~Aria~
The iron gnaws at my wrists, skin rubbed raw until every heartbeat feels like fire burning beneath flesh. The chains don’t just hold my body—they drag at something deeper, pressing me into stone, grinding my spirit thin.
Time blurs into hours. The air stinks of smoke and sweat, heavy and unkind. My stomach hollows, twisting painfully, the ache deepening until it’s almost a second chain. Inside me, my wolf paces, furious. She was not made to be caged. And yet… here I am.
The door groans open. Torchlight spills across the chamber, painting the walls in jagged shadows. Instinct coils in me like a spring, and I yank at the chains again—metal clattering loud.
Kael.
He fills the doorway like he owns not just the room but the air inside it. His presence is sharp, suffocating, like ste
