The stone beneath Xaden's back had long gone from cold to numb. Pain wasn't sharp anymore.
it pulsed like a dull drumbeat in the marrow of his bones. Each breath scraped his lungs, his body on the verge of surrender. He knew he didn't have much time left.
Days. Maybe hours.
His ribs were cracked, his lips split and bleeding. Hunger gnawed at his insides like a beast with teeth. He had faded into something thin and almost ghost-like, but not gone. Not yet.
Not until he tried.
Tonight, something was different. He had known it the moment the guards changed shifts earlier than usual.
One had grumbled about the Alpha being summoned for some urgent meeting beyond the eastern watch. Fewer patrols. Fewer eyes.
He wasn't strong. But strength wasn't what kept him alive.
It was something else.
A thread pulled taut beneath his chest. Something invisible. Familiar. Real.
