Maria.

My legs finally gave out.

I don’t even remember deciding to fall, my body simply betrayed me. One moment I was barely standing, my knees trembling uncontrollably beneath my weight, and the next, the ground rushed up to meet me. I hit the floor with a loud, hollow thud that echoed through the chamber, pain shooting through my knees and palms as my body collapsed in on itself.

The impact knocked the breath from my lungs.

For a second, I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even lift my head. The cold floor pressed against my cheek, rough and unforgiving, grounding me in the cruel reality of where I was and what awaited me.

"Stop being dramatic!" Damien snapped.

His voice dripped with irritation, as though my collapse was nothing more than a poorly performed act meant to inconvenience him. I flinched at his words, my fingers curling weakly against the stone as I tried—and failed—to push myself up.

"You aren’t going to escape punishment," Aidan added coldly, stepping closer. "So stop feigning weakness."

Feigning.

The word burned worse than the slap, worse than the blood still coating my tongue. If only they could feel what I felt, how my limbs were heavy and unresponsive, how my head spun violently, how my body shook from fever and fear all at once. If only they knew how much effort it took just to breathe.

But they didn’t care.

I squeezed my eyes shut as tears slipped free again, silent and unstoppable. My chest ached, each breath shallow and uneven. I braced myself, my heart pounding wildly as the sound of the door opening sliced through the room.

This is it.

The guards were back.

They had brought the whip.

For one terrifying heartbeat, I was certain my life was truly over. My body tensed instinctively, every nerve screaming in anticipation of pain. I dug my nails into the floor, as if that alone could anchor me, could prepare me for what was coming.

But then...the footsteps were different, heavier and slower.

A familiar presence filled the room, and confusion flickered through my fear. I forced my eyes open, my vision blurred as I lifted my head just enough to see past the haze of tears.

It wasn’t the guards.

It was Davian.

He stood there with the whip in his hand, the leather coiled loosely, almost casually, as though it weighed nothing at all. His expression was unreadable as he took a few steps into the room, the door closing behind him with a quiet finality.

"Aidan," he said calmly, his voice cutting through the tension, "you asked for the whip."

The words sent a shiver down my spine.

So he had brought it.

My chest tightened painfully as despair threatened to swallow me whole. I had been foolish to hope. Foolish to think there would be mercy. Foolish to believe my suffering might finally end.

But then Davian stopped.

His gaze dropped to the floor, snd landed on me.

I felt it instantly. That pause. That shift.

His eyes lingered on my crumpled form, on the way I lay half-curled on the ground, trembling, barely holding myself together. For a brief moment, something flickered across his face, something sharp and unreadable, before he lifted his head and looked at his brothers. Then, his gaze slid to Vanessa.

The silence stretched, heavy and suffocating.

"Are you about to punish her because of Vanessa?" Davian asked.

His voice was steady, but there was an edge to it now, something taut beneath the calm.

"Yes," his brothers answered in unison.

The word rang through the room like a verdict.

My heart sank.

I curled in on myself slightly, my shoulders shaking as fresh tears burned my eyes. So this was truly because of her. Everything, every blow, every accusation, every humiliation, led back to Vanessa standing there untouched, watching quietly as I was destroyed.

"You can’t," Davian said suddenly.

The words hit me like a lifeline thrown into deep water.

For a split second, relief surged through me so powerfully it almost hurt. My chest expanded as I sucked in a shaky breath, hope fluttering weakly in my broken heart. I didn’t dare lift my head, didn’t dare believe it fully, but those two words wrapped around me anyway.

You can’t.

The room reacted instantly.

Damien and Aidan turned to Davian, confusion etched plainly across their faces. Even Vanessa stiffened slightly, her pleasant composure faltering for just a fraction of a second.

Davian straightened, his grip tightening on the whip.

"I have already punished her," he added firmly.

Already punished.

My body trembled harder at the words, memories of water and pain and burning heat flashing violently through my mind. My fevered skin seemed to prickle all over again, as though reliving it.

For a moment, it felt like the world had paused.

Then...

"It is not enough," Aidan fired back sharply.

The last fragile thread of relief snapped inside me. Even the tiniest fraction of hope was lost.

My heart plunged straight into darkness.

"I know it isn’t," Davian said, his voice low but firm, cutting through the charged air like a blade. "She deserves to be punished more for hurting Vanessa."

At those words, my heart clenched painfully. Even now, after everything, I was still nothing more than a criminal in their eyes, guilty without trial, condemned without proof. My fingers curled weakly against the floor as I fought to keep myself upright, every muscle screaming in protest.

"But remember," Davian continued, pausing deliberately, his gaze shifting to his brothers, "she is the prize."

The word struck me harder than any slap.

Prize.

Not a person. Not a life. Just an object, something to be won, exchanged, protected only because of what I represented.

"If anything happens to her before the next fourteen days," he went on, "the rest of the Alphas would feel we are going back on our word. And if that happens..." His jaw tightened. "War might arise."

The room fell silent.

I could almost hear my own heartbeat pounding in my ears, loud and uneven. Fourteen days. I was being kept alive not out of mercy, not out of justice, but because my death would inconvenience them. Because it would threaten their power.

"Yes," Vanessa said softly at last, breaking the tension. "I think Davian has a point."

I lifted my eyes despite myself, and they locked briefly with hers. There was no pity there. No guilt. Only calm satisfaction, carefully masked beneath gentleness.

"We wouldn’t want a war to start because of a rogue," she added lightly, as though she were discussing something trivial.

A rogue.

That was all I was.

She stepped forward then, her movements graceful, and wrapped her arms around Aidan. The sight twisted something deep in my chest. She leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead, her voice soothing as she murmured, "Calm down, okay?"

I swallowed hard.

"I’ll be heading back to my room," Vanessa said calmly, already turning away. And just like that, she left, unbothered, unharmed, untouched.

The door closed behind her with a quiet finality.

The moment she was gone, the air in the room seemed to shift. Whatever restraint had been holding them back loosened, replaced by cold indifference.

Davian’s gaze dropped to me.

"Leave," he said flatly. "Your presence is disgusting."

The words sank deep.

I nodded faintly, too drained to react, too exhausted to feel the sting properly. Slowly, painfully, I pushed myself up from the floor. My legs trembled violently beneath me, barely able to support my weight. Every movement sent sharp jolts of pain through my body, but I forced myself to stand anyway.

I bowed my head slightly, not out of respect, but survival, and turned away.

Each step toward the door felt heavier than the last. My vision blurred at the edges, black spots dancing before my eyes. I could still feel their stares burning into my back as I stumbled out of the chamber, my breath shallow and uneven.

The hallway spun around me.

I focused only on one thing—my room.

Just a little further, I told myself. Just get there.

But my body had already reached its limit.

By the time I turned the corner leading toward my quarters, my legs were shaking uncontrollably. The world tilted suddenly, the walls seeming to close in around me. I tried to grab onto something, anything, but my fingers met nothing but air.

Then I fell.

Hard.

The impact knocked the last of my strength from me. Pain exploded through my body, then dulled rapidly as a heavy darkness crept in from the edges of my vision. My limbs felt distant, unresponsive, as though they no longer belonged to me.

So this is how it ends, I thought dimly.

Alone. Broken. Forgotten.

A strange calm settled over me as the darkness thickened, wrapping around my consciousness like a suffocating blanket. I was vaguely aware of how cold the floor felt against my cheek, how my heartbeat slowed, how the world began to fade.

No one would come.

No one would save me.

Just before everything slipped away completely, just before I surrendered to the void, I heard a voice.

Soft. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Urgent.

"Maria."

My name.

The sound echoed faintly in the darkness, clinging to me.