Chapter 94: Chapter 94 The Reckoning
Elara
My entire body froze when I received the call. The world seemed to stop spinning for a moment as the news hit me like a physical blow.
Linda noticed something was wrong immediately. "Luna Elara , what happened?"
I snapped back to reality, grabbing my car keys and racing toward the garage. "Take care of Orion! I won’t be back tonight!"
My hands shook as I drove. The streetlights looked blurry through my tears.
I kept thinking about Grandma. She taught me to bake cookies when I was little. She read me bedtime stories. She held me when I had bad dreams.
When my grandfather died, I felt like part of me died too.
But Grandma Elizabeth helped me feel better. She helped me want to live again. They were the most important people in my life.
After I turned five, they were my only real family. My parents didn’t love me the way they should. When I saw other kids with loving parents, I told myself it was okay.
At least I had my grandparents. They made me feel safe when everything else felt cold and mean.
Grandpa was already gone. If Grandma left me too... I couldn’t think about it. It hurt too much.
The light turned green. I wiped my face and drove faster to the hospital.
After parking, I sprinted to the emergency room. "Doctor, how is my grandmother? What happened?" My voice came out breathless and panicked.
"You’re her family, correct? Sign these consent forms immediately! She’s had a sudden cardiac event. We’re working to stabilize her now." The doctor’s face was grim as he thrust a clipboard at me.
"Doctor, please, you have to save her. Please." The pen nearly slipped from my trembling fingers.
He took the forms from my trembling hands.
"We’ll do everything we can. Please cooperate and wait here." His tone was professional but not unkind.
I stared at the firmly closed doors of the operating room, feeling utterly lost.
She had been fine just days ago when I visited. How could this happen so suddenly?
The antiseptic smell of the hospital made my stomach turn.
"Miss Elara."
I looked up slowly to see my grandmother’s caretake.
Tears began flowing freely again. "What happened? How did she collapse so suddenly?"
She pressed her lips together, hesitating for a few seconds before speaking. "Miss Elara, your mother came to visit today with a young woman." Her voice was careful, like she was walking through a minefield.
"I heard them talking about some online bullying thing. Your grandmother asked me to read her some comments from my phone. They were nasty messages under one of your social media posts. I think those comments really upset her." She twisted her hands nervously.
"And then?" I could feel my wolf getting restless. Anger was building in my chest.
"The young woman came back alone after they left. Selina, I think her name was. Said she dropped her necklace." Her face got darker. "But when I came back with water, Elizabeth had collapsed. And that girl was gone."
Nadia. And that poisonous little snake Selina.
Of course it was them.
My hands clenched into fists, my nails digging into my palms.
These people had targeted the most precious person in my life - someone who couldn’t defend herself.
"What exactly did Selina say to her?" My voice was dangerously quiet.
"I... I didn’t hear everything. But she was talking about your husband, about rumors..." She trailed off, clearly not wanting to repeat whatever poison had been spilled.
"Where did they go?" The question came out as more of a growl.
"I don’t know. They left in a black sedan."
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, forcing myself to calm down.
Grandma needed me focused, not lost in fantasies of revenge.
But when this was over...
When this was over, Nadia and Selina were going to pay for what they did.
Four hours later, the surgery ended.
The operating room doors opened. The doctor came out looking tired. "We saved her for now." His face was serious.
"But she was without oxygen for too long. We don’t know if she’ll wake up. You need to be ready for that." His words felt like punches.
When I saw my grandmother on the hospital bed, covered in tubes and wires, I started crying. "Grandma, it’s me. Elara is here!"
"Please move," a nurse said. "She needs to stay in the ICU. You can only visit for fifteen minutes at a time."
I watched them wheel her into the ICU. The doors closed between us.
The caretake touched my arm. "Miss Elara, you need rest. You’ve been here all night."
"If you get sick, who will take care of her?"
[She was right.]
I took a deep breath. "Thank you. You should go home too."
After she left, my sadness turned into rage. Pure, cold anger.
I called a taxi. "Take me to the Amber Pack."
Author
Nadia had a rough night. Nightmares kept jolting her awake.
Alpha Enzo noticed her exhausted face at breakfast. "You look like hell."
Nadia sighed. "I brought Selina to see Elizabeth yesterday. She won’t help us deal with Elara."
The front door slammed open.
Elara walked in without knocking. "Where’s Selina?" Her voice was quiet and deadly.
Nadia jumped up from her chair. "Elara! What are you doing here?" Fear flashed in her eyes.
"What’s wrong with you?" Nadia could sense something had changed about Elara. Something dangerous.
Elara didn’t wait for an answer. She headed upstairs.
Selina was curled up in bed when Elara kicked open her door.
Elara grabbed a belt from her dresser.
CRACK!
The leather hit her arm.
"Ow! What the hell, Elara?!"
Elara stood over her with the belt raised. "Tell me what you said to my grandmother."
Selina scrambled back. "I didn’t... I barely talked to her!"
Elara laughed, but there was no warmth in it. "Wrong answer."
She moved even closer. "Last chance. What did you say to her?" Her stare never wavered from Selina’s face.
