CHAPTER 47: CHAPTER 47

He hadn’t moved an inch. Still sprawled across the couch like he ruled the world. His golden gaze snapped to the bowl instantly. The smirk deepened. I shuffled closer, every nerve screaming in protest. My hands extended, offering the steaming bowl like a sacrifice to a god who delighted in devouring lives.

He didn’t take it gently. The bowl was snatched from my hands so fast I nearly toppled forward. The ladle clattered to the floor, rolling under the couch.

"Go sleep," he said, tone dismissive. Not even a glance at me anymore his attention already on the noodles.

I blinked. "W-what?"

"Sleep." He gestured vaguely toward the corner of the room, like I was an inconvenient pet to be tucked away.

"Inner voice: Obedient little rat. She will curl up wherever I point. Maybe under the table. Yes, that would be hilarious. An omega nest under my furniture.

My fists clenched at my sides. If I opened my mouth, I’d scream. But I didn’t. Instead, I stumbled toward the corner he’d motioned at. My body felt like it was folding in on itself, too small, too tired, too broken to keep fighting. I lowered myself onto the rug, curling my knees to my chest, pressing my face into the scratchy fabric. Behind me, I heard the clink of chopsticks, the sound of broth being slurped, a sigh of contentment.

"Inner Voice: Not bad. She cooks like a frightened rabbit, but fear adds flavor. Yes. I’ll keep her in the kitchen forever. She can run, she can cry, but she will never escape. Omegas like her never do.

My chest tightened. My breath came in shallow, uneven pulls. I wanted to cry. But the tears refused to come. I shut my eyes instead.

And prayed I wouldn’t wake to find his smirk inches from my face. Sleep didn’t come easy with Alpha Zach only a few feet away, smirking between slurps of noodles like a predator gnawing on his prey. Every muscle in my body buzzed with nerves. My eyelids were heavy, but behind them, his golden eyes glowed in memory burning, amused, sharp enough to peel my skin away layer by layer. I hugged my knees tighter, hoping my heart’s frantic beats would somehow soften into something quieter.

Eventually, I couldn’t stand it. My chest felt like it might burst from holding myself so small. When his bowl clinked softly against the table, I seized the chance. On shaky legs, I rose and slunk toward the adjoining corridor, desperate to disappear before he noticed.

His head didn’t lift. He didn’t call after me. Relief and fear tangled inside me as I slipped into the little chamber that had been shoved onto me earlier a room meant more for storage than for someone breathing. The air smelled of dust and old cedar. A narrow cot leaned against one wall, the sheets rough and stiff, as though no one had touched them in years. Still, to me, it looked like heaven. I dropped onto the cot, ignoring the way it groaned under my weight.

For the first time all night, I allowed myself to breathe.

"I hate this place," I murmured again, softer now, my voice swallowed by the dark.

But peace never lasted long here. I had just begun to drift when muffled voices seeped in through the thin wooden walls. At first, I thought I was imagining them dreams bleeding into half-sleep. But then the voice sharpened, familiar, sharp with scolding.

Elizabeth.

"You cannot keep shirking responsibility forever, Zachary," she was saying. Her tone was clipped, proper, the kind of voice that carried in every hall. "The daughter of the neighboring Moonfang Pack will be arriving for a formal visit. Do you understand what this means? Their Alpha expects

A chair scraped faintly. I imagined him lounging the way he always did, draped like a king who couldn’t be bothered with crowns.

Silence stretched too long, too heavy. Then his inner voice slithered through, sharp and casual all at once.

"Inner voice: Strangle her. Slowly. Yes, right around the throat. That would shut her up. Her voice is worse than a crow choking on glass. My breath hitched.

"Zachary?" Elizabeth pressed on. "This is important. You’re of age. You cannot remain unbound forever. Think of the alliances. Think of the power we could secure. This girl is well-bred, well-trained. Everything an Alpha’s mate should be."

"Inner voice: Well-trained to bore me to death, perhaps. Maybe she’ll recite treaties in bed. Ugh. Elizabeth really doesn’t know me at all.

He gave a low hum. Out loud. Careless. Like he was humoring her. Elizabeth’s footsteps tapped sharply against the floor. I could almost picture her pacing, wringing her jeweled hands.

"You must meet her. At the very least, show them respect. Zachary."

"Inner voice: Respect? To them? To her? I’d rather feed myself to wolves. No, better. I’d rather strangle Elizabeth first, then feed her to wolves. Would the guards mind? Maybe. But it would be funny. Aunt stew.

I slapped a hand over my mouth to stop a startled sound from escaping. The psycho Alpha’s tone outside remained even, disinterested. "I heard you."

"You heard me?" Elizabeth snapped. "This is not about hearing. This is about doing. You cannot keep hiding away in these rooms with your—"

She stopped. My stomach dropped. With me.

Was that what she meant? Did she know? The silence that followed was suffocating.

"Inner voice: Say it, Aunt. Call her out. Call my little rat out. Watch her squirm. Oh, I’d enjoy that. But no you’d never dare. Not when I’m looking at you like this.

I squeezed my eyes shut. My palms pressed so hard against my lips I tasted blood.

Elizabeth coughed delicately, as though swallowing words. "Just... remember what I said. She arrives soon. You cannot ignore this forever, Zachary."

Her footsteps retreated, quick and clipped. The door thudded shut. Silence reclaimed the hall. But inside my head, his voice lingered like smoke.

"Inner voice: Marry some neighboring pup? Hah. What a joke. I already have my entertainment. A trembling little rabbit who cooks noodles on command. Why trade that for politics? Omegas are far more fun.

My stomach twisted, bile rising. He was talking about me. He had to be. I curled into the bed, pulling the scratchy blanket over my head as though it could shield me from his voice, his eyes, his smirk that wouldn’t leave my thoughts. But even under the blanket, I could hear the faint scrape of his chair, the lazy steps of his boots across the floor, the hum of his amusement drifting closer.

"Inner voice: Maybe I should check on her. See if my little rat is awake. Yes... peek in. Watch her pretend to sleep.

My pulse thundered. I squeezed my eyes shut tighter, forcing stillness into my limbs, praying to the Moon Goddess that if he did open the door, he’d see only a crumpled, sleeping omega, too insignificant to bother with. The floorboards creaked outside. A shadow passed across the thin slit beneath my door. Then silence again.

And in the silence, my own thoughts screamed:

I hate this place. I hate this place. I hate this place. But how do I leave?"

Because the psycho Alpha had already decided. And I was his. Whether I wanted to be or not.

But my body betrayed me. Exhaustion tugged harder with every blink, until my vision blurred and my lashes grew too heavy to lift. I promised myself I would stay awake, that I wouldn’t let sleep drag me into vulnerability. Yet slowly, steadily, I slipped. And when I did the nightmare began. At first, I thought I was still awake. I found myself in the kitchen, the faint glow of firelight flickering against stone walls. A pot of water bubbled on the stove, steam curling upward in white ribbons. I blinked, confused. Had I walked here without realizing? The spoon was already in my hand. The smell of noodles filled my nose, rich and spicy the way Alpha Zach always demanded. My stomach twisted. "Not again..." I whispered, though my voice echoed too loud, bouncing off walls that seemed suddenly too far away. The water hissed, boiling harder, and I felt sweat prickling down my spine. I stirred the pot once, twice and then something pale and veined floated up from beneath the rolling surface. Not noodles. A hand. I froze, the wooden spoon clattering to the ground. My lungs forgot how to work as the hand pressed against the surface of the water, fingers spreading wide as if testing the barrier. The boiling didn’t burn it instead, the flesh blistered and peeled away, revealing bone. And then the hand reached higher. A face followed, steam wreathed and monstrous, but unmistakable. Golden eyes cut through the haze, fixing directly on me.

"Cook for me," Alpha Zach’s voice purred, though his lips didn’t move. His grin stretched wider than any human mouth should, splitting up toward his ears. "Obey me, little Omega."

I stumbled back, but the kitchen was gone. Stone corridors stretched out in every direction, endless and identical. I ran, barefoot, the slap of my feet echoing into infinity. My breath came fast and shallow, but no matter how far I sprinted, the walls didn’t change. Every turn brought me back to the same place: the center of the hall, with shadows crowding closer. The whispers started then. Not one voice. A hundred. A thousand. All in his tone. All Alpha Zach. Some low and amused, some sharp as knives, some taunting and cruel.

"She thinks she can run."

"She thinks she can hide."

"She thinks she has a choice."

The laughter cut through me, ripping at my sanity. I clamped my hands over my ears, but it didn’t stop. His words weren’t around me they were inside me. Crawling under my skin, burrowing into my veins.

"You taste fear, don’t you?" a voice hissed right against my neck. Warm breath brushed my ear. I spun, but no one was there. Only shadows, thickening, stretching into shapes.

Golden eyes blinked open in the dark. One pair. Ten pairs. A hundred. They watched me hungrily. The ground cracked.

I fell. Plunging down into blackness, weightless, until icy water swallowed me whole. My mouth opened in a scream, but only bubbles escaped. The cold burned worse than fire, stabbing my chest, stealing every drop of air from my lungs. Above me, on the surface, stood Alpha Zach. Not the real one or maybe too real. His silhouette glowed faintly golden, his eyes like lanterns cutting through the dark water. He didn’t move, didn’t need to. His voice vibrated through the water, shaking my bones.

"You can’t escape me, Elie."

I kicked upward, desperate, but my limbs felt sluggish, tangled in invisible chains. Panic exploded in my chest. I clawed at the water, at nothing, struggling to reach the surface.

"You hear me even when I don’t speak."

His grin widened.

"You belong to me."

The water poured into my mouth, choking, suffocating. My chest heaved violently, body convulsing with the need for air. I screamed or tried to but my lungs filled with water, thick and burning.

I was dying. Again. I shot upright with a scream. My body launched itself off the bed, crashing to the floor. My skull cracked against the cold stone tiles, pain blooming white-hot behind my eyes. For a terrifying second, I thought I was still drowning. My throat convulsed, my chest spasmed, and I coughed, desperate for air that wouldn’t come.

Finally blessedly I sucked in oxygen. But it was sharp, ragged, scraping my lungs raw. My nails dug into my palms as I curled on the floor, gasping, trembling so hard my teeth chattered. The room was dark and quiet. But my heart refused to calm. I pushed up on shaky arms, every muscle trembling like a newborn foal’s. The blanket had tangled around my legs when I fell. I kicked it off, half-expecting another hand to slither from the fabric and grab me. My gaze darted around wildly. The four-post bed loomed above me like a cage. Shadows stretched long against the walls, curling at the edges as if waiting. I swallowed hard, pressing my back against the wall, needing something solid, real, unmoving.

"It was just a dream," I whispered. My voice cracked, too thin. "Just a nightmare..."

But the echo sounded wrong. Off. Almost like a laugh.

And then it was faint, barely there but I heard it.

"Mine.

I froze, blood turning to ice.

The word hadn’t come from my head. It hadn’t come from the room. It had come from... somewhere else. A whisper threaded directly into my bones, familiar and terrifying.

Alpha Zach’s inner voice.

But he was still asleep across the room. I could hear his slow breathing, steady and unbothered, as if the world couldn’t touch him.

I hugged my knees to my chest, trembling harder. Maybe I was still dreaming. Maybe the nightmare hadn’t ended.