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My limbs feel heavy, dragging me deeper into the dark abyss. The sensation is oddly comforting. Warm. Silence settles around me like a thick fog, enveloping everything. I try to recall how I got here, but my memories are scattered, flickering like fragments of an old, forgotten film reel.
I open my mouth to call out to Imani, but no sound escapes. I try to scream, but my throat itches and vibrates. I close my eyes, focusing on the faint energy I have left. A small light glows in the center of my chest, a dull pain throbbing there. Imani is with me, though weaker than I am.
Imani, can you hear me?
A faint whimper echoes in my mind. I gasp, but the sound sticks in my throat. The pain in my chest sharpens, as if something is tearing me apart from the inside. Tears spill from the corners of my eyes.
Muffled noises break through the quiet.
Warmth touches my cheeks—gentle palms, thumbs brushing beneath my eyes. The scent of sea salt and fresh linen lingers in the air. Dad.
The darkness morphs into water, bubbles slipping from my lips as I call out. My lungs burn, desperate for air.
A glimmer of light shimmers above me, just out of reach.
The sounds grow louder, ringing in my ears. I gasp, pain searing through my lungs as I'm pulled from the depths. My vision blurs before finally adjusting to the light.
Dad's red-tan face is the first thing I see. My senses kick in all at once—smells, sounds, everything crashing down on me.
"She's awake! Thank goddess!" Dad's voice shakes, a long breath escaping him like he's been holding it for days.
I try to sit up, but his hands press me gently back into something soft. It takes me a second to realize I'm in a bed.
Sunlight filters into the room, illuminating the ugly sea-green walls. I'm in the pack hospital.
"Wh-what happened?" My voice is raw, like sandpaper scraping against my throat.
"You've been out for three days," Dad says, his voice gentle. "Treyvon found you with a gunshot wound to the chest."
The memories hit me hard. I was behind Jasmine's house, in the forest, when a drunk hunter and his dogs appeared. Imani fought the dogs, killed one, but then the hunter shot us. Each breath burned. Imani barely managed to mind-link Treyvon before everything went dark. Three days felt longer.
"See what happens when you live outside the pack?" Mama's voice cuts through the room as she enters. "You get hurt."
Dad, being the submissive, is the only one who can calm an angry Alpha like her. He isn't afraid to check her when needed, and secretly, Mama loves that. She needs him to take charge, especially with the weight of being Alpha. She craves the safety of his decisions.
