Chapter 109. Shattered Truths

Xerina’s POV

I didn’t know how many days had passed or if they were just hours. I couldn’t tell.

Zane would come now and then, whispering things into my ear. Cruel, haunting, and dangerous things.

The darkness around me felt suffocating as if the walls of the room were closing in, pressing against my skin. Zane’s words echoed in my mind, an incessant whisper that refused to be silenced. I pressed my palms against my temples, trying to drown out the noise, but it was useless. The more I fought, the louder it became.

You belong to us...

The shadows seemed to writhe and twist, shifting into shapes that didn’t belong. Faces—familiar yet strange—started to emerge, their features distorted, like reflections in a broken mirror. My breath caught in my throat as I recognized them.

My mate. My family.

But something was wrong. Their eyes, once filled with warmth and love, now gleamed with something dark, something malevolent. They stared