-ALEXANDER-
I had dismissed him with a curt wave, my gaze fixed on the castle map, though I saw none of it. "She will learn her lesson, Theodore," I had snapped, my voice cold, unyielding. "Her weakness is a testament to her defiance, not my lack of care. When I choose to see her, it will be on my terms. Do not question my methods."
"As you command, Alpha King," Theodore had replied, bowing, but I saw the flicker of worry in his eyes before he left that day. I should have listened. My arrogance had blinded me. I should have listened to Theodore's words.
Now, she lay pale and still, a fragile ghost of her former self. Her breathing remained shallow, often rattling. Her skin was impossibly pale, almost translucent, stretched taut over her delicate frame. She looked like a shadow, a mere
