Sometimes, when Summer comes back to himself, I cry and whisper apologies to him through the bars.
"I’m so sorry, Summer… because of me, your life’s even worse now. But I swear to you, I never tried to seduce Rocco. That bastard makes me sick…"
But he just shakes his head and says, "I know, Sun. You don’t have to explain."
One day, I wake up curled on the floor of the cage, every inch of me screaming in pain. He electrocuted me so many timesthe night before I lost count. I see a shadow leaning over me. A face peering through the bars.
For a moment, I can’t process what’s happening. My mind’s too fogged up to make sense of anything.
Then, slowly, the blur clears, and I recognize the face.
Luca Ferro.
The purple alpha stares down at me. And I swear, Fate, I swear, I see something like sympathy in his eyes.
"I have a message for you, Sun."
I gaze up at him blankly, mouth hanging open, body completely numb.
"Hold on."
"That’s the message?" I breathe out.
Luca nods slowly.
"I… I don’t have a future. Doesn’t matter what I do, someone’s going to suffer…" I whisper. "I wasted my life."
There’s nothing left in me, not even tears. Just a faint sigh.
"Just kill me already. End it. But please… leave my family out of this. Let them live."
Luca reaches through the bars and brushes his fingers against my limp hand.
"Stay strong, Sun. Just hold on…"
I scoff, bitterness rising in my throat.
"Why are you telling me this? Who the hell are you to say that?"
"It’s not from me. Someone asked me to pass it on."
"Who?"
Luca shakes his head.
"I can’t say. But he wants you to keep fighting."
Then he turns and walks away.
What the actual fuck?
Did that really just happen? Or was it some hallucination, some desperate fantasy my broken mind conjured to give me hope?
He probably wasn’t even real. Just a dream. It doesn’t matter anyway.
There’s no way out of this.
So I close my eyes… and fall back into sleep.
