Chapter 6: The Night She Finally Gave Up

That night, Atlas did not return to their room.

Elena woke in the middle of the night to a sudden, searing cramp in her calf. The pregnancy had leeched her strength, leaving her muscles prone to spasms.

She bit back a cry of pain and sat up, intending to use the bedside call button for a housekeeper, only to find it wasn’t working.

Left with no choice, she got out of bed to find Atlas.

When she reached Mara’s door, she raised her hand to knock.

“Atlas, my leg...”

Before she could finish, she heard the stifled gasps from inside.

“Atlas...”

“Keep your voice down. You’ll wake the baby.”

Elena froze.

The pain in her leg pulsed in agonizing waves. Her werewolf hearing made it impossible to ignore what was happening, to pretend she didn’t know.

The scents of cedar and rose bled through the crack beneath the door, mingling in the air.

She looked at the window at the end of the hall, her mind flashing back to the early days of her pregnancy.

Her body had struggled, the growing pup consuming a tremendous amount of her strength. For the first few months, she’d vomited nearly every night, barely able to keep food down.

Each time she’d rushed to the bathroom, Atlas would wake instantly and follow, rubbing her back.

“If I’d known carrying a werewolf pup would be this hard,” he’d once said, his voice thick with pain, “I would have rather we never had one.”

In the later months, leg cramps often seized her in the middle of the night. Atlas would sit by the bed and massage her muscles until the pain subsided.

For eight months, he had never once complained.

But now, he was in another woman’s room.

“I’m so happy,” Mara’s voice drifted from behind the door. “I can finally stand beside you at the naming ceremony.

Even if I’m only your legal mate for one month, it’s enough.”

“You’ve suffered so much these past years. I’ll take good care of you and the baby from now on.”

“I love you.”

The sounds inside continued. The cramp in Elena’s leg slowly, finally, eased.

She slid down the wall and sat on the cold floor, feeling as if every last bit of strength had been drained from her body.

She had lost. She admitted it.

But she was also grateful. So deeply grateful that she had finally decided to leave.

Over the next few weeks, Atlas and Mara made no effort to hide their relationship in the pack house.

At meals, Atlas would push food onto her plate.

In the afternoons, they would sit together in the sun-drenched courtyard, Mara holding the baby as if she had already assumed the role of Luna.

At night, the sounds of their intimacy often carried from her room.

Elena stopped watching them. She focused on organizing her belongings, contacting her parents in the distant Pine Ridge Pack, and booking her train ticket.

She thought she could wait calmly for the dissolution to become official.

But Mara refused to let her last days pass in peace.

At dusk, Elena sat by the training pool, knitting a soft little coat for the baby in her belly.

She was in a good mood.

The next day, the Registry would give her the dissolution certificate, stamped with the elders’ seal.

This was her last day in the Blackwood pack house.

Mara approached, her son in her arms.

“You look relaxed. Tomorrow you won’t be Blackwood’s Luna anymore. Aren’t you sad?”

Elena didn’t look up.

“I knew you were outside the door that night,” Mara continued. “I wanted you to hear it. Atlas is happy when he’s with me. He says you’re always so calm, it’s boring. Only I can make his wolf truly let go.”

“Tomorrow is also my son’s full-moon naming ceremony. You’ll come, won’t you? After all, you were his Luna once.”