I felt suffocated, like the walls of my world were closing in, and I couldn’t breathe. My heart raced as panic gripped me. The truth I had just heard was too unbearable to accept.
“What were they for?” My voice trembled, barely a whisper.
The soft, broken reply reached me like a knife slicing through the silence. "A brand."
The word echoed in my mind, louder than any scream, tearing at the edges of my sanity. “What?”
No. It couldn’t be true. Not him. Not my mate.
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block out the terrible reality clawing its way into my mind. Silver, my loyal wolf, stood beside me, her breathing shallow, her tongue hanging out as she panted nervously. It wasn’t possible. I refused to believe it. Dominic, the one who had sworn to protect me, could not have done this.
