Claimed By A Midnight King

Chapter 24

Vivian’s POV

I woke to sunlight coming through the small window, reflecting off the glass.

My back was on fire.

Not the sharp pain from yesterday. This was deeper. A throbbing that made even small movements send waves of agony down my spine.

I lay still for a long time, just breathing, trying to figure out what hurt worse—moving or staying still.

I realised both hurt the same.

Freya came in the morning with clean bandages and the same bitter potion. She didn’t say much. Just checked the wounds, made sure nothing was infected, and told me to try walking today.

“Walking?” I asked.

“Your body heals faster when you move,” she said. “Small movements. Just around the room.”

After she left, I slowly sat up. Very slowly. My hands gripped the edge of the bed and I pushed myself upright.

The world tilted. My back felt like it was being twisted into a knot , but I was standing.

I took one step toward the window.

Then another.

By the time I’d walked the length of the small room, I was breathing hard. Sweat dripped down my forehead even though the room was cold. But I’d done it. I’d walked.

The door opened.

Kade stood there with a tray of food. He took in my standing position, the way I was holding myself rigid against the pain, and his expression shifted.

“You’re walking,” he said.

“Trying to.”

“Good.” He set the tray down on the small table. “The Alpha wants to know how you’re doing.”

“Tell him I’m fine.” I replied

“You’re not fine,” Kade said. “You can barely stand. But you’re walking, which means you’re healing. That’s what matters.”

He moved to leave, then stopped at the door. “There’s a servant girl. Mira. She works in the library. If you want books or anything, she’ll bring them to you. Just ask.”

“Why would I want books?” I asked, my brows raised

“Because,” Kade said, “you look like someone who needs a distraction from her own thoughts.”

He left before I could respond.

I managed to eat some of the food. Bread and broth. The broth which tasted like it’s seen better days and the bread bland like my life. Nothing that required much effort. My hands shook as I lifted the spoon, and I realized I was weaker than I’d thought but was relieved Kade hadn’t seen me shaking.

The bond thrummed with Dominic’s presence somewhere in the tower. He was close. Maybe just a few corridors away. I could feel his attention on me, like he was checking on me the way a wolf checks on wounded pack members.

Except I wasn’t his pack member.

I wasn’t anything.

I lay back down carefully, very carefully, and felt the ache settle into every part of my body.

By afternoon, I tried walking again.

Just to the door and back. Just to prove to myself that I could move without completely falling apart.

I made it halfway across the room before my legs gave out.

I caught myself on the table, gasping. For a moment, I thought I might be sick. The world was spinning. My back was screaming. Every part of me wanted to just lie down and stop fighting.

But I straightened up. Breathed through it. Finished the walk to the door and back.

When I finally lay down again, I didn’t have the energy to feel anything except exhausted.

The bond was quieter now. Dominic was concentrating on something else. I could feel the edges of his focus, it was sharp, tactical, angry. He was investigating. Looking for answers about who had put the rat in the water.

I hoped he found them.

I hoped he made them pay.

As the light started to fade, I heard footsteps in the corridor outside.

Multiple people. Voices I didn’t recognize.

“The girl is healing,” someone said.

“Good,” a female voice replied. “The Alpha should move on.

“All this attention is making people nervous.”

“But lady Vespera doesn’t seem nervous.”

“No,” the woman said. “Vespera seems angry.”

The footsteps moved away.

I lay in the growing darkness and realized that my survival was becoming complicated in ways that had nothing to do with me.

That people in this pack were already choosing sides. Some wanted me dead. Some wanted me protected. And some, like Vespera, wanted something else entirely.

The kind of something that could destroy everything.