PART I: THE EDGE OF DEATH
Chapter 1: When the World Goes Quiet
Pain had become normal.
That was the most terrifying part.
Tristana Colbert no longer flinched when Cristoff's voice sharpened. No longer cried when his hands became weapons. Pain was routine. Predictable. Survivable.
Until the night it wasn't.
The argument had started over nothing—something trivial, something forgettable. It always did. But this time, something in Cristoff snapped further than usual.
The blow came harder. The next one, worse.
Her back hit the marble floor. Air fled her lungs.
"Pathetic," he sneered.
She tried to shift—tried to call on her wolf—but her body wouldn't respond. Fear spiked. Real fear. Not the kind she'd learned to bury.
"Please…" she whispered.
That only made him angrier.
The last thing she remembered was the sound of something cracking—and then silence.