“Jace…” My voice cracked. “I’ve been suffering there… for years.”
My brother froze, then stepped closer. “Elira…”
I told him everything. The bullying. The isolation. The fake marriage. The cruelty. The humiliation. The mistress. The lies. Everything Adrian hid behind my back. Every reason why I lost myself.
Jace’s hands curled into fists. “I should’ve taken you home the first time I saw your eyes change. I should’ve known.”
“No,” I whispered. “It was my choice. I thought… I thought enduring made me strong. I thought being patient would make him love me.”
My voice trembled. “I was wrong.”
Jace sighed and pulled me into a hug. “You’re leaving him, right?”
“Yes,” I whispered. “I just… I just need to go back first. I need to get Ezra. I’m not leaving without my son.”
“We’ll help you,” he said firmly.
But right then, my phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number.
My heart dropped when I read it. [I knew you can hear now. You took the bait, dear fake luna.]
My blood ran cold. It was Mira. She knew I could hear. She knew I went home. She knew I found out.
I tightened my grip on the phone. “Jace… I have to go back. Right now.”
“Elira—”
“My son is there,” I whispered. “If Mira knows I can hear, she won’t sit still. She’ll do something. I can feel it.”
Jace’s eyes sharpened. “Then go. I’ll send my warriors behind you.”
I nodded, turned around, and ran again. But the moment I stepped back inside Winterfell Pack, it was chaos. Warriors shouting. Omegas running. Wolves shifting. Panic everywhere.
“What happened?!” I grabbed the closest maid.
The maid’s eyes filled with fear. She quickly used sign language, [Your son… was kidnapped. At the hospital.]
My heart stopped. “No…” My knees weakened. “No—no—NO—”
I grabbed her arm desperately. “Who took him?! Who—”
The maid shook her head, crying silently.
I didn’t wait. I ran to Adrian’s office and slammed the door open.
“Alpha!” I screamed. “Where is my son? WHERE IS Ezra?!”
Adrian was already furious, pacing, slamming his fists on the desk. A warrior ran inside, breathless.
“Alpha! Mira—she was kidnapped too!”
Adrian’s face twisted. “What?! What the fuck are you all doing?! How did you let her out of your sight?!”
I froze. Mira… kidnapped? At the same time as my son? Something was wrong. Something didn’t make sense.
“Alpha!” I shouted, stepping forward. “Ezra is missing! He’s your son, your flesh and blood. FIND HIM. Please! Just find him—”