Elise finds herself in a forest, her clothes and hands once clean now stained with blood. She looks to her side to see her mom's body on the ground with her neck at an odd angle, broken beyond help.
‘Because you were so weak, your mother died because of your little wicked thing, and you can’t protect your people either.' She hears Kyren’s voice taunt her.
“No, no, it wasn’t because of me, no!”
“Don’t listen to him; don’t listen, El.” She hears another voice, this time familiar and soothing; she couldn’t see anyone else, but she knew it was Rygan's voice. “You are strong, Elise; you can fight this,” his voice urged her.
Elise's eyes shoot open, her breath harsh from the dream as she feels Rygan's voice close to her. “El?” She turns to him this time, seeing his worry-filled gaze as his brows furrowed and his hand clasped tightly around hers.
She looks at the unfamiliar surroundings and then recalls that she’d assigned her guards to take the wounded female to Abby’s clinic. She helped heal the girl, but it seems it was more of mental exhaustion, so they had to wait for her to wake up.
That was why she stayed in the waiting room and fell asleep to that horrible nightmare. But Rygan had gone the extra mile, asking for an empty room where he laid Elise to sleep while he watched over her. And after that, she had a nightmare.
But now she feels Rygan’s cooler skin as he joins their foreheads together. “You’re ok, I’m here,” he assures.
Elise couldn’t help but smile at that voice. “Funny, that’s the same thing I heard you say in my dreams just now.” But compared to her dry humor, Rygan’s face was dead serious.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know; seeing this girl made me remember things like how she was wounded and broken from the Silver Night Pack,” she muttered. “Or maybe I see myself in her. I don’t know,” she muttered with a sigh.
*What about the guards?*
*I instructed them to wait outside; don’t worry, they promised to claw me to pieces till I’m unrecognizable if something happens to their Luna with no expectation that I’m the Blackmoon alpha.* He says to make Elise smile and ease the tension in her shoulders. Knowing it must have been Michale who said that.
“Silvernight was my home,” she starts, “my mother's birthright, but since she was a female and only told she was right for an arranged wedding, she was stubborn. She ran away looking for help and found the Calhan tribe. My father Edgar was the alpha king, but then Dexton happened. He killed innocent people to get her back.
My mother couldn’t take it anymore and returned to him, not knowing she had me conceived already; she married him, and Dexton became the chief, and she was suppressed her whole life by those rules; of his horrible acts, he was truly a monster,” she muttered out, and Rygan kissed her head before she continued.
“My mom and I became Dexton’s puppets; we only lived in fear of him; he would hit her... and it scared me enough never to go out of line... I wish I was strong enough then.”
“You are strong; you both were strong... He knows why he did that. Because he was afraid for everyone to see the coward he truly was. As I’m sure that girl too is stronger than we think,” he assures.
Elise lays her head on his shoulder, their breaths evening out as they only concentrate on each other’s heartbeat. The heart of someone known to be a beast pounding for her sends a warm shiver down her body, knowing he was only this way with her.
Rygan stares at her like she hung the very stars in the sky, and she was a goddess; she couldn’t help hiding her face in the space between his shoulder and nape, breathing in his scent.
But soon enough, their heart-to-heart talk was ruined by a knock on the door, as Abby opened it a second later after they’d separated. “She is awake... and wants to see you, El,” she calls her with urgency.
Elise jumps off the hospital bed, now fully wearing Rygan’s jacket, as she envelops herself in it like a safety blanket. She sees a skeptical look on Abby’s face, but the elder controls it immediately as she leads them to the room.
They all head to the room, opening the white doors of the clinic. The girl's hair that was matted in so much blood was surprisingly blonde, and she turned over to see who entered. Her eyes widened.
“Elize Alderman... thank the moons,” Elise cringed at that name as she shook her head to correct the girl.
“First of all, I am not an Alderman. That monster cannot be my father,” she assures her.
“I’m sorry, Luna Elise... You might remember me, but older, my sister was the last of your servants.” Elise saw that distinct upturned nose and opal eyes; it's been years, but that maid was the only one who gave her an escape from the outside world from time to time...
“You’re Loraine’s sister?”
“Yes, I’m Nora,” she calls, but her face immediately turns sad with tears. “You need to help us, my sister; she’s been taken by Kyren's men; all the single women have; our pack has been in total disarray ever since your mother,
Lady Malia, died; she had cared for the poor and masses while Beta Dexton made us hungry, only feeding his armies who have all faced death under Kyren's attack; we are barely alive and hardly a pack anymore... My sister has been taken to his pack too.” She cries desperately to Elise.
“What?… Why have I not heard any word of this?”
“I am a testament to why,” she called, showing her horrible scars. “They put us in internment camps, killing male fledglings that haven’t shifted but left the women for their sick pleasure,” she explained with a horror-filled gaze as she trembled.
“I escaped; they all thought I was dead after the final blow to my skull, making sure no one outside the pack knew what they were doing, but I survived because I needed to get to you; we need your help,” she pleads with tears.
With each word Nora spoke, Elise felt her blood heat up in horror at Nora’s story, her hands curled into fists as she squeezed hard, “That monster.” It was her mistake for only rejecting and breaking only his arm for what he did. Now he’d gone for revenge to take everything that she cared for. Her former home wasn’t an exception.
“So please, Luna, help us,” she muttered.
Elise felt her breath heavy as she looked at Rygan, who had watched him leaning away by the door, his eyes hard with killing intent, regret loomed in his gaze that his only took one of Kyren's eye out,
but when Rygan looked up and locked eyes with at Elise's weary ones, his gaze softened. But he was ready to do what she wants. Ready to go serve his mate.
The silvernight pack held so many horrible memories—and very bad days—she still recalled her mother's neck snapping.
Could she move past them and face her past fears and torment head-on?
Could she go back to the place where it all began?