StarShine (Temporarily On Hold)

22

Elara sat quietly in the chair by Bennett's bed, watching his chest rise and fall. It had been hours and there had been no change in him but that had been, apparently, good news.

She had wanted to scream at the doctors when they told her they considered that good news. As if hearing that he isn't worse but isn't better makes everything okay. If it hadn't been for Bennett's mother, Ella, calmly taking Elara's hand as she thanked the doctor for the update, she just might have lost control at the doctors.

"He's not gone, dear," Ella had said with a sad smile, "I've lost my mate and one of my sons, and I felt ten times what you're feeling. I'm not trying to belittle your feelings, you are entitled to them, but to remind you that it could be worse and it's not. My Bennett is a fighter, always has been stronger than me, than anyone I've met. He'll wake up for us, I know he will. He just needs time and for us to be patient,"

Her eyes traveled to Bennett's face. The calm peacefulness that his mouth held - he's not in pain, the Alpha's had demanded the doctor ensure that. She wondered how much he was aware of in his state. Did he know that he was unconscious of the world? Could he hear her begging him to wake up and come back to her just as he had promised?

Logically, Elara knew that Ella had been right. That no amount of screaming and crying would make him wake up just as it wouldn't bring her parents or Bennett's family back. But right now, it was all that she could think to do to try and alleviate the pressure building in her chest because the alternative was following the pull she felt.

She hated that she felt at war with herself. Her mate laid here in front of her, injured and unconscious, and yet something was calling to her. Some pull that she didn't understand. If it wasn't a pull to her mate, then what is the pull to?

"Good Evening, Elara," Alpha Rafael knocked gently on the door, before entering the room, "Has there been any change?"

"No, Alpha," She said quietly, nodding her head in respect to him and to Alpha Gabriel as he walked in seconds later.

"I need to go back for a little while, Gabriel," Alpha Rafael had said and Elara could feel their eyes on her and Bennett, "My original thought was I'd leave Bennett and a few men here while we made a plan, but now with him like this-"

Elara stopped listening. None of what they were saying mattered to her.  The alpha could leave, they could all leave and it wouldn't matter. The sky could fall, crash down upon them and Elara wouldn't care because if she was lucky, there is something beyond this life where she and Bennett would be together again - free from the vampires and threats of possible Gods.

Suddenly, the pressure in her chest grew impossibly larger and her hand moved to press against it as if that would help. The shock of it caused a gasp to leave her lips and she stood from her chair quickly without any thought.

"Elara?" Alpha Gabriel was to her side first, his hands shooting out as if to catch her from falling.

The pull was back stronger than before, tugging her out of the room, demanding that she follow it. Her mouth moved, trying to come up with something to tell the Alphas about her behavior or even the truth, but nothing came out.

Her feet began to move on their own, the door becoming closer and just before she was about to reach for it, it swung open, missing her by mere inches.

"Alpha!" the warrior rushed in, not even glancing at Elara as he frantically bows before both of the Alphas, "Patrol found something on the west side! They've taken him to the cells," he rushed out.

Elara knows deep down that this is what the pull was leading her to. It's a feeling of instinct, like knowing rain is coming without looking at the forecast. Her eyes sweep over to Bennett, lying peacefully in the bed.

So many tubes and wires relaying information to the doctors, the steady thumping a reminder that he's still alive. Would he be upset if he were to wake and she wasn't here or would he understand this pull like a siren call?

The Alpha's begin to leave heading quickly to the cells and she sees her window closing. Once the Alpha's are there, her chance of getting in is zero. They will have the cells locked down while they're figuring out what's happening and Elara needs to know what this pull is. With a quick apology to her mate, she turns and dashes out the door.

The path to the cells blur past her as she runs, her heart practically beating out of her chest. She hears Alpha Gabriel call her name as she rushes past them and she can pinpoint exactly when they figured out where she was going because footsteps pick up behind her.

Her instincts are all over the place as she rushes through the door and down the stone steps into the underground cellars.

"Elara," a hand on her shoulder forces her to stop and she turns to see Everett looking at her with concern, the Alpha's appearing behind him, "What's going on?"

She doesn't need to see herself to know she looks wild. Running from her injured mate towards the cells like a madwoman, not stopping when the alpha called after her, and even now, her eyes are looking everywhere, like the source of whatever is calling her will pop out at her.

"I don't know how to explain -"

"Let me out of here!" a loud male voice echoed down the concrete walls, interrupting what Elara had been saying.

She takes off toward the voice, easily escaping Everett's grip. The shouts get louder, both from ahead of her and behind her, but she doesn't stop until the doorknob is in her grip and she's forcing the door open.

But before she can get a good look around, Everett pushes her behind him, and the Alpha's step forward. 

"What's the meaning of this?" Alpha Gabriel carries a tone of authority as he surveys the room, but Elara has barely registered any of it.

"Who are you?!" there is something about the voice that causes Elara to freeze.

Where has she heard that voice before? She sniffs the air but is confused when she doesn't smell any wolf that doesn't belong or even a vampire. She tries to see around Everett but it was like he was anticipating her movements because every way she went, he was already there blocking her way.

"I need to get out of here!" The man yells, the sounds of a struggle not long after. But that voice.....

I call them stars, one for every moment I've thought of you. The memory of what Kamaria had shown her jolts through her mind like lightening.

"Kiron."