ELARA'S POV

I looked around frantically, as much as my back would allow me. Trying to find the source of the voice. 

"Who is that?" I said into the darkness. No reply.

"Please, tell me who you are? Are you here to help me? I pleaded. Silence again.

"Please, whoever you are, I need your help now more than ever. I can sense you, I can sense the cold before you speak, please tell me who you are?" I asked while straining my ears to listen.

After a few moments, I knew I was not going to get a reply. The voice decided when to talk to me. 

This dashed my hopes, I had thought I had someone, anyone, looking after me and assuring me. 

"It must be my mind playing tricks on me, I guess" I resigned.

"But what if there actually was someone to help me, how would they even get in and get me out of here?"

I chuckled sadly to myself at the realization that I might just be doomed to a life of suffering and maybe. Death.

I was scared for whatever plans the Alpha had for me. I am scared for my life.

"I don't want to die yet" I sobbed. I didn't know how much more my body could take, I could still feel the bond, it was faint but it was there.

This cursed bond, I wish I could rip it out and die from the pain, instead of suffering.

"Why is the bond still in place even after the Alpha rejected me?" I thought to myself, maybe I had to reject him too.

Okay. I'll do it.

"I, Elara Cornell, reject Alpha Kane as my mate, I don't want anything to do with him and I want the mate bond gone" I said, and waited. A minute passed, two, ten. Nothing happened. I felt for the bond, and it was still there, unmoving, mocking me.

This bond made me vulnerable to the Alpha's attacks any my rejection didn't do anything to it. I had never heard of this. I truly truly hoped the Alpha was trying to severe the bond. Maybe then, I could plead for my life and he would let me go.

A few hours had passed, my back felt slightly better, slightly, I tried to sit up and get the water I needed, it hurt like hell but I had to, I needed to have a drink of water.

I used my hands and pushed myself up from the straw bed, slowly but surely, I couldn't sit up fully yet so I stretched my hands and picked up the cup of water.

A sliver of joy ran through me at completing this small task.

I greedily drank from the water, it wasn't much, but it was better than nothing.

A blinding pain flashed through me. "ahhhhh" the cup fell from my hands, hitting my bed with a thud.

This pain. It was back. I remember the pain, it was from the night Yvette was with the Alpha.

He was probably trying to punish me through the bond since he couldn't punish me physically without risking me dying on him.

How cruel!

I didn't want this. I hate him, with every pain I felt, my hate for him only just increased.

With each anger I felt, my disdain for him increased. I had never felt this strongly toward anyone, not even when the bond snapped into place. 

But now, I was ready to get rid of this, I didn't want to feel this. 

He had no right to have this much control over me.

I don't know how but I could feel the pain and reach into it  and I could recognize it.

Tears brimmed at the corner of my eyes, I didn't want to feel this pain, I didn't want the alpha to have such power over me.

I didn't want anyone to have such power over me.

"I don't want to feel this pain" I whispered, but I meant it from my guts

In my heart, I reached for the pain, with my mind's eye, I reached for the bond.

"I don't want this pain" I said, stronger and louder this time.

I could see the bond behind my closed eyelids, it glowed and looked like it burned, I reached out to touch it, my fingers grazed it and the light dimmed.

The pain reduced to a low throb.

I sighed in relief.

I didn't know how, but the bond had been weakened.

I slowly turned to lay on my front because I didn't want my back to hurt from the floor, my eyes were starting to close.

I suddenly felt tired. I lay down and my eyes fluttered close as I drifted into a painless sleep.

The bond had been weakened.

This was my last thought before drifting off to sleep.

......

I was dreaming a happy dream.

In a field..with flowers...I danced round happily, looking at somewhere so beautiful.

The place smelt so wonderful.

Was this how death was? I thought to myself.

I knew I was dreaming but it was starting to blur.

I felt a presence behind me. I turned around and saw nothing, just an endless field of flowers.

I turned back and I saw the bond, burning, glowing.

I wasn't scared of the pain anymore. I wasn't scared of the bond.

Then I heard the voice again.

"Reach out to it, touch it"

This time, I didn't question the voice or turn around to look for the source.

I smiled, reached out my hands and touched it and it immediately felt cool to the touch, no longer burning.

I heard the same words again in my dream.

This time not from me.

"You have weakened the bond, Elara," she said.

I smiled. Happy in my sleep.

I knew waking up to reality and I would be met with only darkness and pain.

So I held onto this peace as long as sleep would let me.

Because when I woke...the darkness would be waiting.

THIRD PERSON POV

The alpha was in the bed with Yvette, pleasuring her and himself, at the same time causing unimaginable pain to Elara.

He smirked because he knew she would be suffering and he loved the thrill of it, he could feel her pain through the bond.

Suddenly, amidst Yvette's moans and his thrusts into her, the bond suddenly dimmed, he found it hard to reach. 

He stopped his thrusts.

"My lord, what's wrong? Don't stop now" Yvette moaned.

The alpha took a few steps back, Yvette watching him with hawk eyes. 

"What could be wrong now?" She thought to herself.

"What did she do? Why can't I feel the bond anymore?" He thought to himself as his rage kept on building.

He couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Go" he said to Yvette, she scrambled for her clothes and hurried out of the room, fuming, making a silent promise to make Elara pay for this.

After Yvette left, the Alpha stood stunned for a few minutes, desperately trying to reach for the bond, to find the burning heat of the bond. He couldn't.

He hurriedly threw on his clothes and stormed out of the room in anger.

.......

ELARA'S POV

I was still enjoying the bliss of the most beautiful dream I had ever had when the noise of the iron doors jolted me awake.

"What's going on?" I said to myself, trying to sit up a bit. 

The much needed rest had allowed my wounds to heal for some hours so I could move freely to an extent. It turns out I slept the whole day.

I heard footsteps getting closer and I suddenly got the feeling of impending doom, being uprooted from my beautiful dream.

"What did you do?" The Alpha said.

I looked up and there he was, at the door to my cell, growling at me. Anger twisted into his features.

"I repeat, what did you do?" He said even louder this time.

I remained speechless, my lips opening and closing but no words coming out, I didn't know what to say, why was the Alpha here? I didn't do anything, did I?

The Alpha looked disheveled. His clothes were thrown haphazardly on his body and they were wrinkled, his hair in odd directions, his face, an angry mask.

I shivered, because I didn't know what to say, I didn't do anything. I had been sleeping all day.

"You tampered with the bond, didn't you?" He asked in a loud voice.

My breath hitched in my throat, how did he know? How?

"Answer me" he said, taking a step towards me.

"What did you do to the bond?"

"Nothing" I whispered "I did nothing to it" I added.

"Liar" he said, and then after, he seemed to give it a thought and then added "you're a witch, aren't you?" His fingers pointed at me in accusation.

My eyes shone wildly, I couldn't even let out a word.

He continued. "Only witches have been known to be able to access a bond aside from the mated parties" the tone of his voice steadily rising.

I just sat there, wondering where he had this absurd thought from, free creeping in, the wounds on my back a clear reminder of what would happen to me soon.

He was standing in front of me now. "Witch" he said "you're a witch sent to curse me and end this pack, you will not survive this" he said.

"No, I'm not, I'm not a witch" I cried out. Calling me a witch was absurd, I had never known a witch, not to talk of being one.

Witchcraft was prohibited in this pack and in many packs across the world, and the kind of magic capable of accessing a made bond would be dark magic, which was equal to death if caught practicing it.

My life flashed before my eyes at the realization as he continued fuming at me, I needed to plead for my life.

"Please, alpha. I am not a witch. I didn't do anything" I feared for my life, I don't know how or why, but something urged me to keep it a secret, I just couldn't tell anyone I was able to touch the bond and feel it, even though I didn't understand it yet.

The Alpha looked at me, as if contemplating what to do, I just sat there sobbing and pleading for my life because there was nothing else I could do.

The next minute, he turned on his heel and walked away. 

I breathed a sigh of relief, maybe I was safe, for now.

My heart pound wildly in my chest, I had such an irrational fear of this man, from the moment we met, I never felt the love they said accompanied a male bond, only fear and a sense of foreboding.

My life was in his hands now, he could kill me if he wanted to. He wanted to, he just wanted to make me suffer.

The sound of the cell doors opening again caught my attention, this time there were multiple voices and footsteps, the guards stopped at my cell.

"Bring her out" one of the guards said to the other.

He opened the cell door and jacked me up from the bed and dragged me out. He was a bit gentler than before, probably because of my injuries. I was trying to guess where they were taking me to.

As we walked out of the cell and up the stairs leading to the main pack house, the feeling of dread washed over me again. I was being taken to the meeting hall. I had no doubt the Alpha had ordered for me. I was scared and my legs were trembling so much, the guards had to hold me up.

The more I got closer to the meeting hall, the more my anxiety grew, I could hear my heartbeat in my ears.

We got to the meeting hall, I stood before the two massive doors, the doors slowly opened with a groan and I was lead inside by the guards under the gaze of almost every wolf in the pack, I could feel their hostility on my skin.

I landed on the ground with a thud when the guards let go of me. Pain resonating all over my whole body.

I bent my head down, too scared to look up. I didn't want to experience whatever was next.

I knew I was only avoiding the inevitable, whether I looked up or not didn't matter, so I did.

I raised my head and seated in front of me was the Alpha, and his three elders, each one's gaze fixed strongly on me.

ELARA'S POV

The silence in the hall was so thick, you could almost feel it on your skin.

One of the elders leaned forward, he was the oldest of the three, his hair, as pale as ash, fell over his shoulders and down the back of his robe. The deep lines on his face made him look strict, but his eyes held no anger.

Only coldness.

The Elder studied me for a long moment, like a puzzle.

Then he said,

"The Alpha claims the bond has been disturbed".

Murmurs started all over the hall.

"Silence" he said, and the murmurs stopped almost immediately.

"In all werewolf history, a bond has never weakened without interference" he said, his voice calm, and carrying across the hall.

"A bond does not dim without it being tampered with, and you..." he pointed his staff to me "are the only one capable of doing that because the bond belongs to you and the Alpha, and the Alpha claims not to have done that" he continued.

"I didn't..." I tried to say

"Silence" he said calmly, and my words stuck at my throat, his demeanour was calm and serious.

My breath trembled, what was going to happen?

The elder's eyes pierced into mine, looking deep into my soul.

"Tell this council, what are you?" He said.

One of the other elders leaned forward slightly.

"Because you are not just merely a girl," the other elder said.

"You are either a witch" his staff struck the stone once.

"Or you've connived with a witch". Another strike,, echoing all over the hall.

"Or you are something we do not know" another strike.

Then the final question.

"Speak truthfully, because what you say now will determine whether you live... or whether your existence ends before the next moonrise" he finished.

My breath caught in my throat, hot beads of sweat poured down my face. I was speechless.

"There have been recorded occurrences hundreds of years ago of witches being able to access and tamper with bonds, using dark magic...blood magic, have you been in contact with any witch?" The second elder asked, seeming to peer into my soul.

"No, I haven't been in contact with any witch, I do not know any witch" my voice came out surprisingly strong and calm.

This was an absurd accusation. I had never left backgrounds, what made them think I had been in contact with a witch? The witches were all evil, the stories said.

Still, I felt the strong urge not to reveal what happened, not to reveal my access to the bond and what I felt. I knew it might make things worse for me, it was unusual and I made up my mind to keep it a secret.

"Since you refuse to tell us what you have done, or which witch you have been consorting with... we will be forced to uncover the truth by our own means" the first elder said. The crowd started murmuring again.

What did this mean?

What means would be used on me?

He continued "there have been reports that the only way this kind of ritual could be done is if one offered up a piece of their existence, their shadow, thus, your shadow would be tested and if confirmed you have been in alliance with a witch to harm the mate bond and the Alpha, you will not see the next moonrise"

"A divinator will be brought and you will be checked"

His words ended on a deep foreboding note, hanging in the air, questions unanswered, murmurs rising in the air from the pack.

I couldn't say any word as I was taken back to my dungeon, amidst the murmurs and the rising tension. I heard the whispers, each one blaming me.

....

Back in my dungeon, I contemplated. I was lost.

Should I have just told them the truth? Would that have made things better? I already have no wolf, it would be possible for me to not have a piece of my shadow too.

Shadow and blood magic, the most feared type of magic talked about in books and stories. It had been banned for ages.

Mixing blood and taking a part of a wolf's shadow, deadly rituals could be done, rituals that could bring to an end a whole pack, but the cost...was deadly.

A shadow of a wolf was an extension of a wolf. It represented the wolf within the werewolf, it meant sacrificing your wolf slowly, because the ritual didn't bring harm to the wolf immediately, it made the wolf side and human side run mad over the years till the wolf side eventually died, and most werewolves could not survive without their wolf side.

What would the divinator see?

I don't know why but I was ready to take my truth to the grave. I couldn't tell anyone I had access to the bond.

I didn't know what I was or what was happening but the one thing I was sure of, I could access the bond and no one had to know.

The divinator would take a few days to get here, according to what the elder said. Before then, I had to start thinking of ways to escape.

I didn't know if shadows could feel pain, I didn't know if shadows could scream, I didn't know how this would harm me.

I needed to run. For my life. For my safety.

I had never felt so strongly about running away ever since, but now, deep down, I knew I had to run. I knew I had to survive.

A few moments passed and I felt that familiar chill in the air again, whatever it was, she was here again.

The torches on the wall flickered a bit and I looked at my shadow, my shadow that would be touched. My shadow flickered and disappeared for a few moments, then reappeared again.

Was this a trick of my eyes? I was sure my shadow disappeared, or fear might just be getting to me.

The chill passed away, without a word this time.

I knew now not to call out or ask for answers. I knew it was watching me.