Chapter 5
892 Words
Cassian POV
I carried Elara Quinn in my arms like she was the most fragile thing in the world.
Her weight was nothing, and her skin was cold.
The moment we reached the Silverhollow Pack's infirmary, the nurses rushed to prepare a bed. I didn’t wait for permission as I just laid her down myself, gently, as though any sudden movement might break her.
A nurse stepped forward. "My King, you should wait outside. We'll need space to work."
I didn't move.
"Please, your aura is affecting the staff," another doctor added, visibly trembling.
My Beta, Danford, came in quietly. He walked to my side, glanced at Elara, then gave me a look that was both understanding and concerned.
"Cassian," he said lowly, only using my name when it was just us. "Let them do their job, you're making it harder for them."
I looked at Elara again. Her breathing was shallow and her face was pale. Her fingers twitched like she was trying to fight something in her dreams.
I didn’t want to go, but I had no other choice as I nodded, slowly.
"I'll stay here by the door, that's as far as I'm going."
Danford gave me a short nod. "Good enough."
The medical team moved quickly, they gently turned her over, and her shredded shirt peeled back from her skin.
Danford hissed under his breath, her back was a battlefield.
Fresh wounds, still open, and lots of blood.
Scars, old and dark, carved across her like someone had tried to erase her skin.
"Dear Goddess," one of the nurses whispered. "How long has she been like this?"
The head doctor didn't answer, he just kept working.
Elara flinched when the antiseptic touched her skin, even in her unconscious state.
I stepped forward and gripped her hand, her fingers were ice cold.
"I'm here," I whispered. "You're safe now, I swear it that no one will ever hurt you again."
She didn’t respond, but she didn’t pull away either.
The doctor finished cleaning her back and began stitching some of the deeper cuts.
"Some of these injuries are recent," he said. "But many are old, someone’s been hurting her for years."
Danford muttered a curse, he looked as sick as I felt.
"Why would they put her in the dungeon?" he asked. "She looks like she couldn’t harm anyone."
I didn’t answer because I didn’t know, and that terrified me more than anything.
A few hours later, the doctors said they needed quiet to work on internal injuries.
I nodded and stepped away from the room and Danford followed me.
"Where are you going?" Danford asked
"To clear my head."
I didn’t wait for him to follow, I walked out of the infirmary, through the pack house, and into the woods.
As soon as I was far enough from view, I shifted.
Saga exploded from my skin, my Lycan form taking over. Then, we ran, hard and fast enough.
Through trees, over the rivers, and through the dark. But the images wouldn’t leave.
Elara on the cold floor, blood on her thighs, and that man straddling her.
Her broken and terrified eyes.
Saga roared, the sound ripping through the forest. Birds scattered, and the trees shook.
Still, it wasn’t enough as we kept running.
It felt like hours before we stopped. My body was tired, but the rage hadn’t left.
I shifted back into human form and sat by the edge of a small stream.
The night was quiet and the moon was high, but my mind was a storm.
What if I had been later? What if I hadn’t felt her presence? What if I hadn’t gone looking?
I punched the ground, my knuckles bleeding as they hit rock.
I sat there in silence, letting the pain sink in, and letting the guilt fester.
Eventually, I stood and walked back. The pack house was quiet as most were asleep.
I found the minibar and poured myself a glass of whiskey. My hands were still shaking.
I didn’t sip, I just downed it all at once, then another. Still, the fire in my chest didn’t go away.
I needed answers and I needed revenge.
But first, I needed rest.
I walked to the guest room they had prepared for me. Before I lay down, I opened a mind-link.
“Danford.”
“Yes, Cassian?”
“Stay with her, don’t leave Elara’s side. I need someone I trust with her because she’s not to be left alone, not even for a second.” I ordered.
“Understood.”
As I laid down, I tried to sleep, but sleep didn’t come easy. I stared at the ceiling, as Elara’s face filled my mind.
I didn’t even know her story yet.
Why had she been imprisoned? Why did no one protect her? And where was her wolf?
Then Saga spoke softly in my head. ‘I can’t feel her other half. Her wolf is quiet.’
I had felt the mate bond when I touched her, but it was weak and muted. Something was definitely missing.
But that didn’t matter right now as she was alive, and was mine. And whoever put her in that cell would pay dearly.
I closed my eyes.
And for the first time in years, I prayed to the Moon Goddess.
‘Don’t take her from me.’
- Writer
