Chapter 3 He Warned Me Too Late

Eliana

Riggs leaves me standing in the courtyard like he didn't just split my world open for the second time tonight.

I stare after him, my pulse hammering, my wrist cold under my skin.

They're watching.

That's what he said.

No, I'm sorry.

Now I had no choice.

Not even trust me.

Just a warning dropped at my feet like that makes anything better.

Imani grabs my arm the second he's far enough away. "We're moving."

I let her pull me into the shadows beside the storage wall. My legs work, but barely. My mind is still back in the courtyard, stuck on Riggs' face.

He looked afraid.

That should not make this worse.

It does.

Imani turns on me the second we're out of the torchlight. "Tell me exactly what he said."

I fold my arms over myself, more to hold myself together than for warmth. "He told me to leave the territory tonight."

Her expression hardens instantly. "Then it's worse than I thought."

A chill slides through me that has nothing to do with the night air. "You keep saying things like that without actually explaining them."

Imani glances toward the courtyard before answering. "Because I don't know all of it. I just know the elders were planning something before the ceremony, and now Riggs is telling you to run."

My laugh comes out thin. "After rejecting me in front of the whole pack."

"Yes," she snaps. "Which means whatever they forced him to do didn't end in that hall."

That lands hard.

I look down at my wrist. Still bare. Still wrong. The cold pulses once under the skin, sharp and deep, like it agrees.

Imani sees it. "Is it still freezing?"

I nod.

She takes my hand before I can stop her and pushes back my sleeve.

My skin looks normal.

That's the worst part.

Nothing visible. Nothing I can point to and say, there, that's what they broke.

But the moment her fingers brush the inside of my wrist, she goes still.

"It's cold," she whispers.

I swallow. "I told you."

"No." Her eyes lift to mine. "I mean unnaturally cold."

My throat tightens.

For one stupid second, relief hits me.

Not because this is good.

Because I'm not imagining it.

"I can barely feel my wolf," I admit quietly.

Imani drops my wrist like it burned her. "Then we really do not stay here."

I blink at her. "You think I haven't figured that out?"

"I think you're still hoping Riggs is going to come back and explain himself."

The words hit too close.

I look away.

That silence is answer enough.

Imani exhales hard through her nose. "Eliana."

"What do you want me to say?" I whisper, anger rising because if I let the hurt in, I'll fall apart. "That I'm over it? That I don't care? He stood in front of everyone and called our bond a mistake, and then five minutes later he told me to run like that erases it."

"It doesn't," she says, quieter now. "But if he risked warning you, then something is coming."

The courtyard beyond the wall is louder now. More footsteps. More voices. Not normal night traffic.

Organized movement.

I hear it too.

So does Imani.

She steps closer to the edge of the wall and peeks around it. Her whole body tightens.

"Eliana."

The way she says my name makes my stomach drop. "What?"

"They're posting more guards."

I move beside her before she can stop me and look.

She's right.

Two more warriors are taking positions near the hall doors. Another pair crosses toward the inner paths. One of the elders is speaking to a cluster of guards, pointing toward the residential wing.

My rooms.

I got cold all over.

"They're locking down the territory," I say.

Imani doesn't answer.

She doesn't need to.

A memory flashes through my mind-Riggs in the courtyard, face set, voice low.

Anywhere. Just not here.

This wasn't panic.

This was urgent.

I step back from the wall. "I need to get my things."

Imani looks at me like I've lost my mind. "No."

"I'm not running into the forest in a ceremonial dress with nothing."

"You're not getting into your room anyway. They blocked it already."

"Then I'll find another way in."

"Eliana-"

"No." I yank my arm free when she reaches for me again. "I am done being moved around like I'm helpless."

Her jaw sets. "This isn't pride anymore. This is survival."

I know she's right.

I hate that she's right.

I press the heels of my hands against my eyes for one second, forcing myself to think. If the elders want me contained, if Riggs wants me gone, if guards are spreading through the territory-

Then I have maybe minutes before this turns into something worse.

I drop my hands. "Fine. Back route to the outer trail."

Imani nods once, quick. "Good."

We move fast, keeping close to the wall, cutting behind the storage sheds and old supply rooms where the torchlight doesn't fully reach. Gravel crunches under my shoes. My dress catches once on a broken crate and I nearly rip the hem getting free.

I don't care.

The farther we get from the main courtyard, the quieter it should feel.

Instead it feels tighter.

Like the whole pack is awake and listening.

At the end of the narrow path, Imani stops so suddenly I nearly walk into her.

"What now?" I whisper.

She lifts one hand.

Voices.

Male.

Close.

We duck behind a stack of old training mats just before two guards round the corner.

I hold my breath.

"Elders said check the side paths too," one mutters.

"She won't get far," the other says. "Not dressed like that."

A pulse of humiliation hits so hard it almost makes me dizzy.

I bite it down.

The first guard snorts. "Doesn't matter. We find her, we bring her in."

"Alive, obviously."

A pause.

Then the second one laughs under his breath. "That wasn't the part I was worried about."

My blood runs cold.

Beside me, Imani goes absolutely still.

The guards keep walking.

Their footsteps fade.

Neither of us moves for three long seconds.

Then Imani turns to me, face pale with fury. "We're not going to the outer trail."

I stare at her. "What?"

"They'll expect that. And if they catch you before you hit the border, no one will see what they do."

The cold in my wrist pulses again, harder this time.

I hate how much that sounds possible now.

I hate that I no longer know where safety is.

"Then where?" I ask.

Imani hesitates.

That alone terrifies me.

"There's an old storage route behind the west wall," she says finally. "It leads close to the boundary markers."

"Close?"

"It's the best I've got."

Another shout cuts through the night, louder this time.

"Search the lower paths!"

Boots answer from somewhere beyond the sheds.

They're spreading fast.

Imani grabs my hand and starts pulling me again. We break into a run-not full speed, but fast enough that my lungs start burning and the cold air cuts my throat raw.

The hem of my dress slaps against my ankles. Branches scrape my bare arms as we cut behind the west sheds and into a narrow strip of shadow between the outer wall and the tree line.

For one wild second, I think we might actually make it.

Then torchlight flashes ahead.

Imani curses and jerks me backward just as two warriors step into the path.

We flatten ourselves against the wall, hidden by darkness and an old rain barrel, while the warriors scan the trail.

"One of the elders said the Alpha warned her," one says.

My heart stops.

The other scoffs. "Then the Alpha should've finished it in the hall."

Finished it.

The words hit like a blade.

Imani's nails dig into my hand so hard it hurts.

The warriors move on.

I can't breathe right.