Pearl's POV

I woke up to warmth. Not just from the blanket tucked around me, but something heavier. Closer

Someone.

My heart jerked. I kept my eyes closed, breathing shallowly.

Don't panic. Don't Move i knew he was watching me.

Even before I opened my eyes, I could feel him. Heat and power rolled off his body like a second blanket. The air around me pulsed with it, thick and heavy.

But I stayed still. Eyes closed. Breathing soft.

Maybe if I pretended to be asleep, he'd leave.

"Don't play with me," Dante's voice came, a low rumble against my skin. "I saw you. Open your eyes."

My heart stuttered and I obeyed.

Slowly, I peeled my eyes open and blinked against the morning light. Dante sat beside me, one leg folded beneath him, his obsidian eyes locked on mine. His presence filled the entire room, commanding and calm. He wasn't touching me but I could feel him everywhere.

His gaze drifted to my hands

I followed it. No cuffs.

Just... bandages

For a second, I couldn't breathe.

"I had to be sure," he said, voice unreadable.

I looked down, swallowing hard. "You should've done that a long time ago."

The words came out before I could stop them. My chest tightened. Stupid. Why did I say that? Was I crazy? Talking back to the Lycan King?

Dante's eyes narrowed but not with anger. If anything, he looked... thoughtful. Then he stood, brushing invisible dust from his dark shirt

"The maids will prepare you. We'll have breakfast together."

And just like that, he was gone.

He didn't mention the man he'd killed. Or how I'd watched the light leave that man's eyes. My hands trembled as I sat up, scanning the room.

Lavish was an understatement. The bed was like a cloud. Velvet curtains hung from the ceiling. Gold-trimmed furniture. A wardrobe larger than the prison cell I used to sleep in. This was a king's chamber and somehow, I was in it.

The maids came in like a gst of spring wind, all smiles and soft chatter. "Let's get you ready, miss," one of them said, already unbraiding my hair.

I didn't protest. I let them bathe me, dress me, pamper me like I was... someone.

When they finished, I stood before the mirror.

For the first time in forever, I looked at myself

My reflection stared back — my curls framed my face in soft waves, and my skin shimmered faintly with some kind of glowing oil. I didn't look like an Omega anymore. I looked like... royalty. Woman. Beautiful.

That word hit me like a punch to the chest.

Beautiful.

Kael used to call me that. His voice would dip when he said it, like the word had weight.

I blinked away the sudden sting in my eyes.

"Miss?" One of the maids smiled gently. "Breakfast is waiting."

Dante sat at the long table, already waiting. He didn't speak as I sat. Just... watched.

Like a hunter observing a trembling deer.

I tried to ignore the way his gaze made my cheeks heat.

I cleared my throat, picking up a fork. "Aren't you going to eat?"

He leaned back in his chair, eyes never leaving mine. "I'm full."

I choked on air, coughed awkwardly, and returned to my eggs. The silence stretched until the meal ended and then he said something that surprised me.

"You can go for a stroll around the pack. The festival's begun."

I frowned. "You're letting me leave?"

He raised a brow. "You're not a prisoner."

Could've fooled me.

But I nodded, said nothing, and followed Lisa, my maid, out.

She was buzzing with excitement. "You should visit the Gemstone Market, miss. It's only open once a year, during the Summer Festival. Packs from all over come to trade. Herbs, wines, dresses, everything! Lycan Vale may be feared but we're filthy rich, you know. That's why the market's always full."

I couldn't lie. The idea of escaping these four walls, even for an hour, made something flutter in my chest.

Freedom

Even if it was temporary.

When we arrived, it was like stepping into another world. The air was thick with perfume, spices, and laughter. Bright silk banners danced in the breeze. Merchants shouted about moon-blessed salt, phoenix feathers, enchanted soaps.

I stopped in front of a scarlet dress, hand-stitched with golden thread. It looked like fire and royalty all at once

"That one." My maid nudged me.

"No. It's too much."

She smirked. "If the Alpha sees you in that, he'll lose his shit."

I laughed under my breath. "Or he'll kill me.

"No. I saw how he held you last night when you fainted. Like you were breakable. Like you were his."

I rolled my eyes but heat crept up my neck.

She grinned. "Even this morning. He watched you like he hadn't eaten in days. I've served him for years and I've never seen him look at anyone like that."

I bit my lips, heart beating a little faster. "You're reading too much into it."

"Am I?"

Before I could argue, she pulled me into Gianna's Couture, the most luxurious store I'd ever seen. A smartly dressed attendant greeted me and offered a plush seat. I didn't know where to put my hands. I'd never been welcomed anywhere before.

"What dress caught your eye, miss?" the maid asked.

"The red one. The one outside."

Just as I opened my mouth to describe it again, a voice sliced through the air.

"Oh gods. Wait. You look like some useless Omega I used to know."

The blood drained from my face.

That voice. That laugh.

Mara.

I froze. My legs locked. I couldn't breathe.

She was standing right there. Her friends giggled beside her, flipping through racks like they hadn't just punched a hole through my chest.

She didn't recognize me.

Of course, she didn't. The dress. The makeup. The dignity I wore like armour.

I could hear my heartbeat pounding in my ears. My palms went clammy and my lips trembled.

Don't look scared. Don't look small.

I told myself. But then she reached out to touch me.

Reflex took over. I slapped her hand away.

She gasped and so did her friends.

"I'm... I'm sorry." I whispered, the walls closing in. "I didn't mean to—"

I bolted.

Out the door. Down the street. I didn't stop until I reached the carriage.

Tears blurred my vision. I climbed in, shaking.

The maid followed me inside. "Miss—"

"I'm fine," I said, voice brittle.

I wasn't fine.

I was shattered.

Memories slammed into me like a brick wall. Mara's laughter that night. Her guards are dragging me. The rejection. The humiliation. Kael turned his back. The slap. The blood.

I sobbed. Ugly, loud, hurting sobs.

When we reached the manor, I didn't smile at the guards like I usually did. I walked past them, stormed into my room, and locked the door.

Then I collapsed on the bed and cried like the broken girl I was still trying not to be.

A knock came at the door.

I flinched. "Go away."

Another knock. Firmer.

"Please, just leave me —"

The door burst open and I felt him before I saw him.

Dante.

He crossed the room in a few strides, grabbed my chin and tilted my tear-soaked face up to him. His scent, earthy and dark, wrapped around me like a stormcloud.

I stared into his eyes.

He wasn't angry.

He was furious.

"Who," he asked, voice like thunder, "made you cry?"

I swallowed.

He leaned closer.

His voice dropped to a whisper so lethal, it made my soul shiver.

"And how do you want them to die?”

“Go away," I cried, the words breaking in my throat.

My face was buried in the plush of the pillow, but the knock came again.

"Please - leave me alone!" My voice cracked.

Silence.

And then —

The door burst open

I didn't look up. I couldn't. My whole body was trembling. The sobs wouldn't stop. I didn't want anyone to see me like this. Not the guards. Not the maids.

Not him.

But I felt him.

The shift in the air. The scent of pine and smoke and something darker beneath it. The way my soul stirred, recognizing the presence before my mind did.

The bed ripped as he sat beside me.

I curled tighter into myself, gripping the sheets like they were the only thing holding me together.

"Who made you cry?" Dante's voice was low. Deadly calm.

I didn't answer.

I couldn't.

My throat ached, swollen from screaming into silence. My entire chest hurt. My wrists were bandaged but the pain inside me. The kind Mara unearthed just by existing was raw and bleeding.

"I asked you a question." He wasn't angry.

Not yet.

He was... concerned.

Terrifyingly still.

But I didn't move.

Didn't speak.

Tears kept falling, soaking into the pillow.

Then I felt it — his hand, warm and steady, brushing the hair away from my face. Gentle. Too gentle for the monster everyone said he was.

And just like that, the dam inside me broke.

A sob clawed its way through me.

Dante moved without a word. Suddenly, I was in his arms, lifted, cradled into his lap like I weighed nothing. My cheek pressed against the hard muscle of his chest. His warmth surrounded me, swallowing me whole. One hand rested on the small of my back. The other cupped my head, guiding it gently to his heart.

I didn't fight it.

I couldn't.

He didn't say anything. He just held me while I fell apart again. While I cried like a child who had no one because for so long, I didn't

And yet, here he was.

Not asking me to stop.

Not demanding an explanation.

Just... there.

"You're safe." he murmured, his voice rumbling beneath my cheek. "No one touches what's mine. Not again."

I flinched at the word.

Mine.

I didn't know what that meant to him but the way he said it made me want to believe him.

"I saw her," I whispered finally, my voice hoarse. "Mara."

He stiffened.

I felt the change in him immediately, the tension that coiled in his arms, in his chest, like a storm was rising just beneath the surface.

"She didn't recognize me at first," I said. "But then... she did. And I froze. I — I wanted to run. I did run. But not fast enough. She .. "

Dante's jaw flexed. "What did she do?"

Shame flooded back as I whispered. "She called me a useless Omega she used to know. She thinks I'm weak... broken... She probably thinks that I..."

"Stop." His voice cut through the room, sharp and commanding.

He pulled back enough to look at me. His hand came to my chin, tipping it up gently so I had no choice but to meet his eyes.

Those golden eyes weren't just angry.

They were furious.

But not at me.

Never at me.

"You're not weak," he said. "You survived hell. You clawed your way out of it. And anyone who dares to speak your name without reverence doesn't deserve a tongue."

My lips parted.

"I don't care what Mara sees," he added. "I know what you are."

"And what's that?" I asked barely a whisper.

"Mine."