I’m retreating inward, folding into myself like a paper crane, smaller and smaller until there’s nothing left for them to reach.
Another blow lands somewhere. My stomach, maybe. Or my face. It doesn’t matter anymore.
They’re still shouting. Still hitting. But I’m not listening. Not feeling. I’ve built walls inside my mind, thick and impenetrable, and I’ve locked myself behind them where their fists and their rage can’t touch me.
The pain is there. Distant. Muffled. Like it’s happening to someone else’s body while I watch from very far away.
My head snaps back. Forward. To the side. My body moves with each impact, a ragdoll in their violent hands. But I’m not there. I’ve left them with an empty shell.
“She’s not responding.” One of them sounds frustrated. Angry. “Get the Alpha. And bring the iron rods. Maybe they’ll make her talk.”
Footsteps retreat. Two of the men leave. One remains. He hits me one more time, and I feel my body jerk, feel something wet on my face. Blood, probably.
Then, he spits at my feet and walks to the far corner of the cell, muttering curses.
Silence.
Deep in my mind, my wolf whimpers. She’s terrified, trapped behind whatever magic is imprisoning her. I feel her clawing weakly at me, trying to reach me, desperately trying to fight. But I can’t let her. If she surfaces, if she tries to protect me, they’ll hurt us worse.
I’m sorry, I tell her silently. I’m so sorry.
Her howl echoes through my consciousness, mournful and desperate. Then she retreats, and I’m alone again.
Ryker’s words replay in my mind. “I would have protectedyou. Loved you.”
He would have. I could have had safety, a real life, a place where I didn’t have to hide. But I could never have given him my heart.
The realization settles over me, quiet and absolute.
Because my heart doesn’t belong to me anymore. It has Darius’s name carved into it.
The admission breaks everything loose inside me. All the walls I’ve built, all the denial I’ve fortified myself with like internal armor—it all dissolves into nothing.
I love him. I’ve loved him longer than I want to admit. And he would have killed me if he’d known what I was.
Tears stream down my face, mixing with the blood. A silent laugh bubbles up from my chest, bitter and sharp, echoing in my head.
He would have killed me if he’d known what I was.
I remember his words so clearly, it’s as if he’s standing in front of me saying them, his eyes cold and distant.
“Some creatures simply should not be allowed to exist.”
He meant it. I saw the conviction in his face when he said it. And it turns out I’m one of them. One of the creatures he has sworn to destroy.
How relieved he’ll be when he finds out I’m dead. The fated mate bond will disappear. He’ll never have to worry about his instincts telling him to protect a hybrid. Never have to choose between his position as alpha heir and the unwanted connection fate forced on him.
Maybe it’s better this way. Anne said he had left on a mission. He’ll probably still be gone when they execute me. He won’t have to see it. Won’t have to watch as they make an example of the girl he never wanted in the first place.
Was any of it real? The way he looked at me? The way he touched me? Or was I just fooling myself the entire time? Because the real Darius, the one who will inherit the alpha position, could never want someone like me.
My chest aches with a pain that has nothing to do with the chains or the cold or the beating I just endured. This pain is deeper. It’s the kind that can never heal because there’s nothing left to heal with.
I love him. And he would kill me without hesitation if he knew the truth.
The irony almost makes me laugh out loud this time. Almost. But I’m too tired even for that.
My wrists ache where the chains have cut into them. Blood has dried in crusty lines down my forearms. Fresh blood trickles down from somewhere on my face. I don’t bother trying to figure out where.
