-LILIAN-
The world spun, a suffocating spiral of blackness and searing agony. Alexander’s hand, a vice around my throat just moments ago, had abruptly released its merciless grip. I crumpled to the cold stone floor, a ragged, wheezing cough tearing through my raw throat as air, blessed and painful, rushed back into my lungs.
Tears streamed down my face, a mixture of the lingering terror from his fury and the sheer relief of breathing again. He stood over me, chest heaving, his eyes still blazing with a terrifying intensity that promised a storm. The three obsessed maids, their smug expressions, wiped clean, huddled together, pale and shaken, suddenly aware that they had pushed the Alpha King too far.
They looked less like triumphant schemers and more like frightened children.
Before a
