Elara’s POV
My back slammed into the earth. Pain exploded through my spine. The air punched out of my lungs in a sharp gasp. Dirt and cold seeped through my clothes as I lay there for a split second, stunned, staring up at the sky.
The crowd’s silence broke into murmurs.
I rolled sideways fast, trying to push up, but my body felt heavy, sluggish. My wrist throbbed where I’d wrapped it earlier. Every breath hurt. Thorne stood over me, not even breathing hard, his shadow swallowing me whole. That faint twitch at the corner of his mouth was back—like this whole thing amused him.
‘Get up,’ I screamed at myself. ‘Get up right now.’
My arms shook as I forced myself onto one knee. The world spun a little. I tasted blood on my lip—I must have bitten it during the fall. My pack watched in hor
