chapter two

Lily's pov

For two days, I waited. I did not know if it was morning or night anymore. Inside that room, time had become something cruel and meaningless. There was no sunlight touching my face, no voice coming from outside, no footsteps stopping at my door. Only silence, hunger, and the constant ache spreading through my body.

At first, I had screamed.

I had called for help until my throat burned. I begged the guards to come back. I begged them to give me water. I even called my father's name, foolishly believing that somewhere in this enormous palace, he might suddenly remember that I was his daughter.

My stomach twisted painfully, but there was nothing inside it to hurt anymore. My lips were dry and cracked, and every time I swallowed, my throat felt like it was scraping against broken glass.

I sat against the wall with my knees pulled toward my chest, trying to remember the last time I had eaten. I couldn't.

My fingers trembled as I reached toward the floor beside me.

A bitter laugh escaped me, but it quickly turned into a weak cough.

"So this is what my life is worth." My voice sounded strange in the darkness. Nothing but small, broken, blind, and worthless.

That was the word everyone had used for me since I was a child. Worthless, blind fool.

I had heard it so many times that sometimes I wondered whether I had started believing it before anyone else could.

But I couldn't die here, not like this, not locked away like an animal.

I pressed my palms against the floor and slowly forced myself up.

Pain shot through my stomach from the kick I had received at my father's feet. My knees nearly gave way, but I grabbed the wall and held myself upright.

"I have to get out. I didn't know where the door was. I didn't know where the guards were. I didn't even know which direction I was facing, but I couldn't remain there to die.

One hand remained against the wall while the other stretched forward, searching for anything that could guide me. I moved slowly, dragging my feet across the floor. Every few steps, I stopped to breathe.

My body was weak. My legs shook beneath me. But fear was stronger than exhaustion.

My fingers eventually touched something cold and smooth, just like glass. I froze at the moment. Feels like the window.

My heart began pounding. I ran my hands along its frame, searching for a latch. My fingers found something small. I pushed, it didn't open, I pushed harder. The window moved. A breath of cold air touched my face.

For the first time in two days, I felt the outside world. I didn't think, twice about it, I simply climbed.

My hands searched for the edge, and when I felt the opening, I carefully pushed myself through.

I thought there would be another surface beneath my feet. There wasn't. My stomach dropped. I fell to the ground.

The impact knocked the breath out of me. Pain exploded through my body as I hit the ground.

I almost screamed. My mouth opened, but I quickly covered it with both hands. Someone might hear me, Someone might come and it will be a whole new disaster, And I wasn't ready to be dragged back.

I stayed there for several seconds, trembling, trying to understand where the pain was coming from. My shoulder hurt and My knees burned.

My back felt as though it had been struck against stone. But I was alive. I slowly pushed myself up.

"Move, Lily." My voice shook. "Just move."l battled in my mind.

I crawled forward, using my hands to search the ground. I had no idea where I was or where I had fallen, but I could feel the walls around me.

I followed one, Until my fingers found a doorway.

I hesitated, Maybe it led inside or Maybe there would be guards,or Maybe I would be caught, But remaining outside was worse.

I pushed the door open. The moment I stepped inside, a strange chill traveled down my spine.

I stopped breathing, Something was different about this room. The air felt heavy, stuffed, cold and Powerful.

I couldn't explain it, but the moment I entered, the hairs on my arms rose. There was an aura around me. A presence that shouldn't be played with. I took one uncertain step forward.

My heart began pounding harder. "Who is there ?" A deep voice suddenly cut through the darkness. "What are you doing here?" I froze in fear. My entire body went rigid. That voice, I had heard it before, Axel. Fear rushed through me.

I immediately lowered my head. "I'm sorry, Axel." My hands trembled as I took a step backward.

"I didn't know it was you. I didn't mean to interrupt you. I was just hungry. I'm sorry."

Silence followed my voice, I swallowed painfully.

"I'll leave now." I turned around to leave, I barely took one step.

Something moved behind me. Before I could react, a strong arm caught me.

A gasp escaped my lips. I was pulled backward so suddenly that my back collided with a hard chest.

"Axel—" The word had barely left my mouth when his face came close to mine. Then he inhaled deeply.

The moment his breath touched my skin, something strange happened. The man holding me went completely still. I didn't understand it. His grip tightened around my waist, but not in the same cruel way Axel had grabbed me earlier.

It felt almost desperate. As though he had just discovered something he had been searching for all his life. He breathed in again.

And somewhere inside that dark room, the pain that had been consuming him began to disappear.

The pressure inside his chest loosened. The darkness that had always clawed at him retreated.

Throne pov

l stared at the woman in my arms. She was weak.

Her clothes were dirty and Her skin was cold. She was trembling as though she had seen death.

Yet somehow, the moment she entered my room, every part of my body that had been burning for years suddenly became still.

l didn't understand why, but he scent seems to calm me down . l only knew that ldidn't want to let her go.

lily,s pov

I felt his hand rise toward my face. I flinched. "I'm sorry," I whispered again. "I won't disturb you. Please just let me go."

Instead, his fingers brushed against my cheek. The touch was unexpectedly gentle.

I didn't understand. Axel had never touched me gently.

Never, since i arrived here. I tried to pull away, but he held me closer. Then his lips touched mine. My entire body froze.

For a moment, I couldn't breathe. I should have pushed him away. I should have screamed. But hunger, exhaustion, fear, and the confusion inside my mind left me unable to think clearly.

What can i do ? after all he is my mate and my husband to be. The same man who had ordered me locked away. The same man who had called me filthy.

The same man who had treated me like I wasn't even human. And yet, the kiss wasn't cruel.

It was desperate, almost trembling, soft and lovely. Although, I didn't understand why.

My fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt as I tried to steady myself.

He pulled away for only a moment. His breathing was heavy. Mine was worse. "Axel..." I whispered.

The name made him pause. Something flickered across his face. But I couldn't see it, i felt it.

"I thought you hated me." i said as i tried to catch my breath.But, there was no answer. Instead, his forehead rested against mine. His breathing slowly became steadier.

Then his lips found mine again. This time, it was more hungry and consuming, I didn't resist. Maybe because I didnt want to end up being locked again or Maybe because I was of being afraid.

Or maybe because, for the first time since I had arrived at this place, someone was touching me as though I wasn't worthless.

The warmth of his body surrounded me, chasing away the cold that had settled inside my bones.

I closed my eyes. I let myself forget where I was. For a few precious moments, I wasn't the useless daughter my father had sold. I wasn't the blind girl everyone mocked. I wasn't the wolfless bride who had been thrown away for peace.

I was simply Lily. And someone was holding me as though I mattered.

His lips moved against mine again, and a strange warmth spread through my chest. Then his mouth moved toward my neck.

I stiffened. "Wait..." But he stopped only for a heartbeat. His breath brushed against my skin. Then something sharp pierced my neck.

I gasped. Pain flashed through me, followed almost instantly by a strange warmth that raced through my entire body.

I grabbed his shoulders. "What did you—" The words disappeared when an unfamiliar sensation rushed through me.

It felt as though something deep inside me had awakened for the briefest moment. my heartbeat became faster, blood ran through my pulse with force.

Axel man holding me went completely still. As if he just regretted his actions.

l panicked cause all this happened in the chaos of instinct, emotion, and the impossible pull he couldn't understand.

The warmth around me became strangely tensed, and for the first time in two days, I felt safe enough to let my exhausted body rest. I didn't know how long we stayed there, before he claimed my lips again, this time more intensed. The carried me up, not letting the kiss break and threw me to the bed, and i felt him over me as he reached for my clothes, and tore them in a flash.