Three weeks passed in the coastal refuge like a peaceful dream. Elara helped Mara tend the gardens, learning about healing herbs and omega history. The other refugees welcomed her with gentle smiles and knowing nods. They understood running from powerful men who saw them as prizes.
But peace couldn't last forever.
The messenger arrived on a stormy Tuesday morning, soaked and shaking. A young beta from the neutral territories, clutching a waterproof pouch.
"News from the Blackwood Pack," he gasped, collapsing in Mara's kitchen. "Big celebration last night."
Elara's blood turned cold. "What celebration?"
The messenger pulled out a rolled parchment. Official seal. Gold ribbon.
"Alpha Kael's wedding," he said. "Married Luna Isolde in the grandest ceremony anyone's ever seen. The whole supernatural world was there."
The words hit Elara like lightning. She grabbed the table to keep from falling.
"That's impossible," she whispered. "He was hunting me. He said—"
"He said what?" Mara's voice was sharp.
"That I was special. That his child—" Her hand flew to her growing belly. "He wouldn't just forget us."
The messenger unrolled the parchment. A formal announcement, written in flowing script:
Alpha Kael Blackwood and Luna Isolde Vance were united in sacred bonding ceremony. The pack rejoices in this powerful alliance. The Alpha declares his complete devotion to his chosen mate.
Elara read it twice. Three times. The words didn't change.
"There's more," the messenger said quietly. He pulled out a second paper. "From someone inside the pack. They paid me extra to make sure you saw this."
It was a letter. Handwritten. Anonymous.
The runaway omega should know the truth. The Alpha spent exactly one week searching for her. When he found nothing, he laughed and said, "Good riddance to a broken toy." He called her a foolish girl who thought she meant something. The wedding went forward without delay. He seems happier than ever.
The paper crumpled in Elara's fist. Her world spun sideways.
"No," she breathed. "No, that's not true."
But deep down, she knew it was. Kael's words from that last night echoed in her mind: You're mine. However I can have you.
Not love. Possession.
She'd been nothing but a plaything. A distraction until his real life began.
"Elara?" Mara's voice seemed to come from far away. "Child, sit down. You're pale as death."
"I need air." Elara stumbled toward the door. "I need to think."
She burst outside into the storm. Rain lashed her face, matching the tears streaming down her cheeks. The ocean roared below the cliffs, wild and angry.
Foolish girl who thought she meant something.
The words cut deeper than any blade.
She'd given him everything. Her heart, her body, her innocence. She'd believed his whispers in the dark. Believed she was special.
All lies.
Her hand pressed to her stomach, where new life grew. Kael's child. The child of a man who'd called her a broken toy.
"I won't let you grow up knowing your father threw us away," she whispered to her unborn baby. "I won't let you see me as the omega who wasn't good enough."
Footsteps splashed through puddles behind her. Lysander appeared, his dark hair plastered to his head.
"Elara, come inside. You'll catch your death out here."
"Maybe that would be better." The words slipped out before she could stop them.
His silver eyes flashed with alarm. "Don't say that. Don't even think it."
"Why not? I'm nobody. A broken toy that got thrown away."
"You're carrying a child."
"His child. The child of a man who found me so forgettable he married someone else three weeks later." She laughed bitterly. "Do you know what that makes me? A mistake. A regret he's already moved past."
"You're not a mistake," Lysander said fiercely. "You're—"
"What? What am I, Lysander?" She spun to face him. "Tell me, because I honestly don't know anymore."
He opened his mouth. Closed it. Struggled with words he couldn't say.
"See? Even you can't find anything good about me."
"That's not true." He stepped closer. "You're brave. You're kind. You're—"
"Broken," she finished. "Used. Discarded."
"Stop." His voice cracked like a whip. "You're none of those things."
"Then why won't you say what I am to you?" She searched his face desperately. "Why do you look at me like you're seeing a ghost?"
Lysander's jaw clenched. The truth burned in his eyes, but he stayed silent.
"I can't stay here," Elara said suddenly. "I won't be the sad omega everyone pities. The one who thought she mattered to an Alpha."
"Where will you go?"
"Anywhere. Everywhere. I'll keep moving so no one can find me."
"That's not safe. Not with a child coming."
"Safer than staying where people know my story." She wiped her eyes. "I won't be the broken toy hiding in the shadows."
"Elara, please—"
"No." Her voice turned steel. "I'm done being weak. Done hoping for scraps of affection. I'm going to disappear so completely that Kael Blackwood will forget I ever existed."
"And if he doesn't? If he comes looking?"
"Then he'll find empty air." She turned toward the town. "I'm leaving tonight."
"In a storm? While pregnant? Are you insane?"
"Maybe." She smiled without humor. "But I'm done being sane. Sane got me used and thrown away."
Lysander caught her arm. "I won't let you go alone."
"Why?" She pulled free. "You barely know me. You have a life here, a purpose. Don't throw it away for some broken omega."
"You're not broken." The words came out raw. Desperate. "You're perfect."
Something flickered in his eyes. Something that looked like longing.
"Perfect for what?" she whispered.
He almost said it. The truth trembled on his lips. But fear held him back.
"For starting over," he said finally. "For being more than what he made you believe."
"Pretty words." She shook her head. "But words don't change facts. I'm nobody special. I never was."
She walked away, leaving him standing in the rain.
That night, Elara packed her few belongings. A spare dress. Her mother's necklace. The coins Mara had given her for helping in the garden.
She left a note on her pillow: Thank you for everything. Don't look for me. I need to find my own path.
The storm had passed. Moonlight streamed through her window as she crept toward the door.
A soft knock made her freeze.
"Elara?" Lysander's voice, barely above a whisper. "Are you awake?"
She pressed her back to the door, heart pounding.
"I know you're planning to leave," he said. "I can smell your fear. Your determination."
Silence.
"There's something I need to tell you. Something I should have said weeks ago."
Her hand moved to the doorknob. Almost turned it. Almost let him in.
"I can't," she whispered. "Whatever it is, I can't hear it. Not now."
"Elara, please. You need to know—"
"I need to go." She grabbed her bag. "I need to run before I get hurt again."
"You won't get hurt. Not if you stay. Not if you let me—"
"Let you what?" she called through the door. "Pity me? Feel sorry for the broken omega?"
"Let me love you."
The words hit like lightning. Elara's bag fell from nerveless fingers.
"What?"
"I love you," he said again, stronger this time. "I've loved you since before you knew what love was. Since before Kael ever touched you."
Her legs gave out. She slid down the door, landing hard on the floor.
"That's impossible," she breathed.
"I know how it sounds. But it's true. I've been watching you, protecting you from the shadows for years. Waiting for the right time to tell you."
"Waiting for what?"
"For you to be ready. For you to be free. For you to see me as more than just Kael's cousin."
Tears streamed down her face. "You're lying. You have to be."
"I'm not." His voice broke. "I love you, Elara. I love your kindness, your strength, your gentle heart. I love how you hum when you think no one's listening. I love how you touch your belly like you're already protecting our—your baby."
"Stop." She pressed her hands to her ears. "Stop saying these things."
"I can't stop. Not anymore. Not when you're about to walk out of my life forever."
"I'm pregnant with another man's child!"
"I don't care."
"You should care! You should run far away from the mess I've made!"
"Never." His forehead pressed against the door. "I'd rather live in your mess than exist without you."
Elara's heart shattered and mended all at once. Part of her wanted to throw open the door. To fall into his arms. To believe in love again.
But the letter burned in her memory. Broken toy. Good riddance.
"I can't," she whispered. "I can't trust this. What if you change your mind? What if you decide I'm not worth the trouble?"
"I won't."
"Kael said the same thing."
Silence stretched between them.
"I'm not Kael," Lysander said finally.
"No," she agreed. "But I'm still the same foolish omega who believed in fairy tales."
She stood up, grabbed her bag, and moved to the window.
"Elara, don't—"
She climbed out into the night.
Behind her, she heard the door rattle as he tried to open it. But she'd already disappeared into the shadows.
On the cliff path, she turned back once. Lysander stood in her window, moonlight turning his hair silver. His hand pressed against the glass.
Even from a distance, she could see the pain on his face.
I love you too, she thought. But love isn't enough. Not for someone like me.
She walked into the darkness, one hand on her belly, the other clutching her mother's necklace.
Behind her, a wolf howled. Long and mournful and heartbroken.
She didn't look back.
In the forest beyond the town, y
ellow eyes watched her go. The watcher smiled and melted deeper into the shadows.
The prey was moving again.
Perfect.