Darkness.
Then, pain.
A dull, pounding ache spread through my skull, making me wince as I stirred. My body felt foreign—like I had been asleep for too long, detached from it. I tried to move, but my limbs were sluggish, heavy, like they weren’t mine.
I exhaled sharply and forced my eyes open.
White.
The ceiling above me was smooth and unfamiliar. The bed beneath me was soft, the fabric of the sheets rich against my skin. None of it felt right. My chest tightened.
Where… am I?
Panic crawled up my throat as I sat up too fast, the room spinning violently around me. I gritted my teeth and pressed my palm against my temple, trying to steady myself.
I didn’t recognize this place.
I didn’t recognize...
My breath hitched.
I didn’t recognize anything.
The thought sent a cold shiver down my spine.
Why couldn’t I remember?
A door creaked open, pulling me from my panic.
Footsteps. Steady and controlled.
A tall figure stepped into the room. My chest tightened instinctively at the sheer presence of him—towering, commanding, exuding a silent power that made the air feel heavier.
His golden eyes locked onto mine, unreadable.
“Awake at last.”
The deep, cold voice sent a sharp jolt through me.
Something about him felt… dangerous.
I swallowed hard, trying to find my voice. “Who are you?”
His expression remained impassive. He didn’t move, didn’t react, as if my question was irrelevant.
I forced myself to meet his gaze. “Where am I?”
Nothing. No answer.
Fear curled in my stomach.
I clenched my fists against the sheets, my breathing unsteady. My mind was blank, painfully empty. No memories, no names, nothing that could explain why I was here or who I was supposed to be.
And yet…
Something about this man, Something about those eyes.
A strange feeling stirred deep inside me, an instinct I couldn’t place.
“Why can’t I remember anything?” My voice was hoarse, unsteady.
Finally, he moved.
Slow, deliberate steps carried him closer until he stood directly in front of me, looking down with an expression that sent ice through my veins.
“You don’t need to,” he said simply.
I blinked. “What—”
Before I could finish, his hand lifted.
Something pulsed in the air, something unseen but alive. I barely had time to flinch before his fingers pressed against my forehead.
A searing light erupted in my mind.
White-hot, electric—ripping through me like a storm.
I choked on a gasp, my entire body seizing as the world around me shattered.
And then—
Memories flash into my mind. It hit me like a tidal wave, brutal and unforgiving.
Pain. Betrayal.
And Ezekiel.
I saw him. I felt him—his touch, his warmth. The way his arms had wrapped around me, his voice a soothing promise in my ears.
“You are my queen, Viana. Naya is our princess. I will always protect you both.”
“You are my life. You and Naya. Nothing will ever come between us.”
“I will be the strongest Alpha for you. No one will ever hurt you two—not while I still breathe.”
The words echoed in my head.
Lies.
The memory twisted, warping into something darker.
Naya’s cries, desperate, weak.
Blood. So much blood.
And Ezekiel—
Turning away.
I gasped, my entire body shaking as the memories kept crashing down.
The humiliation. The way they laughed at me when he abandoned me.
The agonizing, soul-crushing moment when I realized...
He chose her.
Not me. Not our daughter.
Skyla.
Rage burned through my veins, an all-consuming fire that threatened to devour me.
I clenched my jaw, my nails digging into my palms as I tried to steady myself. My chest rose and fell with each ragged breath, the weight of everything I had lost pressing down on me.
A name slipped past my lips before I could stop it.
“Prime Bloodbane...”
A sharp, suffocating silence filled the air.
I lifted my gaze, my vision still spinning, and met his eyes.
He was watching me—unmoving, unreadable. But there was something in his gaze now.
Satisfaction.
“You remember everything now,” he murmured, his voice disturbingly calm. “But tell me, Viana, do you still intend to keep your promise?”
His words were a dagger to my chest.
The promise.
I had made it before everything fell apart.
But now, now that I remembered everything…
My lips parted, but no words came out.
For a split second, I hesitated.
Ezekiel’s touch. His warmth. The way he had once looked at me like I was his world.
It was stupid. It was pathetic.
And Prime saw it.
His eyes darkened, his expression shifting into something dangerous.
A cold laugh left his lips. He leaned closer, his voice a sharp whisper.
“You’re hesitating?”
I swallowed hard, my pulse hammering in my ears.
Prime’s gaze sharpened, cutting into me like a blade.
Prime’s voice turned cruel. “Did you forget what he said that night?” His golden eyes burned with something unreadable. “He denied her, Viana. He denied that she was even his.”
My breath hitched.
“A child that carried his blood, a child who loved him, yet he chose to believe a fabricated test over his own mate.”
Something inside me snapped.
Like a thread pulled too tight.
Prime stepped back slightly, watching me with unreadable eyes. But there was no amusement anymore.
Just cold expectation.
“Tell me, Viana.” His voice was steady, unwavering. “Do you still intend to keep your promise?”
My hands curled into fists.
The memories burned. Ezekiel’s betrayal. Naya’s death.
I lifted my gaze to meet Prime’s.
And this time, there was no hesitation.
“Yes.”
The word was final. Absolute.
Prime’s lips curled into a slow, knowing smile.
“Then prove it.”
A force slammed into me, like the ground itself had risen to crush me. A suffocating, merciless heat filled the space, pressing down on my lungs.
The flames of judgment had begun.
