Chapter 4: Fever and Pride

The opulent room they’d given me felt less like a sanctuary and more like a prison cell. The air itself was thick with the scent of pine, earth, and wild animal—a constant, oppressive reminder of where I was, whatthey were. After Kaden left, the silence became a living thing, punctuated only by the distant, haunting howls that echoed through the night. Each one sent a fresh jolt of terror through me, making me curl tighter into a ball on the too-soft bed. My mind replayed the events on a...