Chapter 6:

                                                                      ~Jane~

With my mind drifting. Not out of surrender, but into something I'd clung to for so long. A dream of the night my wolf would awaken- my seventeenth birthday, the moment everything would change. I imagined it all so vividly: the rush of energy pulsing through me, the powerful connection forming between my soul and another. My mate would find me that very night, as if guided by fate itself.

He'd cross the space between us, gentle and sure, and pull me in his arms, like he'd searched the ends of earth and finally-finally-found me. His eyes would meet mine, filled with love and passion, and the bond would click into place. I would feel it in every heartbeat, every breath. I'd melt into his touch- gentle, reverent, everything I ever dreamed of. A fire would rise in me, but it wouldn't be fear. It would be desire. Love. A warmth I'd never known.

He would caress my cheek, and in the moonlight he'd whisper the words I've longed to hear: "You are mine, and I will protect you for the rest of my life."

With every word, I would fall deeper, I would feel whole. I imagined we'd stand together beneath the moonlight, the starts witnessing our bond as our hearts beat in rhythm. He would vow his heart and soul to me. I would promise him mine. And under the gaze of the Moon Goddess, I would accept him- my mate, my future, my forever.

But that dream is gone now.

Shattered.

Tonight I was supposed to be free, instead. It's the beginning of the end.

Zander is the one who will be taking me. Not my mate. Not the man whose love I was meant to bask in for the rest of my life. No, Zander came with darkness. He came with cruel words and crueler intentions. And now, that dream I clung to is fading faster than the starts in the dawn.

He will take from me what should have only ever belong to my mate. he will brand me as his, even if every fiber in my body screams that it's wrong. There was no love in his eyes- only lust. Only control.

And when he's do using me for his desire, when my spirit is broken and I can no longer fight, he will end me like all the others. Just another soul lost by his hands. Another girl with dreams buried in the dirt.

I will be nothing but a vessel for his pleasure, a prisoner in the body that no longer belongs to me. That's what he wants. That's all I'll ever be to him. And the worst part is... I'll be forgotten by the one I was meant for.

My mate- wherever he is- will search for me. Maybe days. Maybe years. But one day, he'll give up. He'll stop believing. He'll move on, thinking I didn't want him or wanted to be found by him. That I have already rejected him. He'll never know the truth.

That I was stolen. That I was broken before I ever had the chance to love to be with him.

And me? I'll still be here- trapped under the weight of Zander's control. The fire in me, the hope that once burned so brightly, is flickering out. What's left to fight for? If I can't find love, if I can't be free to give my heart to the one it belongs to, then what's the point?

What kind of life is that?

A life where I'm not seen.

Not loved.

Not even free

No... that's not a life at all.

It's a sentence.

And tonight, Zander is the executioner.

As I lie here, pain and fear threatening to consume me, I think about all the moments I'll never get to live. The kiss I'll never share. The name I'll never whisper. The home I'll never build.

And the child I'll never hold. Because there's no future for me now. Only darkness. Only silence.

And that dream- the one I held on to so tightly- is slipping through my fingers like sand. Maybe this is it.

Zander continued to hover over me, his hand roamed possessively along my side, and I flinched, his touch dragging me cruelly back to the present.

"What are you thinking about, Jane? Your mate?" He laughed, but it was bitter and sharp. "He's not coming. You really think the Moon Goddess cares about you? You're here. With me. That's your true fate."

The fantasy shattered in my chest like glass.

I blinked, realizing tears continued to spill down my temples into the grass. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move. That beautiful image- the one that had carried me though the hardest nights- was crumbling under the weight of reality.

Zander leaned closer, his voice low, smug. "You were made for me, not for some fairy tale boy who'll never show up. I'll be the only one you ever know. Ever feel."

The thought pierced through the numbness like a spark catching dry leaves. My heart thudded once, painfully loud in my ears. No. That couldn't be true. My mate was out there. I knew it. I felt it, like a tether tied to my soul even if I didn't know his name or his face. He was real.

Zander's hand curled around my wrist again, firm, final. "This is real," he said darkly, as if reading my thoughts. "I am real. And I'm not going anywhere."

His grip tightened.

But this time... something inside me resisted.

Not just in fear- but in memory.

The warmth of a touch that hadn't come yet. The whisper of a voice I had only imagined. The promise of love that still waited somewhere out there in the unknown.

The dream might be distant, but it was mine. Zander didn't own it

He didn't own me.

As I kept my eyes shut- tightly, desperately- I could feel myself slipping. It was like being pulled into a void, deeper and deeper, as though the world around me had begun to vanish. My body felt weightless, but my heart was heavy with dread. I didn't understand what was happening. I tried to fight it, to claw my way back to the surface, but the darkness was relentless.

Then, like a whisper in the storm- the voice returned.

"I'm so sorry, Jane," it said. "It wasn't suppose to get this far. But I'm here now. I'm asking you to trust me. Give in... let me save you. I promise- everything is going to be okay."

My breath hitched. Why now? Why had the voice been silent for so long? Why had it let me suffer until I was barley holding on?

"What do you mean, give in?" I asked, my voice trembling. "Give in to what?"

The voice was calm. Steady. Like a hand reaching into the storm to pull me free.

"To me. Trust me, Jane. That's all I ask. I need you to let go- just for a moment. Clear your mind. Take a breath. Let me do what needs to be done. It's the only way I can protect you now."

For a moment, I hesitated. I didn't understand it. None of it made sense. But something about the voice... it felt like home. Like warmth. Like safety.

"... I trust you," I whispered.

I took a breath. Than another. Slow. Deep. And as I exhaled, I felt it- the pull.

The darkness wrapped around me again, but this time... It didn't feel like drowning. It felt like surrender. Like letting go of the fear that had caged me for so long.

I drifted deeper, further, as the world fell away. The pain, the weight, even the monster above me... they begin to blur into the shadows. My heartbeat slow. My breathing steadied.

"It's okay, Jane." the voice said gently. "I know you're scared. But I'm here now. I won't let anyone hurt you again. Keep breathing... let it in. let it happen."

And I did. I gave myself to the darkness, to the voice, to whatever was happening.

The fear faded. The ache disappeared. My body felt like it was no longer mine- and yet, I had never felt more in control.

The last thing I heard before everything went completely still was a cry from somewhere deep inside me-

A plea. A howl.

Then I passed out... "Mate... help us"