EIRA'S POV
"Please, Adrian. Please…"
I ran toward him, but no matter how desperately I tried, the distance between us never closed.
He was on his knees beneath the burning sky, blood soaking through his shirt, a silver blade buried in his chest. His black eyes found mine, and his trembling hand reached for me.
"Eira…"
"I'm here!" I screamed. "Adrian, I'm here!"
But Jake's arms locked around my waist, dragging me backward.
"Let me go! PLEASE!"
Adrian tried to rise, but his knees buckled. His fingers slipped from mine as he collapsed to the ground.
"No!"
I reached for him—
And woke with a strangled cry.
I scrambled backward against the headboard, gasping for breath, my hands trembling uncontrollably. For several agonising seconds, I could still see his bloodstained shirt, the silver blade buried in his chest, and those black eyes desperately searching for me.
Then reality closed in.
The locked door.
The unfamiliar room.
The suffocating silence.
Ten days.
Ten days since the festival. Ten days since I had watched Adrian collapse while Jake dragged me away, no matter how desperately I screamed his name.
And in all that time, I still didn't know what had happened to him.
Was he all right? Was he suffering somewhere, fighting for his life while I sat helplessly locked away from the world?
My lips trembled as tears blurred my vision.
Adrian, I don't care who you are anymore. I don't care what you are. I just need to know that you're okay.
A sob escaped me.
I pressed my trembling fingers against my lips, desperately trying to contain the ache tearing through my chest.
Please, God. Wherever he is, please keep him safe. If he's suffering, ease his pain. If he's fighting, give him the strength to survive.
My eyes squeezed shut.
I didn't want answers to the questions that had haunted me for so long. I didn't need him to explain himself or tell me what I meant to him.
I just needed to know he was okay.
Please let him be okay.
The door opened.
I barely noticed.
Jake entered carrying a tray of food. He placed it on the bedside table and sat beside me as though this were an ordinary morning, as though I were still the girl who used to laugh at his stupid jokes and steal his notebooks.
"Good morning, Eira."
I stared at the opposite wall.
He picked up the bowl, stirred its contents, and lifted a spoon toward me.
"Come on. You need to eat something."
I didn't move.
"Just a little?"
His voice was soft. Almost tender.
It reminded me of the Jake I had once known—the boy who stole fries from my plate, snatched my pen just to make me chase him, and teased me until I couldn't help laughing.
That Jake had once made me feel safe.
Then the memories of the festival came rushing back.
My body instinctively shifted away from him.
Jake noticed.
"Eira?"
I said nothing.
He reached toward my hair, but I recoiled before his fingers could touch me.
His hand stopped in midair.
For a moment, something cold flickered across his expression. Then he slowly lowered it.
"Fine," he murmured, forcing a smile. "I'll stop trying to feed you like a child."
He set the spoon down.
"Remember how you used to threaten to throw my notebook into the pond whenever I annoyed you?"
Silence.
"And that day you stole my notebook because I wouldn't return your pen?" He gave a faint laugh. "You made me apologise in front of half the college."
"You deserved it," I muttered before I could stop myself.
His face brightened instantly.
"Exactly!" He leaned forward slightly, a spark of genuine happiness entering his eyes. "And you still shared your chocolate with me afterward. You always pretended to hate me, but you could never stay angry for long."
He studied my face with almost desperate hopefulness.
"Those were good days, weren't they, Eira?"
I lowered my eyes.
He was trying to bring back the girl who had once laughed with him, as though the memories of our friendship could somehow erase what he had done.
But I couldn't go back.
Not after the festival.
Not after Adrian.
Jake lifted the spoon again.
"Come on, sweetheart. Just one bite."
I finally turned toward him.
"Can you tell me one thing?"
"Of course." His smile softened. "You can ask me for anything."
My fingers tightened around the bedsheet.
"How is Adrian?"
The spoon stopped halfway to my mouth.
Jake stared at me.
For one suspended moment, neither of us moved.
Then, with a sudden, violent motion, he hurled the bowl against the wall.
It shattered.
I flinched so violently that my breath caught in my throat. Scrambling off the bed, I retreated toward the far corner of the room, my heart hammering against my ribs.
Jake remained where he was, his chest rising and falling, his fists clenched at his sides.
"How dare you say his name?"
He turned away, dragging a hand through his hair as though he were struggling to wrestle something vicious back beneath his skin.
"We were having a perfectly good morning," he said tightly. "I was trying to take care of you. I was trying to remind you of the good things we had. And somehow, you still find a way to bring him into everything."
He drew a slow breath before facing me again.
His expression had softened, but the anger beneath it remained, coiled and waiting.
"Eira, you're not thinking clearly. You're grieving. You're confused. You need time to understand what really matters."
I stared at him, my back pressed against the wall.
"You want Selenathyx, don't you?"
Something shifted in his expression.
"You've been chasing me because of what's inside me. You wanted that stone long before you brought me here."
"That's not why—"
"Then take it!"
My voice broke.
"Take Selenathyx and kill me if that's what you want. Just tell me how Adrian is!"
I stumbled toward him and seized his wrist with both hands.
"Please, Jake. Just tell me he's okay. Please tell me he's all right."
He looked down at my trembling fingers wrapped around his wrist.
Then, slowly, he lifted his eyes to mine.
"How dare you?"
His voice shook with anger.
"How dare you think I'd kill you?"
I flinched.
"I would never hurt you, Eira. Never. Not even in my dreams. Don't you ever think that about me."
I loosened my grip, but before I could withdraw my hands, he caught one between both of his.
"I love you," he said.
I froze.
"I've always loved you. I've been there for you, Eira. I've protected you. I've watched you suffer, and every time you cried, all I wanted was to take away whatever was hurting you."
His fingers tightened around mine.
"And now you're here. With me. We don't need anyone else. We can stay here together, away from the vampires, away from everything that could hurt you. We can have a beautiful life."
He smiled as though he had just offered me the world.
"We can be happy forever."
I stared at him in disbelief.
He wasn't asking me to love him.
He was telling me that my future had already been decided.
"Jake…" My voice emerged barely above a whisper. "I don't love you."
His smile faltered.
"Please let me go," I whispered.
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Slowly, he released my hand.
"Where do you want to go, Eira?"
I swallowed painfully.
"Home."
He tilted his head.
"Home?"
"Yes. Please, Jake. I just want to go home."
"Your parents and your brother are safe, Eira."
I looked up sharply.
"What?"
"I'm taking good care of them."
A desperate flicker of hope stirred inside my chest.
"You let them go?"
His expression hardened.
"They're safe."
"Can I see them?" My voice trembled. "Please, Jake. I just want to see my family."
"No."
The answer came without hesitation.
"Jake—"
"Your parents and your brother are safe, Eira." His voice turned stern. "I'm taking care of them. That's all you need to know."
I searched his face, desperate to find something that would reassure me he wasn't lying.
"Please," I whispered. "Just let me go home."
He studied me for a long moment before taking a step closer.
"And after home, where will you go, Eira?"
I said nothing.
"Tell me." His voice grew quieter. "After you go home, what will you do?"
Every instinct told me to lie. To tell him whatever he wanted to hear. To make whatever promises I needed to make until I could find a way out of this room.
But I couldn't lie about Adrian.
"Adrian," I whispered.
Jake laughed.
A short, bitter sound that sent a chill down my spine.
"Right. The bastard."
He moved closer.
"You don't know what he is, Eira. You have no idea how many people he's killed. How many families have wept because of him. How many people have begged him for mercy while he tore their lives apart."
"Stop."
"He's a bloodsucking animal pretending to be human. A monster."
"Stop, Jake!"
"Did he tell you any of this? Did he tell you about the people he's killed? Did he tell you how many innocent people—"
"STOP!"
My scream tore through the room.
"I DON'T CARE!"
Tears spilled down my cheeks.
"I don't care what he's done! I don't care what he is! I—"
Before I could finish, Jake was in front of me.
He planted both hands against the wall on either side of my head, caging me between his arms.
I gasped.
My shoulders struck the wall as I instinctively tried to shrink away, but there was nowhere to go.
His arms blocked every possible escape, and his body stood so close that I could barely draw a full breath.
His face was inches from mine.
I could see the fury tightening his features, the tension in his jaw, the violent emotion burning behind his eyes.
For one terrible moment, I couldn't recognise the person staring back at me.
Then his fist slammed into the wall beside my face.
I cried out and squeezed my eyes shut, my whole body jerking at the impact.
"Shh."
His voice dropped to a chilling whisper.
"Don't you dare complete that sentence, Eira."
I struggled to breathe.
"Look at me."
I didn't want to.
But I opened my eyes.
He was watching me with an intensity that made my skin crawl. His face was so close that every attempt to turn away made me painfully aware of how completely he had cornered me.
"You're in shock," he murmured. "That bastard has filled your mind with lies. He's made you believe that what you feel for him is love."
"No."
The word escaped me before I could stop it.
"He's manipulated you. He's hurt you. He's pushed you away, and you're still standing here defending him."
"He never imprisoned me."
My voice trembled, but I forced myself to meet his gaze.
"He never made me choose him."
Jake's jaw clenched.
"Don't you dare compare me to that bastard!"
His fist remained pressed against the wall beside my face.
"I did everything for you. I took care of you. I stayed beside you. I tried to make you laugh whenever you were sad. I was there when you needed someone, Eira!"
His voice cracked beneath the weight of his fury.
"And what did he do? He hurt you. He pushed you away. He left you!"
He leaned closer.
I pressed myself harder against the wall, my fingers curling helplessly into the fabric of my clothes.
"I remember the way you used to look at him," he continued, his eyes darkening. "Every time he entered a room, every time he glanced at you, you forgot the rest of the world existed."
His expression twisted with something far uglier than jealousy.
"I wished I'd killed that bastard with my own hands before he ever came near you."
My stomach tightened.
"But none of that matters anymore."
His voice changed so abruptly that the sudden calm frightened me more than his shouting had.
"He's gone, Eira. And you are here."
He held my gaze.
"You will be mine now."
Tears slipped silently down my cheeks.
"Yes," I whispered.
Satisfaction flickered across his face.
"But he left me to protect me."
His expression hardened.
"He was always the one who protected me, Jake. No matter how far away he went, he always came when I needed him. Even when he pushed me away, even when he pretended I meant nothing to him."
My voice fractured.
"He never told me he loved me. Not once. But I saw it in his eyes. I saw it in the things he did when he thought I wasn't looking. I know he cared about me, even when he couldn't bring himself to say it."
I swallowed against the ache in my throat.
"And I know he would never have let me suffer if he'd had a choice."
Jake laughed bitterly.
"Where is he now, then?"
He finally stepped away from the wall, leaving me trembling in the space he'd occupied.
"Go on. Call him. Tell him you're in trouble. Tell him you're crying. Tell him you need him."
His mouth curved into a cruel smile.
"See if he comes running to save you."
My lips trembled.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, sweetheart, but he isn't coming."
My heart lurched.
"What do you mean?"
Jake's smile disappeared.
"The silver blade was coated with poison. Not ordinary poison. Something designed to make a vampire's heart slow until it ceases to beat."
The blood drained from my face.
"No."
"The poison doesn't give them a chance to recover."
"No, you're lying."
"Eira—"
"No!"
I shook my head violently, desperate to reject the words before they could become real.
"Nothing can happen to him. He's Adrian. He—he can't…"
My voice crumbled.
Jake reached toward my face and brushed a tear from my cheek with his thumb.
I jerked away, but he caught my chin between his fingers, forcing me to face him.
"Nothing can change that now, Eira. You need to forget him."
I stared at him, trembling beneath his touch.
Then he smiled again, as though he hadn't just shattered the last fragile piece of peace I had left.
"I love you, Eira. And we'll have a beautiful future together. I promise."
"I will never love you."
His expression remained perfectly calm.
"You will."
"No."
"Not today. Perhaps not tomorrow. But we have time."
His thumb brushed another tear from my cheek.
"You can learn to love me slowly."
I couldn't move.
"I'll be here forever, Eira. And you're going to be mine."
He released my chin and straightened, leaving me with the cold certainty that nothing I said had changed his mind.
"You and Selenathyx. Both of you."
His gaze lingered on my face.
"Forever."
Then he walked out.
The door slammed shut.
I heard the lock turn.
And suddenly, my legs gave way.
I sank to the floor, catching myself with trembling hands. Fragments of the bowl littered the tiles, its contents smeared against the wall.
I barely noticed.
I pressed both hands over my mouth, struggling to stifle the sobs tearing through me.
No.
My gaze remained fixed on the locked door, my vision blurring beneath the tears gathering in my eyes.
"No," I whispered, shaking my head vehemently. "Nothing can happen to you, Adrian."
My voice trembled, but I forced the words out as though speaking them aloud could somehow shield him from the darkness threatening to consume him.
"No poison can stop you, Adrian. Do you hear me? No poison can stop you."
A strangled sob escaped my throat.
"Nothing can stop you from coming back to me."
I pressed a trembling hand against my heart, as though I could somehow hold together the fragments of it before they shattered completely.
"I know you'll come, Adrian. I know you will."
Tears streamed down my cheeks as I struggled to draw a steady breath.
"I love you so much, Adrian. So much."
The confession dissolved into a broken sob.
"I didn't even get the chance to tell you. I never got the chance to look into your eyes and tell you what you've come to mean to me."
I bowed my head, my shoulders trembling uncontrollably.
"But I'll tell you when you come back. I'll tell you everything. I'll tell you how deeply I love you, how terrified I was of losing you, and how I kept searching for you even when you were nowhere to be found."
I wiped the tears from my cheeks with trembling fingers, but they continued to fall, relentless as the ache consuming my heart.
"I'll tell you everything," I whispered again. "Just come back to me."
My voice softened, dwindling into something barely louder than a prayer.
"I'll wait for you."
I drew a shaky breath, clutching the fabric over my heart.
"No matter how long it takes, I'll wait for you."
JAKE'S POV
The sound of Eira's words refused to leave my head.
I don't love you.
I love Adrian.
Every word carved itself deeper into my mind. Even after everything, she still loved him.
That bastard.
My fist slammed against the table. The wood splintered beneath my knuckles, and a second later, the entire thing crashed to the floor.
I stood amid the wreckage, breathing hard.
Control yourself, Jake.
I had been there through her laughter, her tears, and every moment she had needed someone. Yet all it had taken was Adrian Blake to make her forget everything.
How could she choose a creature like him over me?
I forced the rage back beneath my skin.
She was mine.
She just didn't know it yet.
Another knock interrupted my thoughts.
The man who entered looked considerably more hesitant.
"Alpha, the elders have gathered downstairs. They wish to meet the Luna."
The Luna.
The title sent a strange warmth through my chest.
A smile touched my lips.
"Tell them I'll bring her down shortly."
The man bowed and left.
I glanced at the broken table before walking toward the wardrobe. Inside, carefully folded in separate garment covers, lay two dresses I had bought for Eira months ago.
A white gown.
And a red one.
I drew out the red gown first.
I had imagined her wearing it when I introduced her to the pack—not merely as the girl I loved, but as the woman who would stand beside me, the woman everyone would know belonged to me.
My future wife.
I ran my fingers over the delicate fabric, imagining her standing before me in that deep red dress, unaware of how long I had dreamed of that moment.
Perhaps, when she saw herself wearing it, she would finally see the man who had loved her long before Adrian Blake entered her life.
A bitter ache settled beneath my ribs.
No. Not yet.
She didn't have to understand today.
Love could come later.
It had to.
I carefully returned the red gown to its cover and lifted the white one.
This was the dress I had chosen for the day she became my Luna—the day the pack would bow their heads to her and she would stand beside me beneath the full moon.
I left my room carrying the red gown.
When I entered Eira's room, I found her sitting on the floor beside the bed. The broken bowl had been cleared away, but she hadn't moved from the spot where I had left her. Her eyes were swollen from crying, and she stared at nothing, as though some part of her remained trapped in a world where Adrian still existed.
Lisa sat beside her with a plate of food.
"Eira, please," my sister said softly. "Just eat a little. You haven't eaten properly in days."
Eira didn't respond.
Lisa brought a spoon closer to her lips.
"Just one bite?"
Nothing.
My patience thinned.
"Eira."
She didn't even look at me.
I walked farther into the room, the red gown hanging from my hand.
"You need to eat."
Lisa turned toward me, disbelief flashing across her face.
"Can't you see how she is? She's barely sleeping, she won't eat, and all you can think about is making her—"
She stopped herself, but I knew what she had been about to say.
Love you.
My gaze sharpened.
"Don't start again."
"This isn't right, Jake. Whatever you feel for her, you can't force her to feel the same way."
I tightened my grip on the gown.
"I'm not asking her to love me today."
"Then what are you doing?"
"Giving her time."
Lisa glanced at Eira.
"You call this giving her time?"
I ignored the question.
"People learn to love each other. Feelings can change. We have our whole lives ahead of us."
"And if hers never change?"
The question struck a nerve.
"They will."
Lisa looked away. I knew that expression.
Pity.
I pushed the thought aside and approached Eira.
She noticed me only when my shadow fell across her.
I crouched beside her and reached toward her.
She flinched.
Anger surged through me. I wanted to seize her shoulders and demand that she look at me. Instead, I lowered my hand.
Control.
I had to control myself.
"Get ready," I said evenly. "The elders are waiting to meet you."
Eira stared at me in confusion.
"Why?"
I lifted the gown.
"Because you're going to meet your pack."
Her expression changed immediately.
"No."
"You haven't even heard what I'm asking."
"I don't want to meet anyone." Her voice trembled. "Please, Jake. I just want to go home."
Lisa rose to her feet.
"She isn't ready. Give her some time."
"She will be ready."
"You can't decide that for her!"
My gaze hardened.
"Enough, Lisa."
She fell silent.
I looked back at Eira.
"You and the Selenathyx are going to be mine."
Lisa stepped between us.
"You can't do this. She hasn't agreed to any of it!"
I gave my sister a warning look.
"She will become my mate. After that, she'll have the rest of her life to learn what it means to be my Luna."
"That's not how love works!"
"Perhaps not for you."
The words came out colder than I intended.
Lisa stared at me.
For the first time, I saw something in her expression I had never seen before.
Fear.
Not fear of what I might do to her.
Fear of what I was becoming.
I looked away.
Eira was shaking her head, tears gathering in her eyes.
"No, Jake. I don't love you. I can't do this. Please, I don't want to become your mate. I don't want any of this."
I crouched in front of her.
"I know you don't."
"Then let me go!"
She tried to move past me. I caught her wrist before she could stand.
She froze.
I felt her pulse flutter beneath my fingers. For a moment, neither of us moved. Then I loosened my grip, though I didn't release her completely.
"Eira, listen to me."
She stared at my hand as though searching for a way to free herself without making me angrier.
I hated that she looked at me like that.
I hated that even now, Adrian still held the part of her heart I had spent years trying to reach.
So I reminded her of what she stood to lose.
"You've already lost Adrian."
Her face drained of colour.
"Don't."
"And now you want to lose your brother? Your parents?"
She went still.
"You told me they were safe," she whispered.
"They are."
"Then let me see them." Her fingers curled around my wrist. "Please. They're my family."
I looked into her trembling eyes.
"You can still have them, Eira. You can still have a family. You can still have a future."
Her eyes searched mine, desperate for something reassuring.
"But you need to stop fighting me."
"Please," she whispered. "I haven't done anything to deserve this."
"Your family's safety depends on you, sweetheart." I kept my voice gentle, as though that could soften the meaning of my words. "So behave nicely, and nothing will happen to them."
She stared at me in horror.
"I will never love you."
The words cut deeper than I allowed myself to show.
I brushed a tear from her cheek. She turned her face away.
"Perhaps not today," I murmured. "Perhaps not tomorrow. But we have time."
I had given her the morning to mourn Adrian, yet she still clung to his memory as though the world had ended with him.
He was dead.
And still, she refused to let him go.
She needed to understand that there was nothing left for her to return to. She needed to stop reaching for a man who could no longer come for her.
"Get her ready, Lisa," I said, rising. "The elders are waiting."
My sister remained beside Eira, staring at me as though she no longer recognised the brother she had grown up with.
I handed her the red gown.
"Help her put this on."
She hesitated.
"Jake—"
"Please don't make me repeat myself."
Something in my voice made her take the gown.
I turned toward the door.
Behind me, Eira began to cry again.
Lisa followed me into the corridor.
"You can't keep doing this," she whispered.
I continued walking.
"Doing what?"
"Threatening her family. Keeping her locked away. Making her afraid of you."
I stopped.
She nearly collided with me.
"I'm protecting her."
"No, Jake. You're making sure she has nowhere else to go."
I turned slowly.
My sister's eyes were bright with tears, but she held my gaze.
"She doesn't love you. You know that. And the more you force her to stay, the more she'll hate you."
I stared at her.
"Do you think I don't know she loves him? Do you think I haven't seen it? The way she looks at him, the way she says his name, the way she would rather break herself apart than stop loving him?"
My voice grew quieter.
"I've seen all of it, Lisa."
"Then why can't you let her go?"
A bitter laugh escaped me.
"Because he's dead, Lisa. Wake up. She has nowhere to go."
I looked at her, forcing her to understand.
"And send her where, exactly? To the werewolves who would tear her apart for the Selenathyx? To the vampires who would hunt her until they could take it from her? To the people who would see nothing when they looked at her except the power hidden inside her?"
I shook my head.
"You know what would happen to her out there."
"I am the only one who can protect her now."
Lisa looked at me with quiet devastation.
"You're not protecting her from everyone, Jake. You've just made sure she has nowhere to go."
She wiped her cheek.
"I hope one day you understand the difference."
I looked away.
"Even if you're right about everything else, she is still mine."
Lisa stared at me one last time before leaving quietly.
I didn't care what she thought.
I had Eira here. She was within my reach, and for now, that was enough.
One day, she would be mine forever.
She would learn to trust me again. She would learn to see me differently. She would understand that the world beyond these walls was dangerous, that the people she trusted could hurt her, that the man she loved had left her to face the darkness alone.
And when she finally understood, she would stop reaching for a ghost.
She would look at me.
She would see me.
She would love me.
I could already picture her standing beside me beneath the full moon, wearing the white gown I had chosen for the day she became my Luna.
The elders would bow their heads, the pack would accept her, and she would stand at my side as though she had always belonged there.
I closed my eyes, holding on to the image with a smile.
But destiny had not yet spoken its final word.
Somewhere beyond the reach of the living, a love Jake believed lost was still fighting a battle no one knew existed.
Because some bonds could survive distance, darkness, and even death.
And sometimes, even destiny could not defeat a love that refused to die.