Ever since the truth of their mate bond surfaced, Lucian had treated distance like a weapon.
He avoided her with a precision that felt almost rehearsed.
He no longer stepped into the infirmary, as if the last time he'd seen her there had cursed the room itself.
And the one time she'd spotted him in the library, the moment she moved toward him, he turned sharply and ordered his guards to block her path.
He vanished before she could even whisper his name.
After that, Elara stopped chasing him.
She forced herself to understand the shock, the weight of fate, the fact that Bella had long claimed the place beside him. She tried to be gracious about it.
But by the third day without even a glimpse of him…
Hurt simmered into irritation.
So she gathered what remained of her courage and walked to his office.
Two guards stood like statues flanking the door.
They straightened the moment they saw her, though neither met her eyes.
"I need to see the Alpha," she said, steady but not cold. "Tell him it's important."
One guard slipped inside. The other remained unmoving.
Moments later, the first returned, shoulders rigid.
"The Alpha says…"
A pause. A tightening in his jaw.
"He will speak to you when he needs to."
The words cut cleaner than a blade.
Elara inhaled sharply. "I see."
She pivoted before her composure cracked, walking the long corridor in silence.
But the moment she reached the hallway that led toward her room, the ache inside her chest surged forward, hot and cruel.
Why did it hurt in places she didn't know could ache?
Why did his avoidance feel like claws dragging down her ribs?
Inside her room, she sat on the edge of her bed and exhaled shakily.
"He has Bella," she whispered, as if confessing to the air. "He doesn't know what to do with… with this."
The mate bond.
Her.
Them.
She closed her eyes, palms pressed to her thighs.
"And I can't blame him," she breathed.
But the pain was unyielding, heavy and refused to release her ribs.
---
A sudden knock tore through the quiet.
Her heart leapt wildly and too eagerly.
For one traitorous moment she imagined Lucian on the other side.
She stood, hurriedly smoothing her hair, adding the faintest gloss to her lips, breath catching in her throat.
"Come in," she said softly.
The door opened.
Not Lucian.
Harvey stepped in, carrying a cloth-wrapped bundle overflowing with shimmering purple petals. Moon's Pulse, it was rare, expensive and almost sacred.
Harvey's warm smile softened the disappointment clinging stubbornly to her bones.
"I brought you something," he said gently.
He unwrapped the bundle, the lavender glow touching the air like quiet magic.
"Harvey… this must've cost a fortune."
He shrugged lightly. "A small thank-you for saving Bella. Lucian would have…"
He hesitated, then corrected himself.
"We're all grateful."
Grateful.
The word struck like a bruise.
She reached for the flowers, but Harvey caught the flicker of pain in her expression.
"Elara… what happened?"
"Nothing." She answered too quickly.
He stepped closer, voice soft. "You can trust me."
Her throat tightened.
She wouldn't tell him about the bond, she could barely face it herself.
But something had been twisting in her chest all day, refusing silence.
"Harvey…" She swallowed. "If you found your mate… what would you do?"
He answered without a breath of hesitation.
"Accept her. Always."
A fragile breath escaped from her nose.
"Even if you were already… in love with someone else?"
This time he paused, uncertainty flashing in his pale blue eyes.
"I honestly don't know," he admitted. "But the mate bond is powerful. Hard to resist. Harder to ignore."
Then why is Lucian ignoring ours?
"And why are you asking me this?" Harvey asked quietly.
She forced a smile. "My mind was wandering. Anyway… I'm visiting the sick grounds tomorrow. More patients need treatment."
He didn't push, though concern lingered in his eyes.
"Then I'll escort you," he said. "It's safer if I'm with you."
She nodded. "Thank you."
They spoke of herbs and supplies, but Harvey kept glancing at her with that searching concern, sensing the storm she hid behind tired smiles.
And Elara, fingers tightening around the silver-tipped blooms, wondered how she would endure facing Lucian again…
When the man fate chose for her acted as if fate had been wrong.
---
The next morning, Harvey arrived to escort her to the infirmary.
The infirmary greeted her with sterile coldness.
Rows of beds, perfectly made, stretched in ghostly silence.
Bright lights glinted off metal instruments with a clinical sharpness.
The overpowering scent of antiseptic fought stubbornly with herbs.
Footsteps echoed.
Too loud.
Too empty.
"Where is everyone?" Elara whispered.
A young guard approached, shifting nervously.
"Healer Elara," he said with a stiff bow. "I overheard the patients talking. They… they refuse treatment."
Elara blinked. "Refuse?"
Each syllable felt like it scraped her throat.
"But they're sick. Some of them may not make it."
The guard looked away. "They say they'd rather take their chances with the illness than be treated by someone from the Siberian pack."
"But… I'm here to help. I— I've dedicated my life to healing."
"They're afraid," Harvey murmured, hand warm on her arm. "Fear breeds ignorance."
Tears pricked her eyes.
She approached one of the few occupied beds.
A woman lay there, coughing, pale, trembling.
Elara knelt beside her.
The woman turned away.
"I don't want your help, especiallyfroma Siberian wolf."
That broke something in her.
Elara stood, vision blurring, breath shaking.
"I don't understand," she whispered. "I'm a healer. That's all."
Harvey wrapped an arm around her, guiding her out.
"It isn't you," he said firmly. "It's their prejudice. Their pride. Give them time."
But the rejection settled like cold stones in her chest.
Rejected by the Alpha tied to her soul.
Rejected by the people she came to heal.
It was too much.
"Maybe… maybe it was a mistake coming here," she choked out.
"Maybe I should just leave."
She rushed out before Harvey could stop her.
Harvey's jaw tightened, fury burning in his eyes.
At his pack.
At their pride.
At their blindness.
If she left…
What would become of all of them?