Elara's pov
Waking up felt...different.
It wasn't the sharp snap of consciousness I was used to, not the jolt that came with a needle in my arm or the splash of cold water.
My first sensation was warmth. It was a radiating heat pressed into my back, nothing like the cold of the mountain.
Then came the weight.
A heavy arm was draped across my waist, pinning me into a mattress that felt too soft to be the burning stone floors of the mountain.
I looked down at my hands. The raw sores from the shackles were gone, replaced by white bandages wrapped with precision. Even my clothes bad been changed, the blood stained rags were gone replaced by a silk.
I shifted, my muscle screaming in protest as i tried to put a space between myself and the weight behind me. The moment I moved, the arm around me tightened, pulling me back.
A low groan followed and i froze.
Then the grip loosened. The arm slipped away deliberately, like the person behind was forcing himself to let go. The mattress shifted as the weight moved.
I turned to see Lucian watching me.
"How do you feel?" He asked.
"I'm fine," I replied.
"You've been unconscious for a week. That isn't fine" Lucian said, his eyes never leaving mine.
I pushed myself up slowly, ignoring the way my head spun.
"Hush told me about the Marrow and what the place does. Do you remember who I am?" He asked
"I remember," I whispered. "What happened to Malakor?"
"He's dead," Lucian jaw tightened.
He didn't offer details and I didn't ask.
"Hush?" I asked instead.
"Who? Oh, I'm asssuming that's the.. one who refused to let you go until Killian knocked him out. He was cared for."
I nodded, though the motion felt heavier than it should have.
Silence settled again, I could feel something building underneath it, something Lucian hadn't said yet.
"We've been waiting for you to wake," Lucian said finally. "There are things we need to understand about that place."
I felt something tighten in my chest, a knot of exhaustion and a spike of resentment.
Before I could answer, he turned towards the door. "Mia."
She came in almost immediately, her eyes were red from crying.
"You're awake," she said softly. "Oh, Miss Elara."
I nodded, unable to find words to comfort her.
"Come. You need a proper bath."
As she ushered me toward the bath, she couldn't stop talking.
"Oh, Miss Elara, we were so scared. The Alpha.. he handled everything himself. Your bandages, medicines. He wouldn't let anyone touch you."
I stepped into the steaming water.
I wanted to feel grateful, to believe the story of a devoted king nursing his subject. But i knew better, he didn't save me, he just wanted to secure his battery. And there was still the matter of the beast I'd seen in tbe mountain. The monster.
After I was dressed and forced to swallow a dark mixture for energy, Lucian led me to the war room. The atmosphere was stifling.
Killian stood by the window, refusing to meet my eyes. Erin, the guard who had helped us, was there looking uneasy in the presence of so many high ranking wolves. And beside him stood Hush, he looked steadier now, dressed in a clean clothe.
Lucian didn't offer me a seat. He went straight to the table.
For a man whom Mai claimed had supposedly nursed me for a week, he certainly wasn't acting the part.
"Malakor is gone," Lucian began. "But we need to know if he was hiding anything else in that mountain, who else he was working with."
"Lucian, let her breath," Killian muttered. "She just woke up."
"It's important," Lucian snapped. "Every hour we wait is an hour our enemies use to cover their tracks. I need to know what else Malakor was doing."
I looked at him realizing that even though i was back here, nothing had changed. I had been moved from one monster's cage to another.
"You claimed you helped them escape," he said turning to Erin. "And even though the other...Hush confirmed it, I want to know why. Why betray your master?"
Erin lifted his head slowly. "Because I couldn't stand there and watch anymore."
"That's not a reason," Lucian said.
Erin swallowed. "I did it because of what he did in Efforze."
"Efforze is a neutral human-wolf village," Killian muttered, finally turning around, though he still avoided my eyes. "What did Malakor want there?"
"He wanted a culling. He said he was cleansing weak bloodlines. My mate was human." His voice dipped. "He killed her himself."
"I joined his guards after that," Erin continued. "Not to serve him. To get close enough one day and kill him myself. Helping her... was the only way I could make him lose the one thing he valued."
Lucian studied him for a moment, then looked away, turning to Hush, he asked.
"And you. What else do you know about this marrow you spoke of?"
Hush straightened his posture, his voice stronger now. "In the mountain, I didn't know my name. I was losing the pieces of myself every time I breathed it in. Now that I'm out, the fog is lifting."
"Tell me about the mountain," Lucian commanded. "Was Malakor hiding anything."
"An army," Hush said "He was building an army of the broken. He thought if he could strip enough wolves of their sanity, he could lead them like shadows. But they all ended up losing their minds in less than a few days." Hush briefly glanced at me. "I and Elara were different."
Lucian nodded once and then turned his gaze to me. I felt the weight of the entire room shifted onto my shoulders.
"What happened in there?" he said, quieter now like that would make me feel special. "do you have something different aside from what we already know."
My fingers curled slightly at my sides. I didn't want to answer, not because I couldn't but because I could.
"I was kept alive," I said slowly.
"That isn't what I'm asking," Lucian replied.
I let out a small breath.
"There was someone," I said after a moment. "He is the only memory I can't seem to remember."
Killian shifted at that. "What did he do?"
I hesitated.
"He said that i was a mistake," I said. "That i made you weak and had to be erased."
The room went deathly silent.
Killian's expression darkened. "Silas."
The name didn't fix the memory, it just gave it something to attach to.
"He's going to be dealt with," Killian added.
Lucian didn't comment on that, instead he looked back at me.
"That's enough," Killian said suddenly. "This can wait. She can barely stand Lucian. Look at her."
Lucian didn't look at him.
"No," he said.
Killian stepped forward slightly. "Brother."
"I need to know everything," Lucian snapped. "I will not be taken by surprise again."
"And she needs time," Killian shot back. "Or did you forget what she went through?"
I stood there, listening to them argue over me. I even forgave Killian on the spot for leaving me behind. Or maybe he was just guilty and thought this would make up for it.
"I don't know anything else," I said quietly.
That wasn't entirely true but it was enough.
Lucian didn't push further, instead he turned back to Hush, who was watching the exchange with an amused look.
"And you, Hush. You said the fog was lifting. Who are you?"
Hush straightened slightly.
"Cassian Virel," he said.
The room stilled.
"Firstborn son of Alpha Virel of the Eastern Ridge."
Something shifted in the air. Recognition.
I didn't understand it fully. But I felt and knew that this wasn't over.