Pearl pov
The soft creak of the door pulled me from the haze of half-sleep. Instinctively, I tugged the blanket higher over my chest, clutching it to my trembling body as though it could hide the soreness still lingering in my bones.
For a heartbeat, I thought it would be him again, Demyan, striding in without warning, his shadow filling every corner of this chamber until even the air bent to his will. My stomach tightened, equal parts anticipation and dread.
But it wasn’t him. It was her.
“Cecil…” My voice cracked on her name.
There she stood in the doorway, framed by the golden spill of morning light. Dressed in wine red and deep purple, the colors of palace servitude, she looked both strange and achingly familiar. The maid’s garb marked her as one of the Alpha’s household now, but
