Chapter 11: Stay
451 Words
Elara stood by the door with her boots in her hand, heart pounding like a drum in a thunderstorm.
She’d packed the essentials. Just enough to disappear.
Again.
No note. No goodbye. Just gone.
It was safer this way.
For her.
For him.
For the both of them.
The moment she realized she was starting to need him was the moment she knew she had to go.
Because love? Love was a battlefield she’d already lost on.
And this time, she might not survive it.
⸻
She cracked the door open and stepped out—
“Knew I’d find you running again.”
She jumped.
Kade leaned against the porch post, arms folded, face unreadable in the dark. The moon backlit him like something out of a tragic fairytale.
Elara froze.
“I wasn’t—”
“You were,” he said simply.
She hated how calm he sounded. Like this didn’t matter to him. Like she was just another temporary storm passing through his world.
“I was just getting air,” she lied.
He looked down at the bag in her hand. “Sure.”
Silence.
Wind.
Tension.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” she finally whispered.
Kade stepped forward. “You won’t.”
“You say that now.”
“I’ll say it every time.”
She shook her head, blinking fast.
“I don’t know how to be what you want.”
“I don’t want perfect,” he said. “I want you. Bruises, claws, broken pieces and all.”
Her breath hitched. “You deserve someone stronger.”
He stepped right up to her now — close enough that she could smell the pine on his skin and the pain in his breath.
“I don’t want someone stronger,” he said quietly. “I want the woman who crawled through hell and still stood tall.”
Tears slipped down her cheek.
Kade reached out — slowly, gently — and wiped one away with his thumb.
“Stay,” he whispered. “Not because I asked. Not because of the bond. Stay because you want to.”
Elara looked at him — really looked — and her walls… cracked.
“I’m so tired of running,” she choked.
“Then don’t.”
He stepped back. Hands off.
“I won’t stop you,” he added. “If you walk away, I won’t follow.”
Her fingers tightened around the strap of the bag.
Then loosened.
Then dropped it.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she said.
Kade’s exhale was pure relief.
And when she stepped into his arms, letting herself fall for just a moment?
He caught her like he’d been waiting to.
- Writer
