The silence in the small, windowless cell was stifling, the air thick with tension and the musty scent of damp stone. The only sound was Lila’s ragged breathing, echoing off the walls as she lay curled on the cold floor, every muscle trembling with the strain of her transformation. Her wolf growled restlessly in the back of her mind, its voice raw and pained, a reflection of the turmoil raging within her. The prolonged separation from Dominic had left her fractured, as though her very essence was splintering. Her mind and body fought a battle they weren’t equipped to win alone.
Her skin felt as though it were burning, stretched too tight over the form beneath it. The fire that had ignited during her transformation hadn’t abated—it had only intensified with each agonizing hour. Without Dom
