Page 16 of The Alpha's Grave Secrets

Ezra steps back inside and settles in next to Elara. “I’m sorry about that. I’ve got an event coming up for some of my grad students, and there have been a lot of last-minute issues arising.”

Ignoring the apology, Elara continues, “There was also the distinct smell of gasoline and cut grass in the room and something else I can’t place, almost like a licorice smell.”

Ezra’s hand traces small circles over Elara’s back as she recounts her memories. My claws involuntarily slide out, biting into the palms of my hands underneath the table.Not now. You have no right.I snap at my wolf.

He snarls but retreats, and I loosen my hands, wiping the blood on my pants as the wounds heal before I let myself take another sip of my coffee.

Callie is jotting down every word Elara says in her near perfect handwriting. She’s the best for that. The rest of us can’t read each other’s handwriting for shit. Callie always jokes telling us we must have been doctors or English teachers in a past life.

“I think the neighbors had a dog. There was barking occasionally, but it was a little distant. It sounded like a small dog that thinks it could tear you to bits, but you’d really be able to shake it off and send it halfway around the world with no effort. “

Gun laughs, unable to stop himself but having the good sense to hide his face in his coffee cup after Ezra shoots him a dirty look. Elara, however, smiles and looks at Gun gratefully, appreciating the moment of levity.

A light layer of sweat forms on Elara’s forehead, and her heart races wildly despite her best efforts to remain calm. Her bottom lip is swollen as her teeth sink into it once again.

I wish I could wrap my arms around her and hold her until her heart slows down and she understands that she is going to be okay. I won’t let anything else happen to her ever again. But that’s no longer my place, is it?.

I hate how the distance between us has made us strangers.

Ezra scoots closer, draping his arms over her shoulders and pulling her closer. His eyes land on me, and the corner of his mouth lifts upward.Is he fucking serious?

I glance over at Gun and his eyes are locked on Ezra as he shakes his head smiling, almost amused by the whole thing.I’m glad someone can find the humor in this situation,I groan internally.

“I was drugged, you know that, but sometimes, if I talked to him enough when he came to visit, he would forget to drug me for a little while. I’d hoped I’d be able to escape once the drugs fully wore off, but he always came back. He always remembered eventually.” She sighs, and my heart aches for her.

Callie pauses from her notetaking and reaches for Elara’s hand, squeezing it gently. Gun’s eyes are burning holes in the side of my head. I ignore him, trying to control my increasing blood pressure before I do something stupid.

My fist tightens around the mug in my hand, and Elara jumps at the loud crack that fills the air, “Shit, sorry, I guess I don’t know my own strength. I’ll replace that.”

After the initial shock wears off, Elara rushes into action. Pulling the mug from my hand, her fingers brush over mine, and electricity crackles between us. All my senses come alive. Did she feel that, too?

If she did notice she gives nothing away as she shuffles the coffee cup over to the sink before any coffee can leak out from the newly formed crack. Ezra’s disapproving glare settles on me as she fixes up another cup of coffee out of instinct, and hands it over.

I sip and grin, “Perfect, exactly how I like it.”

Her cheeks flush, and I’m grateful to see some sort of liveliness return to her skin, only made better by the appalled look on Ezra’s smug face.

“Please everyone, eat some more pastries. We don’t need all of this kept in the house.” Elara grins, breaking the tension—notthat she’s eating.

Ezra quietly eyes a cheese Danish, and I grab it casually, taking a huge bite before he has a chance. Callie reaches for a chocolate croissant, trying not to laugh.

“I told you before that I did my best to humanize myself, but the more I got to know him, the more I tried to make him feel heard, understood, and cared about. The more I made him believe he was important to me.” She shudders but continues.

“The more we talked, the more he opened up. I can’t remember every detail, but I do remember that he complained a lot, especially about his mother. She never understood him, never saw him for who he truly was, and never believed that he had any potential.”

“He said that she’d blamed him for his father leaving even though he hadn’t even been born when his father decided to run off on her. It seems like she never got over that abandonment, and she never stopped blaming her son.” Elara lets out a deep, sad sigh. “No child deserves that.”

“He didn’t talk about friends, bosses, or ex-girlfriends. He talked a lot about his mother and his own grandiose ideas of self-importance. The more I think about it, the more I think I should have told him I loved him. Maybe,” she hesitates, “maybe if I did that, I could have avoided the grave altogether.”

“If you were to have done that, you might have prolonged your burial,” Callie says, momentarily flinching at her callous words before continuing, “But this man is disturbed. Eventually you would have said or done something that he perceived as a slight and it would have been over for you. Don’t beat yourself up. You did everything right. You survived a madman even when everything was out of your control.”

Ezra looks, almost bored, like his mind is somewhere else. I want to punch him square in the face. How can he not care more about this? About her?

“You’re probably right,” Elara shrugs. “He cried the last time he drugged me. He wept, and he apologized. I thought I was going to be freed. I thought he’d decided to let me go but I was wrong.”

“I’m so sorry,” I can’t keep my voice from breaking.

“Do you recall ever hearing vehicles passing by?” Gun asks.

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