CHAPTER 19: CHAPTER 19

Sleep. That rare, beautiful gift. Something I was rarely blessed with ever since becoming his omega. But that night? That one, pitiful, exhausted night? I finally got it. After twelve solid hours of servitude, polishing swords used in actual executions, sewing decorative wolf pelts onto curtains that didn’t need wolf pelts, wiping down a throne that probably still had rogue blood under the cushions I collapsed into my hay bed in the omega quarters like a corpse tossed into a cart.

My arms ached. My legs screamed. My spirit whispered, "Goodbye, cruel world."

The snoring of fellow omegas around me felt like a lullaby. I wrapped myself in my ragged blanket, curled like a dead insect, and let the blissful dark take me Until it happened. Until he happened. Until the voice slithered into my mind, soft and eerie, and very much uninvited.

"Look at her. Sleeping like prey. So innocent. So breakable."

I flinched in my sleep. Was I dreaming?

"Her breath is so slow. I could count them until she stops."

My body twitched. I tried to convince myself I was dreaming. Delirious. Hallucinating. I mean, of course I was. I had just spent all day organizing Alpha Zack’s murder dagger collection by sharpness-to-screaming ratio. My brain had snapped. This was a hallucination. That voice? That was the subconscious crying for help. But then it continued.

"She has a tiny scar on her cheek. Probably from when she fell as a child. Should I kiss it or rip it open?"

My eyes flew open and I felt cold, like someone had dropped ice down my back.

The omega quarters were dark and quiet. The others were still asleep dreaming of berries, soup, or non-psychotic Alphas.and I was staring at the shadows in the corner.

And that’s when I saw him. Crouching like a panther. Shirtless. Grinning like he’d just found a squirrel in a trap. Crazy Alpha. He was staring at me. Right. At. Me. And then he moved closer. Silently. Swiftly. Like fog crawling over the graveyard floor. My breath caught in my throat. I tried to scream, but nothing came out. And then he leaned down and kissed my forehead softly and warmly

Like a deranged prince charming kissing a sleeping corpse.

"So warm. She smells like fear and soap. Delicious."

Flailing out of my hay bed, I flipped over two other omegas and slammed into the chamber wall with a shriek that could’ve woken the Moon Goddess herself. He blinked slowly, like I’d just interrupted a peaceful picnic. I scrambled backward on all fours, breathing like a hunted squirrel, clutching my blanket like it was body armor.

He tilted his head at me. "You’re awake."

I didn’t speak. I didn’t even nod. I just vibrated in pure, unfiltered fear.

"So twitchy. I love it. She’s like a wind-up toy full of anxiety."

I bit down on a whimper. He stood fully, looming like a statue of death, and casually said, "I want noodles."

I blinked. What? Noodles again? Was this a fever dream?

"If she refuses, I’ll strangle her. Gently. Just a little. Enough to remind her who owns her breath."

My whole body locked. I nodded once, very slowly and then bolted from the quarters like a chicken that had seen the cleaver.

Fifteen Minutes Later, I was in the Kitchen The pot of water bubbled like my nerves angrily, violently, and at the edge of explosion, I stirred the noodles like I was casting a desperate spell. Alpha Zack sat on a high stool in the corner of the kitchen, one leg propped up, watching me with that unnerving stillness that only truly unstable people possess. He hadn’t said a word since we got here. But his inner voice? It wouldn’t shut up.

"Her back is cute. So small. I could snap it or paint it. Hard to decide."

I whimpered softly.

"She stirs like she’s afraid the pot will attack her. Or maybe she’s afraid I will."

I almost dropped the spoon.

"This scent. Chili, garlic, sweat, and fear. My favorite dinner combo."

I dropped the spoon and the crazy psycho chuckled. That sound the laugh of a predator watching his prey trip into a trap. I bent down, picked up the spoon with shaking hands, and continued cooking like my life depended on it. Because it did.

"I could just take one bite. Of the noodles. Of her. Both? No. Not yet."

I blinked rapidly, my eyes blurring with panic tears. He leaned forward slowly, elbows on knees.

"Faster, little toad. I’m starving."

I nodded like a scared child in front of a hungry ghost. Minutes later, the noodles were ready. Spicy, red, and steaming.

I placed the bowl in front of him with both hands, barely able to hold it steady.

He inhaled deeply, eyes rolling back slightly.

Then he took one long, deliberate bite and groaned. Yes, groaned, like this was the highlight of his life.

"This," he murmured, licking the chopsticks clean, "tastes like fear and perfection."

I stood motionless, too afraid to breathe.

"She cooks like she’s afraid I will kill her if it’s bad. Which is fair. I would."

"A-Alpha can I go back to sleep now?"

He waved me off with his left hand which I interpreted as yes and I bolted. I just ran out of the kitchen like a banshee on fire, barely managing to keep from screaming. Straight to the omegas quarters. I threw myself back onto my hay pile, pulled the blanket over my head, and whispered a trembling mantra.

"I’m okay. I’m safe. He’s eating. He’s probably too full to murder. He’s not coming back. He’s not—"

"Maybe I’ll visit her again. Maybe I’ll build a little cage beside my bed for her. She’d look cute in iron."

I screamed again internally, of course. I couldn’t wake the others. I didn’t want them to know the truth. That I was being haunted by a voice no one else could hear. I was the only one. The only one who could hear the psycho Alpha Zack’s thoughts. The psycho Alpha. The nightmare of the northern border. The man who used severed rogue ears as curtain tassels. And his inner voice was getting louder. More intense. More disturbing

"Goodnight, little bunny. I’ll see you again. In your dreams. Or under your bed."

I curled into a ball, whimpering softly. I was losing my sanity. Thirty minutes later and I still couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t stay in the quarters. Every shadow looked like him. Every breeze felt like his breath. So I snuck out, thinking maybe a walk would help. Maybe fresh air would clear my head, and that was a very big mistake on my part, because as soon as I turned. Alpha Zack. Standing shirtless in front of his room, casually brushing his teeth with a twig dipped in honey, the psych saw me and smiled. I didn’t wait for another minute I started running back to the omegas quarters And behind me, I swear I heard

"She follows me like a little ghost. I should get her a collar. With bells."

Crazy man,I muttered under my breath as I closed the door of the omegas quarters. As sat on my bed.

I remember curling into a ball with my back to the wall, my arms folded protectively over my chest, the moonlight spilling faintly across the floor. Then I heard it, A voice. Low, Silky, Unmistakably his voice again

"She smells like cinnamon... no, no... she smells like my cinnamon..."

I froze in the dream or maybe I was already dreaming? I couldn’t tell anymore. The room looked the same, but everything felt slower. Louder. My breaths were echoing inside my own skull.

"Elie..."

His voice slithered across my skin like a cold wind and I was still lying there on my mat, but I couldn’t move. I couldn’t blink. I couldn’t even scream. Was this sleep paralysis? Was I being possessed? Then he stepped into view.

Alpha Zack. Dressed in shadows, barefoot, no cloak, no crown just his wild black hair tousled around his sharp jaw and his eyes glowing like twin lanterns in the dark. His pupils were wide, unblinking, watching me like I was a mouse he planned to swallow whole.

"She didn’t even flinch when I crushed that man’s skull today... She belongs to me."

My heart slammed against my ribs.

He was thinking, not speaking. But I could hear his thoughts.

"I will kiss her now. Just a little test. If she doesn’t wake up, she’s mine."

No. No, no, no. This had to be a dream. A hallucination. I’m made sure of it!

"She breathes like a rabbit. Fragile. Stupid. Pretty."

He knelt beside me, and his shadow swallowed everything else. I could see nothing but the curve of his mouth as it lowered toward my forehead.

I screamed inside my mind, but my body wouldn’t obey.

Then I felt it soft. Warm. His lips. On my lips

My entire body ignited in frozen horror.

"There. Mine. Marked. I should eat her. Or forcefully make her my mate. My eyes flung open, I jerked upright, panting, sweating, but I wasn’t in my room, I was in a cage?

A golden birdcage. Dangling in mid-air. The floor below me was glass and under the glass, there were wolves fighting. Snarling. Killing. Alpha Zack stood below, in a throne made of dragon bones, slurping noodles.

"You forgot the sauce," he said casually, twirling a noodle with a bloody claw.

"I... I didn’t make this!" I shouted. "I’m just an omega!"

"Exactly," he grinned. "My omega, My favorite little noodle chef."

"I don’t even like noodles!" I screamed back, tears stinging my eyes. He stood, and the wolves below parted. He jumped up impossibly high and landed inside the golden cage with me, his grin widening.

"You smell scared," he whispered, placing one cold hand on my cheek. "I like that."

"P-please don’t kill me..."

"I won’t kill you," he cooed. "I’ll just take a little bite."

Then he opened his mouth and his teeth were sharp, jagged, dripping with ink and fire. I saw the heads of other omegas hanging from his belt. I shrieked and kicked, trying to escape, but the cage shrank smaller and smaller, until we were nose to nose, and his breath fogged up my mind.

"You’re mine, Elie," he whispered. "Even in your dreams."

I bolted upright in real life, drenched in sweat. It was still night. The moonlight hadn’t moved. I touched my forehead. It was warm like someone had just kissed it.

No. No, no, no. It was just a dream. It had to be. I stumbled from my mat and rushed to the wash basin, splashing water onto my face. My hands were shaking.

"Just a dream," I whispered aloud, trying to believe it. Then I heard it, his voice again A faint whisper inside my head.

"Don’t forget the noodles..."

I screamed. Loudly. Violently. I threw the basin across the room, collapsing into the corner. I didn’t sleep for the rest of the night.