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One more chance. I can take one more chance.

With a deep breath, I force my shoulders to relax, and look up, meeting Soren’s moss-green eyes. “I understand… it’s just hard not to—to⁠—”

“It’s hard not to trust that someone isn’t going to hurt you in a situation where that’s all you know,” he murmurs gently, putting my feelings into words almost perfectly.

“Yes.” I exhale with relief. “Yes, that’s exactly what it feels like.”

Soren’s mouth parts, but before he can speak, the sound of the door swinging open from upstairs makes me jump.

Scrambling to my feet takes longer than normal, joints aching with each movement. I’m immediately on edge, the Alpha’s threat to use Alpha Command swirling through my head like a death knell I can’t escape.

Despite the pain, I must stand too fast. Out of nowhere, my vision blurs and wavers. I list to the side. I know it’s happening—that I’m falling—but it’s like my brain won’t speak to my limbs. Or maybe my limbs no longer understand what my brain is saying.

My shoulder slams painfully into the cold bars of the cell, but before I fall further, Soren’s there. He reaches through the iron, wrapping large, strong hands around my waist to keep me upright.

My vision goes black.

I blink. My lips cycle between numb and tingly, and my thoughts feel fuzzy.

“Idril?” Soren’s tone is urgent. I see the way he keeps glancing toward the staircase at the side of the room, but I can’t focus enough to figure out why.

“I-I’m… okay…” I croak, reaching out to grip the bars and using them to steady myself.

So much for starting our relationship on a foundation of truth; I am so far from okay, it’s terrifying—and I’m pretty sure Soren knows it. The dubious look he aims my way is practically calling my bluff for him.

I try to reassure him so he doesn’t worry, but my smile is shaky and hardly convincing.

“Just need something to eat, probably. You can let go now; I promise I won’t fall.”

I’m not making the conscious decision to lie, but my instincts are spiraling, and all my Omega cares about is reassuring him.

She’s determined to do everything right, convinced that if we mess up, he’ll reject us.

The sound of boots scuffing on concrete grows closer. I glance over my shoulder toward the stairs, right as Vaelenor and Silas round the corner.

The Alphas walk straight to my cell, and Vae reaches into his pocket, pulling out a set of keys. He quickly finds the correct one, slides it into the lock, and twists his wrist until the latch clicks. The door opens with a CLANG that reverberates off the stone and makes my head pound harder.

When I don’t move right away, he lets out an irritated grunt, like I’m doing something to keep them from wherever they’re taking me on purpose.

“Breakfast. You have questions to answer, so let’s go.”

Soren still has a hold on me, and at Vaelenor’s Command, his fingers flex in the material of my shirt, like he’s fighting to actually let me go.

I don’t say anything. I don’t want him to see how terrified I am. It will only make it worse.

Alpha Commands are hard on Omegas. I once read an old textbook where someone described it as standing in the middle of an ocean and getting hit by a massive, powerful wave.

If it happens once, it knocks the breath out of you—trips you up.

But if it happens two, three, four times in quick succession?

Then you’re drowning. Pulled into a watery grave with no one near to pull you out, and no chance to fight your way to the surface.

It’s also the only way to guarantee these Alphas know I’m telling the truth.

Which means the faster I answer, the less painful this will be.

I just wish I had faith that when they find out I haven’t been lying, it’ll be enough to actually change their minds.