Chapter 9: A Faint Voice
1293 Words
Dahlia's POV
The shadow stepped fully into the moonlight, and every bone in my body turned cold.
Alpha Asher.
His presence filled the courtyard instantly, heavy, commanding, and impossible to ignore. The glow in his eyes wasn’t the usual dominance he carried effortlessly as Alpha. No, this was something far more primal. Something unrestrained and unsettling flickered in them, like a storm trapped behind a thin wall of control.
I froze where I stood, fingers tightening instinctively around the laundry basket.
My breath hitched, and for a moment, I wasn’t sure if I had imagined him or if he was truly standing there, consumed by that wild intensity.
“Alpha…” The word scraped out of my throat, weak and unsure.
He didn’t respond.
Not with a nod.
Not with a word.
Not with the slightest shift in expression.
He simply watched me.
Every instinct screamed at me to lower my gaze, and I did, head bowing instantly, submissively, because facing him directly felt like staring into the heart of a raging fire. My pulse pounded so hard I feared he could hear it.
Scoff
“Huh?” I unknowingly said that out loud, my brows furrowed as confusion washed over me.
Why did he scoff?
It didn't take long before I was able to read the expression on his face.
His lips curled back slightly, as if even looking at me left a bitter taste in his mouth.
‘Did he hate me?’ I whispered silently.
Why was he here? At this hour? In this secluded part of the palace? And why… why was he looking at me like that?
I took a cautious step back.
His eyes followed.
A shiver crawled up my spine. Something in him felt unsettled. I could feel his wolf. It pressed against the air, thick and suffocating, making my own lungs struggle to keep up.
My mouth went dry.
“ I-I’m sorry if I disturbed you,” I whispered, voice trembling.
He looked at me with mockery.
‘What had I done?’ I thought to myself.
He said nothing.
Only the sound of his slow, controlled breathing could be heard.
Then, without warning, a wave of dizziness washed over me. The world tilted, colors bleeding into one another.
I immediately reached for the wall, but my fingers grasped empty air, and my legs turned to water beneath me.
Through the blurring in my vision, I saw him move, fast, impossibly fast, like a dark streak breaking through fog.
Then the world went dark.
*****
Warmth. Softness. Silence.
I drifted through a strange place, half-dream, half-nothingness. The air around me felt thick but gentle, like being cocooned in something warm. I floated in it without fear, for once not feeling pain or cold or hunger.
Just peace.
Then…
“Don’t give up yet.”
A voice, deep and calm, whispered close to my ear.
My eyes flew open.
I gasped sharply, sitting up in my tiny servant’s bed, heart pounding like I had been running.
My room was dim, barely illuminated by the moonlight brushing through the cracked window. My blankets were tangled around me, as if I had tossed and turned for hours.
I pressed a hand to my head, breathing hard.
That voice…
It hadn’t been my imagination. It had felt real. Solid. Echoing from inside me, not from the room.
But that made no sense.
Wolves only spoke to their hosts, their humans. Only mated souls shared internal whispers. Only chosen wolves could feel that presence.
And I had none of that.
I was wolfless.
Wolfless and worthless, according to everyone in this cursed pack.
I swallowed hard. “Hello?” I whispered into the thin air. “Are you still there?”
Silence.
I exhaled shakily and shut my eyes. Maybe I was still half-asleep. Maybe exhaustion finally broke something inside me.
Then…
“You are not alone, Dahlia.”
The voice again, clearer this time. Stronger. Like a hand reaching out to me in the dark.
I sucked in a sharp breath, tears stinging unexpectedly at the corners of my eyes. “Who… who are you?” My voice trembled. “How are you inside my…”
A sudden knock shattered the moment.
I flinched, clutching the blanket. The door swung open without waiting for my permission.
Katherine.
Of course.
She stood in the doorway, arms folded, lips curled in that hateful smirk she always wore when she came to ruin me. Her long blonde hair was perfectly curled, her night robe expensive and embroidered. Even at night, she looked like she had stepped out of a magazine.
Her eyes landed on my startled, shaken expression, and she laughed.
“Oh, for Goddess’ sake,” she scoffed, stepping inside with exaggerated pity.
“What’s this face? Did you finally go crazy after being slapped earlier?”
Heat crept up my neck, shame burning through me. I squeezed the blanket tighter.
“I wasn’t…”
“Talking to yourself again?” she cut in, mocking. “Or better yet, talking to your imaginary wolf?”
Her tone was syrupy sweet, dripping with venom.
My stomach twisted painfully. How did she always know where to stab?
“I didn’t say…”
“Save it,” she snapped sharply, rolling her eyes. She walked closer, heels clicking dramatically against the stone floor. “You wolfless creatures always try to create fantasies to make yourselves feel special. It’s pathetic, Dahlia. Truly pathetic.”
The words stung, slicing deep into the wounds I kept hidden.
Wolfless.
Pathetic.
Nothing.
Always the same insults. Always the same reminders.
I kept quiet, staring at my hands. Fighting her was impossible. Surviving her meant silence.
She leaned closer, the sharp scent of her floral perfume overwhelming. “Next time you decide to pretend someone is talking to you,” she whispered mockingly, “at least try not to look so desperate. It’s embarrassing to watch.”
She straightened with a final scoff and headed for the door.
“Don’t forget,” she added with a smirk over her shoulder, “the Luna wants you in the laundry room at dawn. Don’t embarrass yourself by oversleeping.”
The door clicked shut.
Her footsteps faded.
And once again, my room was suffocatingly quiet.
I sat completely still, heart racing, listening desperately for the voice… that whisper… that warmth.
But the silence stretched on and on.
Cold.
Hollow.
Empty.
I pressed a hand to my forehead, breath uneven.
Had I imagined it? Had exhaustion broken me to the point where I was hearing things? Or…
Or had something finally awakened inside me? Something I was never supposed to have?
I closed my eyes tightly.
“Please…” I whispered. “If you’re real… say something.”
Nothing.
My chest tightened painfully. A tear slipped down my cheek before I could stop it. I hadn’t realised how desperately I needed that voice until the absence of it felt like a wound.
Minutes passed.
Hours maybe.
Time stretched like an unending rope.
Still nothing.
Just my heartbeat.
Just my shallow breathing.
Just the cold moonlight creeping across the floor.
And then, a soft, almost inaudible shift in the air.
A flicker at the edge of my consciousness.
For a moment, I thought the voice was returning.
But it wasn’t.
It was fading.
Drifting like a dying ember dissolving in the wind.
I reached out mentally, desperately trying to grab hold of it before it slipped away entirely.
But the harder I tried, the faster it vanished.
Until there was nothing left.
Nothing but silence.
Nothing but emptiness.
Nothing but the question burning through my mind, sinking its claws into me and refusing to let go.
Was the voice real or was I finally losing my mind?
- Writer
