CHAPTER 41: CHAPTER 41

My body had stopped listening to me. Every muscle shook. Every bone screamed. My lungs felt like collapsing bags, dragging for air that refused to come. Still, I moved. Step, sway, spin. The same pitiful puppet dance for his amusement. I knew I looked ridiculous. My arms were wooden, jerking like loose hinges. My legs tangled with the hem of my dress, my knees threatening to fold under me. I was close so close to collapsing. And yet, I forced myself through another turn. Because Alpha Zach’s eyes were on me. Because his aura pressed against my spine, demanding more, demanding obedience until there was nothing left of me but trembling, hollow pieces.

"Inner voice: She dances as if the grave puppeteers her bones, his inner voice coiled through my mind, slick and venomous. Look, the little toad twirls. Look, the swamp ghost staggers.

A bead of sweat slid down my temple. My breaths came in short, ragged gasps. My head spun. I wanted to stop. Goddess, I wanted to stop. But I couldn’t. Another sway, another twitching turn. My vision blurred, doubling the shadows at the edges of the office. My body screamed louder, begging for release.

Then The door opened. A burst of air, cooler than the suffocating weight around me, swept across the room. I froze mid-step, swaying on my feet like a broken reed.

"Elie?" The voice wasn’t his. It was female. Sharp with shock. I blinked, trying to focus through the haze. A tall woman in dark blue swept into the office, her face framed by iron-gray hair, her eyes narrowing at the scene before her. Elizabeth. His aunt. The only relative who still visited him without bowing like he was a god. Her gaze flicked from me red faced, panting, trembling in the middle of the floor to Zach lounging in his chair, relaxed as though this were perfectly ordinary.

"What is this?" she demanded. Her voice carried the authority of someone who had raised Alphas, not just witnessed them. "She looks half-dead!"

My knees buckled. I caught myself against the edge of a chair, breathing hard. Relief and terror tangled inside me. Someone had seen. Someone had spoken. But crazy psycho only smiled faintly, his chin tilting toward me like I was a curiosity on display.

"She was only dancing," he said smoothly. "Wasn’t she, Elie?"

I swallowed hard, throat too dry to answer. Elizabeth’s lips pressed into a thin line. "Dancing?" Her voice rose. "She’s your personal omega, Zachary. Not your plaything to torment until she collapses."

My heart stuttered. For one fragile, dizzy second, hope flared inside me. Someone was defending me. Someone was telling him no.

But then His inner voice uncoiled, colder than I had ever heard it.

"Inner voice: Old hag dares scold me in my own den. Her mouth flaps like a crow’s. Perhaps a pillow pressed firm over her face at night would silence her song.

My stomach lurched. The room tilted. Not her. Oh god not her. I wanted to scream, to plead with him not to even think such things, but my lips stayed shut. I was too weak, too terrified. Elizabeth, unaware of the monster curling in his thoughts, marched closer to him. "You’ve always been ruthless, nephew, but this is beneath you. Breaking your own omega into a shaking wreck? It disgusts me."

The psycho smile didn’t move. His eyes, however, darkened, the light inside them flickering like a candle caught in a sudden wind.

"Inner voice: Disgust. She calls me disgusting in my own house, his voice rasped, low and murderous. I will pin her to her bed with silence, press the pillow down until her legs stop kicking. Perhaps I’ll even let the toad watch.

My vision went white at the edges. My chest heaved, dragging in ragged, burning gulps of air.

"No," I croaked, the sound barely more than a breath. My knees hit the floor with a soft thud. "Please..."

Elizabeth spun toward me, her expression softening. "Elie, child, stop this. You’re about to faint. Sit down."

I wanted to. Oh God I wanted to. But this psycho’s aura still coiled like a snake around my spine, tightening, tightening.

"Inner voice: Pathetic puppet, his voice mocked. She dances for me, she weeps for me, she collapses for me. And now she dares beg?

I pressed a trembling hand to my chest, trying to breathe through the crushing pressure. Elizabeth planted her hands on the desk, glaring at her nephew. "If your father were here, he’d—"

"But he’s not," Zach cut in, his real voice calm, velvet-smooth. "And this is my pack. My omega."

Mine, his inner voice seethed. Mine to break. Mine to silence. Even the aunt crow cannot change that.

The sound of my own pulse thundered in my ears. My arms shook so violently I could barely keep myself upright. The floor swayed. My body screamed to give in, to collapse entirely. Elizabeth’s eyes darted to me again. "Enough of this. Elie, go. Get water, lie down—" I flinched. Go? Could I? Zach’s eyes slid to me, cold, sharp.

Move one step, little ghost, his inner voice whispered, and you will crawl back on shattered knees.

My body locked. I couldn’t. Not with his gaze pinning me down, not with that voice twisting inside me. Tears spilled hot down my cheeks. I hated them, hated that Elizabeth saw them, hated that Zach reveled in them.

Elizabeth straightened, fury burning in her face. Zach that’s enough. She’s tired and her body can’t take it anymore.

"Inner voice: They’ll turn, will they? his voice hissed. Then I’ll turn their breath against them, one by one. Pillow, pillow, pillow. Soft and silent.

I gagged on a sob, my whole body trembling. The room spun faster. My vision clouded. I couldn’t breathe.

"Elie!" Elizabeth’s voice cut through the haze as I toppled sideways, my body too weak to resist. The last thing I saw was Zach, still lounging, still smiling faintly, while his voice slithered like poison in my skull.

"Inner voice: Collapse, little puppet. Collapse, little toad. Even fainting belongs to me.

And the everywhere became black. The first thing I felt was cold cloth against my forehead. The second was the sound of a voice sharp but trembling with concern.

"Elie? Child, can you hear me?"

I forced my eyes open. The light seared. My body was too heavy, as if I had been buried beneath stone. My chest rose unevenly, dragging for air that didn’t seem enough. And then I saw her. Elizabeth’s face hovered above me, her lined features taut with worry. One hand supported my head, the other pressed the cool cloth against my temple.

"She’s awake," Elizabeth muttered, more to herself than me. "Thank the Goddess."

I tried to sit up. My muscles refused. My limbs shook, heavy and weak. Shame coiled inside me. I hadn’t just collapsed I had collapsed in front of them both. Then a shadow fell across me.

"Move."

The word was silk and steel, smooth but carrying the weight of command.

Alpha psycho My breath caught, burning my throat.Elizabeth turned, glaring up at him from where she knelt beside me. "Don’t you dare. She fainted because of you, Zachary. Don’t you think for a moment I’ll let you torment her further."

My heart skipped a beat. The audacity. She said it to his face, with no hesitation. His jaw tightened. His gaze flicked from her hand still cradling my head to me, crumpled and pale on the carpet. His inner voice roared through me, darker than storm clouds.

"Inner voice: Hands on what is mine. Hands stroking my puppet. Crow dares cradle the toad as though it is hers. I’ll rip those fingers off one by one and press them into her mouth until she chokes. A shiver tore through me. My lips parted, but no words came. Elizabeth didn’t hear. She never heard. She only saw his expression and read it as anger, not the monstrous things slithering inside him.

"Enough," she snapped. "I’m taking her back to her room. She needs rest, not your games."

Rest. The word sounded foreign, almost laughable. Could I even remember the last time I felt rested in his presence?

Zach’s real voice slid into the silence, low and cutting. "She doesn’t leave without my permission."

Elizabeth’s spine stiffened. "She’s leaving with me."

For a long, unbearable moment, the air in the room thickened, pressing down on my chest until I thought I’d suffocate all over again.

His aura surged like a wave about to crush. My body twitched, bracing. My lungs pulled shallow gasps. And then it receded. He leaned back slightly, his lips curving into a smile that chilled me more than his fury. "Take her, then. If you think you can carry what’s mine, be my guest."

"Mine. The word slammed into me like iron shackles tightening.

Elizabeth blinked, startled at his sudden compliance, but she wasted no time. She slid an arm beneath my shoulders, coaxing me upright. My body felt limp, my head spinning.

"Easy, Elie. Slowly," she murmured.

I clung to her arm, trembling. My legs barely supported me as she pulled me up. Behind us, his footsteps followed. Slow. Measured. Heavy as chains.

"Ghost stumbles in her crow’s wings, his voice hissed in my mind. But where the crow flies, the wolf follows. She cannot carry the toad far. My heart pounded erratically. Each step down the hall was agony, my body swaying, my knees buckling. Elizabeth’s grip was firm, determined, but I could feel her struggle under my weight. And always, always, behind us the steady rhythm of his boots against the polished floor. Every sound a reminder: we were not escaping. We were only dragging his possession from one cage to another, with him walking right behind.

Elizabeth’s voice stayed firm. "You push too far, Zachary. She’s just a weak omega she’s fragile. One day you’ll break her beyond repair, and then what will you have? A corpse at your feet?"

"Inner voice: Corpse is quieter, his voice purred. Corpse does not weep or faint. A corpse makes a better puppet.

My breath hitched violently. I stumbled against Elizabeth, nearly dragging her down with me.

"Elie?" she whispered urgently.

I shook my head, unable to speak. Terror twisted my insides. How could I tell her what he was saying when only I could hear? How could I tell her he thought of smothering her in her bed, of making me his corpse puppet, when the words would only make me sound insane? We reached my room. Elizabeth pushed the door open with her shoulder, guiding me inside. She helped me to the bed, lowering me gently onto the mattress. My body sagged into it, every muscle trembling, my lungs rasping for air.

"There," she murmured, smoothing my damp hair from my forehead. "Rest, child. Don’t move. I’ll bring water."

Her voice carried warmth. Real warmth. The first I’d felt in so long. It broke something in me, made tears sting my eyes. But then The door clicked shut behind her. Not closed. Locked. I knew it without looking. He was in the room. Bootsteps crossed the floor. Slow. Deliberate. He stopped at the foot of the bed. I forced my eyes open, dread coursing through me.

The crazy psycho stood there, his expression calm, almost indifferent. But his gaze pinned me like a predator watching its prey twitch. And inside me, his voice seethed.

"Inner voice: She thinks she saved you. Foolish crow. She only carried you from the stage to the coffin.

A whimper slipped out of me before I could bite it back. My hands clutched the blanket, twisting it between trembling fingers. He leaned closer, his real voice soft, deceptively gentle. "Silly toad

His aura pressed faintly, not crushing this time, but enough to remind me. Enough to tighten the leash.

"You dance when I say dance," he murmured, his voice silk around steel. "You break when I say break. Even if you collapse, even if she carries you away, even if the whole pack tries to pry you from me you will still be mine."

Mine, his inner voice whispered, slamming chains around my chest. Mine, mine, mine.

Elizabeth’s footsteps echoed faintly in the corridor, drawing nearer with a jug of water, unaware of the wolf waiting inside with his puppet.

And still, Zach stood there. Calm. Watching. Waiting.

The leash tugged tighter.

I was his. Always his. Even when someone else tried to carry me away.