Winter’s POV

My face burned, then went numb, the pain blurring into a dull, throbbing haze.

Just when I thought I could not feel anything anymore, she twisted sharply and drove her fist into my gut.

The air tore out of my lungs.

I folded forward instinctively, nausea crashing through me as agony ripped deep into my core. I could not even scream. I could not breathe. I could only stand there, shaking, while the reality settled in.

This was the punishment.

Not from the Alpha’s hands, but by ...