ANOKAI
Voices.
I heard voices in my sleep, distant and muffled, like they were coming from underwater. They pulled at me, dragging me up from the depths of unconsciousness where I’d been floating peacefully.
I didn’t want to wake up. Sleep was safe. Sleep was quiet. Sleep didn’t have kidnapping attempts or jealous women or alphas who looked at me like I was both salvation and destruction.
But the voices persisted, growing louder, sharper. Angry.
My eyelids fluttered, heavy and resistant. I blinked once, twice, trying to clear the fog from my vision.
The ceiling above me was wrong.
Not the plain white ceiling of my room, but something darker. Richer. With intricate wood carvings running along the beams that I didn’t recognize.
Confusion settled over me like a blanket as I pushed mys
