VIOLET’S POV
I wanted to cry.
I wanted to let everything spill out, anger, fear, despair… but not here.
Not in front of him.
Not Merrin… the same man whose words cut through me like a blade:
“Your suffering isn’t ending. It’s only just beginning.”
And yet, his arms were wrapped around me. Holding me like I was fragile. Smiling as if he hadn’t just buried those words into my soul.
Even in his warmth I could feel the truth: He hated me down to his bones.
And still… I slept beside him.
His fated mate.
Reduced to nothing more than a plaything. A slave to his desires.
If being his slave would protect my mother and Zoey…
Then I would bear it.
Suddenly, he sat up, muscles tense beneath the sheets.
“I’m hungry,” he muttered, rubbing his forehead. “You drained me too much. I need fo
