Chapter 7

Freya's POV

The moment he left, the room felt darker.

I sat frozen on the bed, my lips still tingling with the memory of his touch, of a pill I never asked for, and a man whose name carried more blood than mercy. Lord Zaynx. The Alpha of Dark Hollow. The monster mothers used to scare disobedient pups into silence.

And he’d just fed me with his mouth.

The door clicked shut behind him, and only then did I remember how to breathe. My heart thudded against my ribs like it wanted to escape my chest. The walls felt too close, the air too thick.

I knew he said something before leaving, but I didn’t quite catch it.

More than the pounding heart and the strange heat spreading through me, something sharper hit inside, pain that didn’t feel like betrayal. Something deeper. Something unfamiliar.

Maybe the thought of losing the only father I had was too hard to bear, and all that grief was bleeding into something else.

I pulled myself together, took a few bites from my meal, then returned to bed.