The silence pressed against me like a weight.
The air in the Alpha's room was thick, suffocating, every shadow stretching too long, every breath I took too shallow. My chest heaved, but no matter how much air I dragged in, it wasn't enough. I pulled my knees up to my chest, curling tight against the headboard, wishing I could fold myself into nothingness. But his presence was everywhere.
He didn't even need to speak aloud his voice pulsed inside my skull, silk wrapped around knives.
"Do you know how skin feels when it tears, Elie? It doesn't scream. It sighs."
A violent shudder ripped through me. "Stop…" My own whisper cracked like glass.
"I'd start with your shoulder," his inner voice murmured. "Pull it slow. The flesh would peel back like a dress slipping off. And I'd watch. I'd savor."
