The morning light pierced through the curtains like claws. Deep claws, like the one of an Alpha. I lay still, throat raw, thigh pulsing with every heartbeat, the burn having a strange pulse. I didn't move when the door opened. Didn't speak.
Simon stepped in, already dressed in black, hair slicked back like he was heading to a coronation instead of checking on the wife his family had half-killed.
"Tonight," he said without greeting. "The Alpha will see us. The sealing happens at moon-high. You'll finally be mine in the pack bonds."
I stared at the ceiling. Didn't blink. Didn't give him the satisfaction of a single word.
He waited. When I said nothing, he exhaled through his nose.
"Get some rest. You'll need it."
The door shut behind him. I kept staring at nothing.
Hours bled away. I drifted in and out of fevered sleep, the burn eating at me, the bruises on my throat suffocating darker. When the door opened again, I didn't bother turning my head.
