When my eyes fluttered open, for a few moments I believed I was still caught in some strange dream, for the soft ceiling above me looked so ordinary, so plain and white, that it could not possibly belong to the same world where last night’s madness had taken place. I lay completely still, listening to the faint hum of the morning outside, and tried to move my arms, then my legs, waiting for some hidden injury to remind me of the chaos that had happened, but everything felt normal. My fingers flexed, my toes wriggled beneath the blanket, even my chest rose and fell with a calm rhythm as though I had not been on my knees surrounded by growling Alphas only hours ago. For a heartbeat I dared to hope that maybe, maybe, it had all been a nightmare woven out of my deepest fears.

But when I turned my head slightly, when I dared to shift my neck even a little, the sharp searing pain that tore through my skin shattered the fragile illusion.