Chapter 5 Five

Chapter 5

Ella’s POV

I don’t know how long I sleep. The air around me feels cold and damp, and my whole body hurts so badly that I wish I could just stop breathing for a while. My head keeps spinning, and every sound outside the cell feels like thunder crashing in my skull.

When I open my eyes, the light from the small lamp near the door has gone out. Everything is dark again. The silence here is so deep that it almost feels alive. I curl up tighter, trying to keep warm, my mind still stuck on that strange voice from last night.

She said she would help me. She said I should wait.

Maybe it was a dream. Maybe I finally lost my mind after everything that’s happened.

I rub my neck and flinch at how sore it feels. Every time I swallow, it burns like fire. Sam’s hands had been there. His fingers. His anger.

My mate. The one I was supposed to trust with my life.

I laugh softly, but it’s not the happy kind. It’s the kind that breaks into a sob halfway through.

The faint sound of keys turning in the lock makes my heart stop. My first thought is that the guards are back to finish what they started. My stomach tightens, and I scramble back into the corner.

The door creaks open. A shadow steps inside.

“Stay quiet,” a familiar voice whispers.

The light from the hall hits his face and my heart almost stops for the second time tonight.

“Cole?” I breathe out in disbelief.

He shuts the door behind him and glances toward the hallway before looking back at me. “Keep your voice down.”

I can’t believe what I’m seeing. Sam’s Beta. His most trusted man. The one who had stood by and watched when I was locked away three years ago.

“What are you doing here?” I whisper, hugging my knees. “If Sam finds you ”

“He won’t,” he cuts in quickly. “Not tonight.”

I stare at him, waiting for the reason. Waiting for the trick.

Cole steps closer, pulling something from his coat pocket. Bread. Still warm. “Eat this first,” he says. “You look like you’ll pass out.”

I blink up at him, confused. “You… brought me food?”

He nods once. “I told the guards to take a break. Said I’d watch over you for the night.”

For a long moment, I didn't move. I just sit there, watching him, wondering if this is another test. Another trap to see if I’ll take something that might get me punished again. But in his eyes there’s something different in them. Guilt.

When he kneels down and sets the bread beside me, I finally reach for it. My fingers shake as I tear off a small piece and chew slowly. It tastes like heaven after two days of nothing but water.

“Why are you doing this?” I ask, my voice hoarse.

Cole runs a hand through his hair. He looks tired. “Because I should’ve stopped him yesterday,” he says quietly. “You didn’t deserve that.”

My throat tightens. I don’t know what to say.

“He’s not himself lately,” Cole goes on. “The things that happened in the woods… whatever it was, it changed him. He’s been acting like a man possessed.”

The words make my heart thump faster. “The woods?” I ask carefully, forcing myself to sound calm. “What… What about the woods?”

Cole frowns. “He doesn’t remember much. Only flashes. He thinks someone drugged him. Wolfbane. We found traces of it in his blood.”

I swallow hard. My chest feels like it’s about to explode.

“What did he see?” I whisper.

Cole looks at me for a long second before shaking his head. “I don’t know. But he’s been having nightmares. Sometimes he calls out your name in his sleep.”

My heart skips a beat. “My name?”

“Yeah,” Cole says. “He doesn’t realize it. When he wakes up, he acts like he hates you. But when he’s half asleep, it’s like he’s afraid of losing you.”

I stare down at the floor, my hands trembling. I want to believe him. I really do. But I remember Sam’s eyes when he was choking me black, cold, wild. I don’t think that was love.

Cole exhales heavily. “Ella… I can’t change what’s been done. But I can get you out of here.”

My head snaps up. “What?”

He looks around as if the walls themselves might be listening. “Tonight. There’s a supply wagon heading out at dawn. It’ll stop by the south gate. I can sneak you into one of the barrels. Once you’re outside the border, keep heading east until you reach the river. Cross it. After that, you’ll be safe.”

My heart races. “Why would you do that for me? If Sam finds out ”

“He already blames himself,” Cole says softly. “He won’t admit it, but he does. He marked you to save your life, and now he’s the one destroying it.”

I feel tears filling my eyes. “Cole…”

He shakes his head quickly. “Don’t thank me. Just survive. That’s all I want.”

I nod slowly, though my hands are shaking so much that I can barely hold the bread anymore.

“Rest for a few hours,” he tells me. “I’ll come back before dawn.”

He stands, turns toward the door, and pauses. “And Ella…”

I lift my eyes to his.

“If you ever make it out there, don't come back. Not even for him.” His voice cracks a little when he says it. “Because if he ever remembers what really happened that night in the woods… I don’t think he’ll forgive himself.”

Then he’s gone. The door shuts behind him, leaving me alone again.

I sat there for a long time, listening to the silence. My mind keeps replaying his words. If he remembers…

What does he mean? What is it that Sam can’t remember?

I lie back on the cold floor, staring up at the cracked ceiling. I should feel happy that someone finally wants to help me. But there’s something about Cole’s eyes something he didn’t say.

And as I drift into uneasy sleep, I can’t shake the feeling that my escape might not be the blessing I think it is.