Chapter 114. Seeds of Doubts

Xerina’s POV

It was dark. Not the darkness of night, but the kind that seeped into my bones, cold and unrelenting. My body was bruised, my soul even more so. Everything hurt, but it was the kind of pain I was beginning to get used to. Not the sharp, sudden pain of a strike, but the dull, persistent ache of being broken down, piece by piece, until there was nothing left.

I could still feel Leon’s presence, his twisted smile, the way he relished in my suffering. But it was different now. The pain was different. It wasn’t just physical. It was mental, emotional. The memories, or what I thought were memories, clung to me like shadows, whispering doubts into my ears.

Rasmus was dead. My mate, gone. The words echoed in my mind, over and over, until they became my truth. I tried to remember him—his voice, his touch, the way his arms felt around me. But the images were fading, like a dream slipping through my fingers as I woke. My love for him, once a beacon