Rebecca’s POV
"I can’t... I can’t breathe," I gasped, letting a tear fall down my cheek. I closed my eyes tightly, groaning as if in terrible pain. "The pain... it’s too much. My shoulder is broken, and my leg... I think it’s infected. Please, I beg you... call a doctor. Just a healer... anyone. I’m going to die."
I whimpered, letting my hand drop heavily back onto the mattress, opening my eyes just enough to look at her with total supplication.
Martha let out a sharp, cold breath, shaking her head. There wasn’t a single bit of pity in her eyes. "A doctor? A healer for a murderer?" She laughed bitterly, a harsh sound in the grand room. "You have a lot of nerve, Rebecca."
"Please..." I whispered, letting my voice sound very weak.
"Too bad for you, the Alpha King has strictly ordered that no doctor or healer should see you," Martha said coldly. "His orders were very clear. You are to be left exactly as you are. If your body gives up, then it is just the Moon Goddess giving you what you deserve. You will get no dicine in this house."
An inward smile rippled through my chest. Perfect. I had to force my face to stay in a painful frown so I wouldn’t show the intense relief I felt. Kaden’s own cruelty was helping our plan. Because he had banned any dical help, no one would think it was strange when my heart stopped beating. They would all just think my injuries and the magic collar had finally killed .
"Understood..." I whimpered, closing my eyes completely as if I were passing out.
Martha watched for another mont, satisfied to see looking so pathetic. "Save your breath, girl. No one is coming to save you."
With that, she turned around and walked out of the room. The loud, heavy sound of the lock turning told she was gone.
The wait for midnight was the longest, most terrifying few hours of my life.
I lay in the total dark, watching the moonlight slowly move across the floor. Every minute felt like a year. My heart beat loudly in the quiet room, a steady reminder of the very thing I was about to turn off. What if I don’t wake up? a dark voice in my head whispered. What if Stephanie’s mother made a mistake? What if it’s just real poison?
But then I looked around the dark room, rembering the tortures. I rembered the painful stoning, the silver arrows cutting through my skin, and the absolute hatred in Alpha King Kaden’s eyes when he called a breeder. If I stayed here, I was going to die anyway. Kaden would break piece by piece until nothing was left.
This pill wasn’t just a risk. It was my only choice.
When the grandfather clock out in the hallway struck twelve tis, signaling midnight, my body went completely stiff.
It’s ti.
Moving with absolute care, I slid my hand under the heavy mattress and pulled out the small piece of folded brown paper. My hands were shaking so much I could barely open it. Inside were the two small, white pills. They looked so small and innocent to hold the power of life and death.
I crawled out of the bed, dragging my injured, bandaged leg behind as I made my way into the dark bathroom. I didn’t turn on the lights, using only the pale moonlight coming through the window.
I stood over the toilet, holding the paper in one hand. I took a deep, shaking breath, looking at the two pills. Please, Moon Goddess, let wake up, I prayed silently.
Without waiting another second, I threw both pills into my mouth and swallowed them dry. They tasted bitter and scraped painfully down my dry throat, but I forced them down.
Imdiately, I tore the brown paper into tiny pieces, dropped them into the toilet, and flushed it. The loud sound of the rushing water filled the small space, destroying the only proof of what I had just done. I watched the water clear, making sure every single piece of paper was gone.
Turning around, I limped back into the bedroom, my hands already feeling strangely cold.
I climbed back into the middle of the small bed, pulling the heavy blankets over my body. I lay down on my back, crossing my right hand over my chest, forcing myself into a peaceful resting position.
Within minutes, a strange, heavy feeling began to creep into my fingers.
My eyes went wide in the dark as I felt the drug working. Stephanie hadn’t lied. It started as a numb chill in my hands and feet, slowly moving up my arms and legs like ice water inside my veins. My breathing, which had been fast and frantic, began to slow down.
In... out...
The ti between each breath grew wider. My chest felt very heavy, as if a massive weight were pressing down on my broken ribs, taking the pain away completely. The throbbing in my shoulder disappeared, replaced by total numbness.
Deep inside my mind, I felt a faint panic from my wolf. She was trapped behind the magic collar, unable to talk to , but she could feel our life force beginning to leave. It’s okay, I tried to think back to her, hoping she could hear . It’s just a sleep. We’re escaping.
My eyelids beca impossibly heavy, feeling like they were made of lead. The dark shapes of the bedroom began to blur, spinning slowly into a dark vortex.
My heart gave one last, heavy, slow beat against my ribs.
A deep, total coldness washed over my chest, shutting down the last bits of my awareness. As my eyes closed for what I hoped wasn’t the last ti, the quiet of the room covered completely. I gave in to the darkness, praying with my very last spark of life that I would open my eyes on the third day, far away from King Kaden’s hell.
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