped past him, brushing her shoulder lightly against his arm. “Let me know when they decide I’m worth listening to.”
She walked away before he could follow.
Later that afternoon, Elise found herself wandering the quiet halls of the packhouse.
The adrenaline of the morning had faded, leaving behind a grumbling noise in her head which caused it to ache.
She was restless and felt out of place. Infact, her head was all over the place.
The constant switch from feeling out of place and then the next minute, feeling all over the place was quite overwhelming for Elise.
She didn’t know where she belonged anymore.
She paused outside the medical wing. The doors were closed, the lights inside dimmed to a golden glow.
Becky Everglade lay in one of the rooms.
She hadn’t seen Becky since the last visit to the infirmary when she had subconsciously apologized to her.
It was quite sarcastic that she apologized to Becky after she saved her life and even went as far as dragging her out of the forest with all the last strength she had, although, that was still partially affected by the Shadowborn’s influence.
At the time, Elise had saved her because it was the right thing to do. Not because Becky deserved it.
A few nurses passed by in hushed conversation. Elise tilted her head, listening.
“Vitals are stabilizing. She might wake up soon.”
“She already stirred once. Opened her eyes for a few seconds.”
“The girl is rude though.”
“To think that she has always bullied Elise ever since pre-school”
“I bet she’d have something rude to say even after Elise selflessly saved her life.”
“She’ll be furious when she finds out Elise saved her.”
Elise slipped inside before they could notice her.
The room was quiet, the only sound was the soft beep of machines and the rhythmic rise and fall of Becky’s chest.
Her face, for once, was peaceful and free from the sneers and scowls that had defined her since childhood.
Looking at her quietly, Elise could remember all the fangs and claws she had used to harass her.
The way she’d always deliberately brush shoulders with her or kick her legs to make her loose balance and trip off.
There was that one time she made Elise jump off the fence, and Elise ended up breaking her knee and had to wear a cast.
Elise sighed at the thought of all that.
She stepped closer, folding her arms.
“I bet you’d be furious,” she whispered. “Finding out that the nobody Omega saved your life, again.”
Becky didn’t move.
“But I did it anyway,” Elise said. “Because that’s the difference between us. I don’t want people to suffer, even if they hurt me.”
Becky’s eyelids fluttered. Just barely.
Elise didn’t notice.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen next. The Council’s already trying to lock me away. Half the pack doesn’t know whether to bow or run when they see me. And Kai…”
She paused. Her throat tightened.
“I don’t know where I stand with him anymore.”
Silence.
Elise turned to leave, then froze.
Becky’s lips twitched. Her hand moved slightly against the blanket.
Elise narrowed her eyes. “You’re awake.”
Becky didn’t respond.
But something about the stillness in the room had shifted. Like the tension just before a storm.
“You better not try anything,” Elise said. “I’m not the same girl you used to push around.”
She said, trying to sound confident, her breath shaking as her mind wandered.
She stepped back toward the door.
Behind her, Becky’s fingers curled into a slow, deliberate fist beneath the sheets.
Evening came quickly.
By then, the Council had adjourned their meeting, dispersing to their assigned rooms throughout the packhouse.
Elder Kion had disappeared, and Kai was nowhere to be found.
Elise sat in the library, curled into one of the oversized leather chairs, surrounded by old books on werewolf history and Moonbreather mythology.
She’d read half a chapter before her thoughts drifted.
“You’re not going to find answers in those,” came a voice.
Lucien.
Elise looked up. “Didn’t expect to see you up.”
He winced as he sat down across from her.
The bandage on his shoulder peeked through the collar of his shirt.
“I’m supposed to be resting. But I’m bad at following orders.”
She gave a faint smile. “Join the club.”
Lucien leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “They’re scared, you know.”
“I know.”
“They’re also trying to control something they don’t understand. That never ends well.”
Elise looked at him carefully. “Do you think I’m dangerous?”
That I’m “something?” Elise asked, eyes wandering.
Lucien met her gaze evenly. “I think you’re powerful. But no, I don’t think you’re dangerous. Not unless someone gives you a reason to be.”
“Also, you’re not something, you’re a person Elise”. “I didn’t mean it in that manner”.
She nodded slowly.
“I also think,” he added, “that this thing with Kai—it’s not just political. He’s hurting. But don’t let that make you feel small.”
“I don’t,” she said quietly. “I feel… something else. Like I’m slipping away from everyone.”
Lucien leaned back, exhaling. “You’re not. They just haven’t caught up to who you really are yet.”
For a moment, Elise believed him.
Then—
A loud crash echoed from upstairs.
They both stood immediately. Lucien winced but kept pace with her as they raced toward the noise.
It came from the hallway near the medical wing.
By the time they arrived, a nurse was crouched beside a tipped-over tray, muttering to herself.
“I swear she moved. She was awake—I saw her eyes open.”
“Becky?” Lucien asked.
The nurse nodded. “But she was pretending. I think she was listening.”
Elise’s heart skipped.
Lucien looked at her. “You think she heard anything?”
“I don’t know,” Elise murmured. “But if she did…”
“She won’t keep quiet.”
Elise swallowed.
That night, Elise stood alone at the window of her room, looking out over the moonlit grounds. The night was too still. Too quiet.
She couldn’t shake the feeling that something had shifted. Not just in Becky, but in the house itself.
Like whispers and secrets she couldn’t quite reach.
In the infirmary, Becky sat upright in her bed now, eyes wide and gleaming with quiet fury.
The machines still beeped beside her, but she ignored them.
She had heard everything.
Moonbreather.
Power.
Uncertainty.
The Council’s fear.
A slow, twisted smile curved her lips.
She turned her head slightly toward the door, her fingers twitching beneath the blanket.
There was only one thing she hated more than being saved by Elise Thorne.
Being outshined by her.
- Writer
