Chapter 128. The Flames of Past

Xerina’s POV

In the dark, I drifted.

I could feel nothing, see nothing. Only the faint hum of thoughts that weren’t mine. Twisted whispers threading through the silence. My body was somewhere far away, left behind in the waking world. But here, in this space of nothing, I was free.

Or so I thought.

Until the images began.

Flashes. Faces. Zane, Leon, my mate… my family.

All of them, their voices overlapping, rising in a deafening chorus. Promises and lies. Chains wrapped in the illusion of freedom.

They never wanted to save me.

The clarity hit me like a slap, sudden and sharp. They were all using me. Zane, with his endless manipulation, wrapping me in his games. Leon, with his silver-tongued promises of power and freedom, when all he sought was control. My mate, who should have been my sanctuary, my light in the darkness, had abandoned me to the shadows. And my family… they were no better. They feared what I could become.

I