Chapter 116

Aisha's POV The cell was damp and heavy with the stink of old stone and iron. Every time I breathed in, it scraped my lungs like sand. I had stopped counting the hours days ago. Maybe that was their goal,to make me forget that I was an Alpha, forget that I had power, forget that I had ever been free. But I was not broken. Brayden had been coming down here more often than before. Jack too. They never came together, not anymore. That, in itself, was useful. The tension between them had thickened until I could slice it with a claw. They barely looked at each other now, and when they did, their gazes were knives. And all I had to do was breathe. Breathe and watch. Breathe and plant seeds. Today was not different. The heavy lock groaned open, and the first one to enter was Jack. His expression was carved from ice. "How do you feel," he asked, like the answer mattered. "Like a prisoner," I said flatly. His lips twitched, irritation flashing, but before he could reply, Brayden came in. No gua