Elora’s POV
“I did.”
Short.
But at least he answered.
Something sharp lanced through my chest—jealousy, maybe, or sadness.
It wasn’t that I begrudged him happiness.
I was just faintly bitter that everything seemed to be falling into place for everyone else, while I was stuck with Varek.
“Is she from our pack?”
“No,” Garrett said, his voice going kind, soft.
“She’s from a pack in the south.
Her dad’s an Alpha.”
I gasped, fully invested now.
“And you’ll be an Alpha, which makes her the perfect Luna.
You’re lucky.”
See?
It all worked out for him.
A genuine laugh broke out of Garrett—one I hadn’t heard in ages.
We used to get along, once.
I could just barely remember it.
Before Mom and Dad died.
The memories were hazy, but back then, when he wasn’t forced to be my brother and was only my cousin, he’d hold me after a nightmare and tell me everything would be fine.
Somewhere along the way it curdled.
He started resenting me—and our bond shattered.
“She’s incredible,” Garrett went on.
“Beautiful, strong, sharp… she doesn’t take crap from anyone.
But she’s kind, too.
Caring.
I’m lucky I found her.” I could hear the smile in his voice.
“I think you two would get along.
She’s every bit as stubborn as you are.”
I smiled, listening.
If he thought we’d get along, then maybe he didn’t hate me completely after all.
“This is the most we’ve talked in years.
Kind of embarrassing, isn’t it?”
Garrett sighed.
“Elora—”
Before he could finish, Declan groaned and dropped the box to the ground.
He doubled over, clutching his head, dragging in deep breaths.
So far, his reaction was the worst of them.
Garrett let go of my backpack and rushed to Declan’s side alongside Varek to check on him—but my eyes were nailed to the box.
It was my turn.
My palms went damp as I stared at it.
The box…
The same box that had already worked on Varek, on Garrett, and now on Declan.
I took small, hesitant steps toward it, knowing there was no dodging this.
Everyone had done their part.
Now it was mine.
Honestly, I was shaking—and I couldn’t begin to imagine what would happen once I held that thing.
Would it really speak to me?
Would it break me the way it had broken Declan?
My hands trembled as I closed the distance.
The golden box was within reach, and just as I bent to lift it—a firm hand landed on my shoulder.
I looked up into Garrett’s face, his eyes clouded with worry.
“You don’t have to do this,” he decided.
“I’ll take it.”
Varek, who’d appeared too, knocked his hand off my shoulder.
“With all due respect,” Garrett cut in, voice rising a notch, “I know you’re the team leader.
But that’s my sister, and I won’t let her suffer.”
Varek exhaled, irritation stamped across his face.
“I was only going to say I should take it.
It’s not your turn yet.”
I looked between the two of them, thoroughly lost.
Were they really squaring off over who got to take my turn?
The two people who hated me most?
Part of me wanted to let them fight it out, to let someone else shoulder the burden.
But another part—the stubborn part—knew I couldn’t allow it.
“No!” I snapped, scooping up the box.
“I don’t want special treatment because I’m a woman.
I’ll carry my backpack, and I’ll carry this box.
Now let’s go.”
I started walking, three pairs of eyes burning holes in my back—but I’d already made my choice.
Whatever was in that box, whatever it had to say, I would deal with it.
I was afraid.
Petrified.
But it had to be done.
It was only fair.
About an hour in, nothing had happened.
So far, so good.
I wasn’t entirely fine, though.
For the others, it took roughly an hour before the first signs showed—and now that I was past that mark, a tightness had wrapped around my chest.
I was terrified of what came next.
The others kept a close watch on me, all three braced to jump in if I cracked.
I tried to stay loose, tried to breathe—but every muscle in my body was wound tight, waiting for the disaster.
“We’re almost halfway,” Garrett encouraged.
“Keep this pace and we’ll be there in no time.”
I nodded, my lips too parched to shape a sentence.
The walk felt like the front edge of a bad fever.
You knew it was coming.
You just didn’t know when.
Then I heard it.
‘Elora.’
My name, whispered over and over.
The voices sounded like several older women, all calling to me, none of them in sync.
I tried to keep my cool, sweeping my eyes around—but no one else seemed to notice, so I kept walking, determined to ignore it.
It was useless.
It didn’t make the whispers stop.
‘Tell them about your glasses.’
The voices swelled, pouring in from everywhere at once.
From the box, the woods, from somewhere inside my own skull—and it was starting to get to me.
I swallowed and gripped the box tighter, pretending nothing was happening.
I couldn’t let them see me come apart.
Not yet.
‘Tell them the glasses are there to control you.
To hide you from what you really are.’
‘Open the box, and we’ll leave you alone.’
The voices multiplied—three, then six, then a whole chorus crawling over one another until I couldn’t count them.
‘He hates you.
Your brother wants you dead.
The fraud wants you gone.’
‘The beast craves you, but the man rejects you.
He’ll never want you.’
‘I can see your future.
Bound by fate, but torn apart by greed and desire.’
I focused on keeping my feet moving, trying to convince myself none of it was real—but so far, everything the voices had said had been disturbingly accurate.
These whispers knew my past, my present.
Maybe even my future.
‘You need to tell them about the glasses.’
‘Open the box, Elora.
Do it, and we’ll leave you alone.’
‘Remove the glasses!’