Madison’s POV
The cell is quieter than I expected. It’s not empty, never empty, but hollow in a way that is pressed against the chest. Dylan is sitting on the stone bench, shoulders dropped, hair unbound, the leftover pride stripped from him along with everything else. This is not the Alpha who once commanded rooms with a glance. This is a man who has been defeated by fate.
I didn’t plan to come alone. But something in me needed to see him like this, to understand the ending before I could step fully into what comes next.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he said without looking up.
“Neither should you,” I replied gently.
He laughed, short and fragile. “You always were good at that. Saying the thing that hurts without meaning to.”
I moved closer, careful, not afraid but just wary. “I didn’t c
