Elle
The car ride back to Lena's apartment was silent except for the low hum of the engine and the occasional honk from hover traffic outside. I sat with my forehead pressed against the cool window, watching the neon lights of Upper City blur into streaks of blue and gold.
My hip throbbed in time with my heartbeat, a deep, grinding ache that radiated up my side and made every breath feel labored. Luna Decay was not kind. It turned every small movement into a reminder that my body was slowly betraying me, just like the people I had loved most.
Peter Page's whispered words still echoed in my ears.
"Your System signature is unlike anything I've ever seen. We need to talk."
Another man. Another offer. Another complication in a life that already felt like it was unraveling thread by thread.
Lena kept glancing at me from the driver's seat, her knuckles white on the steering wheel. "You look like you're about to collapse. Talk to me, Elle. What did Beck say? And who was that man in the lobby?"
I closed my eyes, trying to sort through the chaos swirling inside me. "Beck offered protection. A public position in his pack. Access to hybrid treatments in the Lower City. He said he's always found my hidden intelligence intriguing." My voice cracked on the last word. "He saw what I buried for Glen. He saw it in five minutes. Glen never saw it in six years."
Lena's jaw tightened. "And the other one?"
"Peter Page. He knew about the System. Called it a signature. He wants to talk." I let out a shaky breath that hurt my ribs. "Three men, Lena. Three powerful men suddenly looking at me like I matter. And all I can feel is exhausted. And scared. And… angry."
When we reached the apartment, I barely made it to the couch before my legs gave out. The pain in my hip flared hot and sharp, making me gasp. I curled into myself, pressing a hand against my side as if I could hold the disease back with sheer willpower. Tears slipped down my cheeks before I could stop them. They were not dramatic sobs. Just quiet, exhausted tears that came from a place so deep it felt like my soul was leaking out.
Lena sat beside me and pulled me against her shoulder. "You're allowed to feel all of it. The love you still have for Glen. The fear of losing Kai. The anger at how they treated you. Let it out."
I did. The words tumbled out between shaky breaths. "I still feel something for him, Lena. When he looks at me with those steel-gray eyes, part of me remembers the man who saved me in the slums. The man who used to pull me close after long days. But I can't be his secret anymore. I can't be second choice. Not when my body is falling apart and the Council wants to take my son away."
The System activated softly, as if sensing my emotional peak. A gentle blue window appeared in my vision.
[ECHO SYSTEM Analysis Complete]
[Subject 1: Glen White – Fated but broken bond. High emotional attachment. Current status: Conflicted. Probability of genuine change: 34%.]
[Subject 2: Beck Rune – Power and ambition. Offers protection and status. Current status: Intrigued. Probability of alliance: 67%. Hidden agenda probability: 52%.]
[Subject 3: Peter Page – Intellect and deep understanding of System technology. Current status: Curious. Probability of technical support: 81%. Emotional attachment: Unknown.]
I stared at the floating text, my breath catching. The System had analyzed them. Three men. Three different kinds of power. And I was caught in the middle, my heart torn between the fated bond that was killing me and the new possibilities that terrified me just as much.
"I don't know what to do," I whispered. "Glen is my mate. Kai is my son. But Beck sees me as someone worth protecting. And Peter… he knows about the System. He might be able to help me understand what's happening to me."
Lena stroked my hair gently. "You don't have to decide tonight. Just survive tonight. That's enough for now."
I nodded, but the weight in my chest didn't ease. The pain was visceral, a deep, tearing sensation that made every heartbeat feel like a struggle. I had loved Glen so completely. I had given him every piece of myself until there was almost nothing left. And now three men were circling, each offering something different, while my body slowly failed and my son learned to look down on me.
Night fell slowly. Lena finally went to bed after making sure I had taken the few pain suppressants the doctor had given me. I lay on the couch, staring at the ceiling, the System's analysis still glowing faintly in my vision. Sleep refused to come. The pain in my hip and chest kept me awake, a constant, grinding reminder of how little time I had left.
A soft sound at the window made me sit up.
Kai.
He had climbed the fire escape, his small face pressed against the glass, eyes red and puffy from crying. My heart lurched. I hurried over and opened the window, ignoring the sharp protest from my hip.
"Kai? What are you doing here? It's dangerous."
He climbed inside, his small body trembling. Tears streaked his cheeks. He looked so young in that moment, the nine-year-old boy I had rocked through fevers and full-moon nightmares, not the self-righteous child who had asked for a new mom.
I know his dad brought him here and want to use him to convince me but it won't work, and I didn't even bother to ask where is father is because I know he's outside waiting for him.
"Why do you want to leave, Mom?" he asked, voice cracking. "Dad said you're mad at him. But I miss you. The house feels wrong without you. The kitchen maid burns everything. And… and I don't want you to go."
The words broke something deep inside me. I pulled him into my arms, holding him tight despite the pain that flared in my side. He buried his face in my shoulder, his small hands clutching my shirt. I could feel his tears soaking through the fabric.
"I love you, Kai," I whispered, my own voice thick with emotion. "I love you so much it hurts. But I can't stay in a place where I'm treated like I don't matter. Where I'm called useless and dead weight. Where even you look at me like I'm less because I'm human."
He pulled back slightly, his gray eyes — so much like Glen's — filled with confusion and guilt. "But you're my mom. Toria is nice, but she's not you. She doesn't know how to make the pasta the way you do. She doesn't sing when I can't sleep."
The innocence in his words tore me apart. Mixed love and prejudice. He still needed me, still loved pieces of me, but the pack's disdain had already taken root. He wanted me for what I could give him, not for who I was.
I stroked his hair, fighting back fresh tears. "I will always be your mom, no matter where I am. But I need to get better. My body is sick, Kai. The doctors in the werewolf world can't help me. I have to go to the Lower City. If I stay here, I might not be here much longer."
His eyes widened with fear. "You're sick? Like really sick?"
I nodded, the pain in my chest flaring so sharply I had to bite my lip to keep from gasping. "Yes. But I'm fighting. And I need you to be strong for me. Can you do that?"
He nodded, tears still falling. "I don't want a new mom. I just want you to come home."
I held him tighter, rocking him gently like I had when he was smaller. "I love you, baby. Always. But I can't come home the way things are. Not until things change. Not until I'm allowed to be me."
We sat like that for a long time, his small body curled against mine, my arms wrapped around him despite the pain it caused. The love I felt for him was overwhelming, a deep, fierce ache that made my eyes sting. But beneath it was the cold reality of his prejudice, the way the pack had already begun shaping him to see me as less.
Eventually, I walked him back to the window and helped him climb down the fire escape to where one of Lena's trusted contacts waited to take him home safely. He looked back at me one last time, his small face torn between love and confusion.
"I'll try to be strong, Mom."
"I know you will," I whispered.
After he was gone, I sank back onto the couch, the emotional exhaustion crashing over me like a wave. The pain in my chest felt like a living thing, clawing and tearing with every breath. I had comforted my son while reinforcing my decision to leave. I had held him while knowing the pack might try to take him away. The contradiction left me raw and trembling.
Sleep finally claimed me in fits and starts, haunted by dreams of silver veins spreading across my skin and three pairs of eyes watching me, Glen's steel gray, Beck's amber, and Peter's calm, intelligent gaze.
Early the next morning, a loud knock shattered the fragile peace.
I opened the door to find Glen standing there, holding a folder of papers. His face was set in hard lines, but his eyes carried shadows of exhaustion. He looked like he hadn't slept either.
"I brought the divorce papers," he said without greeting.
My heart stuttered. Relief and fresh pain warred inside me. I reached for them, but he pulled the folder back.
"They're not signed," he continued, voice rough. "I have a new condition. You live in the family house for one more month. Thirty days. After that, if you still want the divorce, I'll sign. But if you try to leave for the Lower City before then, I will use every bit of influence I have to block your passage. The Council will back me. You won't get through."
The ultimatum hit like a physical blow. Thirty days. The same number the System had given me to survive and reach treatment. My hands started shaking as I stared at the unsigned papers. The pain in my chest flared so sharply I had to press a hand against it, breathing through the tearing sensation that made spots dance in my vision.
One month trapped in that house. One month of living under the same roof as the man who had replaced me. One month of facing Kai's mixed love and prejudice every day. One month while Luna Decay continued its slow work inside me.
Glen watched me, his expression a complicated mix of determination and something that might have been regret. "Think about it, Elle. For Kai. For us."
I stood there in the doorway, the weight of his condition pressing down on me, the pain in my body and heart so vivid it felt like I was being torn in two.
Thirty days.
The same countdown the System had given me.
Now Glen had turned it into a cage.