Chapter Four

Cassiopeia Nyx

I awoke to a world shrouded in confusion. The ceiling above me was unfamiliar, an expanse of soft gray, nothing like the damp, cracked stone I had grown accustomed to. My heart raced as I tried to piece together the fragments of my last memories. The Purge. There had been darkness, a cold finality, the sting of pain, and then…nothing. How was I still here? I was supposed to be dead.

My fingers curled into the sheets beneath me, the texture soft and luxurious against my skin. I glanced around the room. This was wrong. I shouldn’t be feeling anything. I shouldn’t be…alive. Panic clawed at my chest, my breath quickening as I forced myself to sit up. My body felt strange, heavy, as though it didn’t belong to me.

Before I could make sense of my surroundings, the door creaked open, and a woman hurried in. Her movements were quick but gentle, her eyes filled with something I didn’t recognize at first—pity. She looked at me like I was something fragile, something broken. 

“ Oh chlid, You’re awake,” she said softly, her voice laced with relief. She fretted over my condition , my pale skin , my discouraging weight.

"What did they do to you child" She whispered in disbelief, her face morphed in understanding. She made a move to come closer to me but I shuffled back wards making her halt In her actions. 

I stared at her, unable to form a coherent response. Everything about this felt wrong. Who was she? Where was I? The questions burned at the back of my mind, but the words refused to come. 

She stepped closer, hesitating for a moment before speaking again. “Your mate will be here soon.”

Her words sent a jolt through me, a surge of emotions too overwhelming to name. My mate? I didn’t need a mate. I needed to die. The thought of continuing this existence, of finding some new reason to live, was too much to bear. My entire life had been nothing but pain and suffering. I had wanted to end it, to escape it all. And now this stranger was telling me that my fate was bound to someone else?

I shook my head, refusing to accept it. This had to be a dream. Or maybe I was in heaven, a twisted version of it where the pain had been replaced with this dull, disorienting numbness. But the woman’s eyes, the way she looked at me with no hatred, no disgust—it didn’t fit. I had never been looked at like that before, and it only added to the confusion swirling inside me.

The door slammed open before I could gather my thoughts, and a large man burst into the room. His presence filled the space, a towering figure with an intensity that made my breath catch. He moved toward me with a speed that left me no time to react, launching himself at me with a force that made me tremble in fear.

I flinched, closing my eyes, waiting for the inevitable pain. But it didn’t come. Instead, I felt his arms wrap around me, pulling me close, his body warm against mine. He held me like I was something precious, something to be protected. His breath was soft against my hair as he cooed words I couldn’t understand, his hands gentle as they stroked my back.

The first thing that hit me was his scent. It was mouthwatering and earthy. Like wet soil and rain. 

My entire body tingled like I was set on fire, Not the kind of God Flame that we knew but the type that activated all your senses. I felt every single shock in the entirety of my core. My parched and dry lips parted in shock as I let out a breathy gasp.

The warmth of his embrace was unlike anything I had ever known. It wasn’t the searing heat of the poker iron my father used to brand me with, but a soothing, intoxicating warmth that seeped into my very bones. I wanted to push him away, to fight the feelings of comfort he stirred in me, but my body betrayed me, leaning into him, desperate for the safety he offered. 

"I'm so sorry" he whispered, his deep and authoritative voice quaking with his intention."You endured so much because of me".

Because of him..

Who was he?

i didnt know any of these people. I was quite sure I had gone to heaven. There was no way I was feeling and experiencing this on earth. A sigh of relief escaped from my lips. Finally, I had successfully left that world behind. Heaven was even much better than I thought.

But then I heard it. An earthly name, spoken in reverence and fear by the woman who had watched the scene unfold.

“Alpha King, Please be careful with her.”

My blood ran cold, and terror gripped me like a vice. The Alpha King—the name was enough to send me spiraling into a panic. I had heard stories of him, tales whispered in the dark, of a monster who ruled with an iron fist. My mind couldn’t reconcile the man holding me with the image of the tyrant I had feared all my life.

My father's role model.

A horrified scream tore from my throat, raw and filled with every ounce of terror I felt. The sound echoed off the walls, bouncing back at me, amplifying my fear until it was all I could hear. The man holding me stiffened, his grip tightening as though he could hold my fear at bay through sheer will.

But nothing could stop the terror that coursed through me. Not even the warmth of his embrace could silence the horror that had taken root in my heart. I was trapped, caught between the comfort of his touch and the paralyzing fear of who he was. And I didn’t know which was worse.