Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Elena
I woke up with my throat dry as sandpaper.
The wound in my abdomen still throbbed, each pulse yanking at my spine.
I tried moving my fingers. They brushed rough fabric—burlap, not sheets.
My vision blurred. Light stabbed from the left.
Someone behind me grabbed my arms and hauled me off the ground.
My knees buckled. I couldn't stand. Most of my weight hung from those two hands.
"Move."
Someone shoved me. I stumbled forward two steps and looked up—ahead stretched a gray-white clearing, moss wedged between the stone slabs.
A crowd ringed the space. Their faces melted into shapeless dark smudges in my blurred vision.
The wind was cold, cutting through the thin fabric on my back.
I glanced down at myself. Not the dress I'd been wearing.
This one was coarse cloth, gray, no decoration.
Bandages still wrapped my body. The wound at my abdomen was covered, but the center of the gauze had leaked something dark red that spread faintly outward.
I looked up and saw Lucifer standing at the front of the crowd.
He wore a black coat, same as on Harvest Festival.
Hair combed neat, shoulders squared. His face stood out sharp in the gray-white daylight.
But his expression—when I made out his expression, my feet stopped.
Cold. He looked at me like he'd never met me before.
Or like he never knew me at all. My wolf stirred inside my body.
It wanted to stand, but its legs were weak.
It tried once, then collapsed back down.
"Elena Gray." His voice wasn't loud, but every word came out crisp, like pebbles dropping on stone.
"The Gray family concealed your identity and presented you to the Hale family as a pure blood.
You entered the Silver pine court under the pretense of a marriage alliance, intending to undermine the Hale bloodline. According to Silver pine law—"
"I didn't—"
My voice squeezed out of my throat like something was blocking it. I took a step forward. The hands behind me tightened, holding me in place.
"I didn't do those things." My lips trembled. I couldn't control it. They shook on their own. "Lucifer, listen to me—"
His gaze didn't change. Still cold. Still flat. Like a wall without cracks. A faint buzzing rose from the crowd. People whispered. Someone turned to exchange looks with the person next to them. I heard someone say "hybrid" "Butcher Squad" "can't believe she fooled us this long."
"I hereby declare," his voice rang out again, "the marriage alliance with Elena Gray null and void. She is no longer Luna of Silver pine."
When those words fell, something inside me split. Not slowly—like something sharp had cleaved straight down the middle, from top to bottom. My wolf arched its back in that instant, like something had punched it from outside. It didn't howl. It just curled once, then its whole body started shaking.
"Lucifer!" I jerked forward. The hands behind me loosened slightly. I took another step. "Listen to me—that night at Maple Hotel, that waitress—"
His brow twitched.
"It was me." My voice shook, but I bit out every word clearly. "That person that night was me. Your mate is me. Can't you smell it? My scent—lily and bay leaf—it's been sealed by magic, but I didn't lie to you; I never lied to you from the start—"
He didn't move. Didn't step closer, didn't retreat. He just stood there, a few steps away, looking at my face. Then he said, "You've run out of lies."
The words stabbed in like needles. My knees buckled.
Someone behind me grabbed my arms, keeping me from dropping.
But the bond had already snapped. It felt like a rope had been ripped out of my chest, tearing away a whole chunk of flesh with it.
I opened my mouth to shout something, but no sound came.
The edges of my vision darkened. Those blurred faces spun slowly in my sight, circling.
I heard someone yell "she's passing out," someone say "drag her away," someone ask "where should we dump her? "
Then I heard Lucifer's voice through a layer of something—like hearing someone talk on shore while sinking underwater—he said, "I don't want to see her."
When the rain hit my face, I woke up.
I didn't know how long I'd been lying there.
The sky was gray. The rain wasn't heavy, just fine and dense, falling on my skin like countless cold needles.
I lay on the ground, palms against wet stone, knees scraped against something.
It hurt, but that pain got buried under the wound in my abdomen.
I tried to sit up using my arms. Took two tries.
On the third, I managed. I looked down at myself—still that gray cloth dress, soaked through, clinging to my body.
A few things lay scattered beside me. I couldn't make them all out—a small case, mine, the one for fragrances.
And that dark blue dress, now a sodden clump of dark fabric in the rain.
I couldn't see the rest clearly. The rain blurred everything together.
When I braced myself against the ground to stand, my knees buckled.
I almost dropped again, but I caught the wall beside me.
I leaned against it, gasping, hand pressed to my abdomen.
The gauze was soaked through. Blood diluted by rainwater ran down between my fingers.
Lucifer had thrown me out. Like garbage.
I gritted my teeth, trying to get up. My abdomen cramped, but quickly I realized—besides the pain, something else was moving inside. Deeper. Fainter.
I looked down at my belly. My hand still pressed there.
My fingers curled slightly. My wolf lay curled inside my body.
It had been trembling earlier. Now it had stopped, like it was listening to something.
Then it lifted its head. It lay beside that warm, light thing that had just begun to exist. It made no sound, just rested its head there, like it was protecting something.
I stood there, rainwater streaming down the side of my face, dripping onto the back of my hand.
I was pregnant.
I wiped my face with my sleeve, bent down to gather the scattered belongings, and held them against my chest. The corner of my wooden case had chipped. I touched it.
I'd been thrown out, but I still had another home.
I wiped my face and walked down the street. Every movement pulled at the wound in my abdomen. I gasped in pain but didn't stop. The buildings lining the stone road all had their doors closed, windows dark. I didn't know how long I walked. The rain never stopped, soaking the air into thin fog.
I reached the gate of the Gray estate. Warm light flickered inside. I pounded on the outer door. "Mother—"
The rain grew heavier, hammering my face. I could barely see. Everything blurred. I bent forward, one hand shielding my belly, the other still uselessly beating against the door.
"Mother—"
My voice nearly drowned in the rain. But Mother must have heard. I was her daughter. We had the kinship sense all wolves shared. Did she not want to see me?
I pounded harder. I don't know how long passed. Just when my strength was giving out, I saw a maid helping Mother out. They only stood under the eaves of the estate, expressionless, watching me.
I reached out. "Mother—"
"How dare you show your face here?"
What?
My hand froze in midair.
"You've been disowned." Her voice still had no inflection, like reading a prepared notice. "You couldn't even manage to please your husband. You got yourself thrown out. Hale canceled the alliance with us. You've disgraced us completely. Get lost."
Deep inside, my wolf pushed itself up. It nudged my chest with its head. Go.
"I'm your daughter!" I bit out. "Why—"
"You were a mistake from my youth." She frowned. "Nothing more. You were just my pawn. Now you're useless."
Useless.
It was all lies. Maternal love. Making amends. All fake.
The rain stopped completely.
I didn't know where I'd walked to. I sat down under a tree, surrounded by other homeless people. They didn't bother with me. Only a few lifted their eyelids briefly, then closed them again.
My belongings sat beside me, along with the case with my tools.
My fingers paused on my abdomen. Through the soaked fabric, beneath that layer of gauze, that faint warmth still existed.
My wolf lay beside that warmth, head resting there.
I leaned back against the wall, looking down at my hands—grayish nails, knuckles gone white from the rain.
Then I gently placed my hand on my belly, covering that layer of fabric.
"It's just us now," I said softly. My wolf didn't answer. We curled together, the wolf protecting that small thing. Very quiet. I wouldn't give it to anyone else. Never again.