Chapter One.
1504 Words
ELARA’S POV.
The scream never left my throat.
It stayed lodged there, sharp and burning, as my eyes locked onto the still body at my feet. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. The forest around us felt too big and too empty, the trees looming like silent witnesses to something that should never have happened.
Blood seeped into the soil, dark and unforgiving.
My knees buckled, and I caught myself against a tree trunk, bark scraping my palms. My heart slammed so hard against my ribs that I thought it might crack them open.
“No,” I whispered hoarsely. “Please… no.”
The man lay twisted on the ground, eyes open, staring at the sky through the thick canopy above.
I shook my head violently, as if denial alone could undo what I was seeing. “This isn’t real,” I muttered. “This isn’t happening.”
Footsteps crunched behind me. I felt it before I heard him… the weight of his presence, the shift in the air. The forest seemed to bend around him, submit to him.
“Elara.” My name sounded wrong in his mouth.
I turned slowly, dread crawling up my spine like ice water. Cassian stood a few steps away, his dark jacket unwrinkled, his expression unreadable. If not for the blood on his knuckles, he could’ve passed for someone who had simply taken a walk through the woods.
“What did you do?” I asked. My voice came out thin and fragile. Like it could snap at any second.
Cassian sighed, rubbing his temple as though mildly inconvenienced. “You shouldn’t look at him like that.”
I laughed… the kind that cracks and falls apart halfway through. “Like what? Like he’s dead?”.
His jaw tightened. “Lower your voice.”
“Don’t you dare tell me what to do,” I snapped, anger finally breaking through the shock. “You killed him.”
“He was getting aggressive.”
“He was talking to me,” I shouted. “He asked where I was from, Cassian. That’s it. He didn’t touch me. He didn’t threaten me. You didn’t give him a chance.”
Cassian’s eyes darkened, something sharp and dangerous flashing beneath the surface.
“I gave him plenty of chances,” he said coldly. “He didn’t deserve you.”
My stomach twisted painfully. “You don’t get to decide that.”
The silence that followed felt heavy.
Cassian moved closer, and instinctively, I stepped back. My heel caught on a root, and I stumbled. His hand shot out, gripping my arm before I could fall. I flinched at the contact.
“Don’t touch me,” I whispered.
He froze. For a brief moment… just a moment, something like regret flickered across his face. Then it vanished, replaced by the familiar mask of authority.
“We’re leaving,” he said.
“No.” My voice shook, but I meant it. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
Cassian’s fingers tightened around my arm. “Elara.”
“Let go,” I demanded. Instead, he pulled me closer. The power in his voice rolled over me like a wave when he spoke again, thick with Alpha command.
“That’s enough.”
My body betrayed me instantly.
My muscles locked, my lungs stuttered, and the fight drained from my limbs as though someone had pulled a plug. I hated myself for it. Hated the way my knees weakened, the way my head bowed without permission.
“You will walk back with me,” Cassian said quietly, his breath warm against my ear. “You will not mention this to anyone. And you will smile.”
A single tear slipped down my cheek.
“Yes,” I whispered. The word tasted like ash.
As we left the forest behind, music drifted toward us… laughter, celebration, lights flickering through the trees. The party continued, blissfully unaware that a life had ended just a few hundred feet away.
It was Cassian’s girlfriend’s birthday. How fitting!
I used to think my life was blessed.
I lost my father when I was six. One day he was tucking me into bed; the next, the pack was mourning him. My mother shattered and two years later she remarried.
Lucien Blackwood Alpha of the Ashen Hollow Pack. He was kind enough to take us in. He had one son from his first mate, Cassian. He was sixteen when we became family. I was eight.
At first, he ignored me completely. Then something shifted.
Cassian began walking me to school. Waiting for me outside my classes. Glowering at anyone who laughed too loudly around me. He scared away bullies without ever lifting a hand. Everyone said I was lucky.
“He treats you like a princess,” the pack women whispered.
I believed them. For a long time, I believed them. When I turned fifteen, things changed. Cassian started asking questions. Too many questions.
Where was I going? Who would be there? What time would I be home?
When I turned sixteen, boys stopped talking to me altogether. Cassian always seemed to appear leaning against a wall, arms crossed, eyes sharp and unwelcoming.
“You don’t need distractions,” he told me once. “Focus on school.”
Cassian Blackwood wasn’t just my stepbrother. He was my cage. Our parents refused to see it.
“He’s just protective,” my mother insisted. “After everything you’ve both lost.”
Lucien nodded along. “Cassian has always had a strong sense of responsibility.”
Responsibility! That’s what they called it when he tracked my phone. When he installed cameras at the pack borders “for security.” When he asked for the names of every person I interacted with daily.
That’s what they called it when I wasn’t allowed to date.
“Your mate will come,” Cassian said calmly. “You’ll thank me for keeping you untouched.”
The words made my skin crawl. I counted down the days until my twenty-first birthday like it was a sentence ending. Once my wolf awakened, once I met my mate, Cassian would have no claim over me.
After the night in the forest, I barely slept.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the dead man’s face. Heard the dull thud of his body hitting the ground. Felt Cassian’s grip on my arm.
I avoided him as much as I could. Fortunately, Cassian spent most weekdays in the city. Cassian Blackwood wasn’t just an Alpha. He was a titan.
CEO of Blackwood Innovations. A tech empire that dominated the market. Magazine covers called him a visionary and investors worshipped him.
At twenty-nine, he had power men twice his age envied. And every bit of it wrapped around my throat. Even when he wasn’t home, I felt him everywhere.
My phone lagged when I typed certain names, calls dropped mysteriously and emails vanished. I stopped trying to fight it.
My alarm went off at six a.m., dragging me from another nightmare. Today was internship placement day the last major step before graduation.
I showered quickly, pulling on a sweater that hid the bruises beneath my sleeves. Not from Cassian, from myself.
Stress, anxiety, and sleepless nights. That’s what I told people.
I had submitted three companies for my internship. None of them were Blackwood Innovations. I would rather work unpaid than spend six hours a day under Cassian’s direct supervision.
I met Jonah outside the lecture hall, my heart lifting slightly at the sight of him. Jonah was… safe, kind, and warm.
We’d been friends since sophomore year, bonded over late-night coding projects and shared coffee addictions. Lately, there was something else there, something fragile and hopeful.
If we got placed together, maybe….
“Did you see the list yet?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Not yet.”
He smiled. “Whatever happens, we’ll survive.”
I hoped he was right. Near the notice board, my best friend Lila stood stiffly, arms crossed.
“You look like someone stole your soul,” I said gently.
She forced a laugh. “Didn’t get Blackwood.”
That stung for different reasons. Lila had been infatuated with Cassian for years. She saw him as powerful, mysterious, untouchable.
She didn’t see the bars.
“I’m sorry,” I said, meaning it in my own twisted way.
She shrugged. “Guess it wasn’t meant to be.”
I turned toward the board, heart pounding. Jonah’s name appeared first. He was assigned to NovaCore Solutions company. Relief flooded me.
Then my eyes drifted lower. I found my name. Elara Blackwood, Assigned Company: Blackwood Innovations The room tilted.
“No,” I whispered.
My hands trembled as students buzzed around me, celebrating, complaining, laughing.
This wasn’t possible. I hadn’t applied. I hadn’t even considered.
A familiar weight settled in my chest… Cassian. He had done this. I felt it in my bones. He always decided where I belonged. And apparently, freedom wasn’t on the list.
- Writer
