(Astraea's POV)

The bed was shaking.

That was the first thing my mind registered - a rhythmic, insistent rocking that pulled me from the deepest sleep I'd ever known. My consciousness surfaced slowly, like a drowning woman clawing toward air, but my body stayed pinned to the mattress.

My eyelids cracked open the tiniest fraction. My fingers wouldn't move. My legs were dead weight. My jaw was locked shut, tongue thick and useless behind my teeth.

And then I heard it.

A woman's moan, breathy and suppressed, coming from less than two feet away.

Through the sliver of my half-open eyes, I saw them.

Dominic was slamming into Melina right on the edge of our bed - my bed, our marriage bed - with his back to me. Melina was riding him like a whore, her legs spread wide around his hips, her nurse's uniform hiked up to her tits.

His hands gripped her ass hard, bruising her skin as he thrust up into her pussy with brutal force. He bit down on her nipple, sucking and growling like a fucking animal, while she ground down on his cock, begging for more.

The mattress bounced violently with every rough pound. Each slam sent shockwaves through the springs, up through the sheets, straight into my spine.

I wanted to scream. God, I wanted to scream so badly my throat burned with it. But the sound wouldn't come. My vocal cords were as paralyzed as my limbs. I can barely blink, what's wrong with me? Maybe this is just a nightmare?

"Fuck me harder, Alpha... ram that big dick in me," Melina panted, her voice dripping with slutty desperation. The sloppy, wet slaps of their bodies echoed in the silence of our bedroom.

I never expected my bedroom to become a playground for my mate's indulgence. There was a time when Dominic would tuck me in every night, kiss my forehead, and hold me in his arms so I could rest well.

Melina suddenly stiffened. Her eyes - wild and glazed with lust - drifted toward me.

"She blinked," Melina gasped. "I think Astraea just blinked."

Dominic didn't even look up from mauling her tits. "No fucking way. I doubled the dose tonight - wanted to pound you without interruptions."

Doubled the dose.

I thought of that goodnight tea. Since giving birth, my body has suffered serious trauma; Dominic prepares the goodnight tea for me every night, and today I accidentally spilled half of it.

He reached over and touched my face and hair. His fingers reeked of her cunt - that cheap jasmine mixed with her dripping juices. I held every muscle in my face absolutely still. I didn't breathe. I didn't blink.

"See? Dead to the world." He turned back to Melina and shoved her down harder on his cock. "Now shut up and take it, you dirty slut."

She laughed - a throaty, eager whine - and started bouncing on him again, moaning like a porn star.

They fucked like beasts for what felt like forever after that. I couldn't tell how long. Minutes bled together in the dark. The bed shook. Melina screamed his name, begging him to fill her up. Dominic snarled crude shit at her - "Gonna fuck you raw, you greedy whore" - in a guttural voice he'd never used on me.

And I lay there. Two feet away. Paralyzed. Awake. Tears leaking silently from the corners of my eyes and soaking into the pillow, and neither of them noticed or cared.

Melina left sometime before three. I heard the soft click of the door, the padding of bare feet down the hallway. Then the shower ran. Dominic emerged smelling like soap and cedar, all traces of jasmine scrubbed away.

He slid into bed behind me and pulled me against his chest. His body was still furnace-hot, his heartbeat still elevated. He pressed his lips to the back of my neck.

"Goodnight, little wolf," he murmured.

Within minutes, his breathing evened out. He was asleep.

I was not.

The drug released its grip slowly - fingers first, then wrists, then arms. By four a.m. I could move my toes. By four-fifteen I could turn my head. I lay perfectly still for ten more minutes, counting his breaths, making sure he was deep under.

Then I sat up.

The tuberose tea sat on my nightstand where it always did. Dominic brewed it for me every evening without fail - his little ritual of devotion, he called it. To help me sleep. To help me heal.

I picked up the cup. A quarter inch of amber liquid still sat at the bottom. I poured it carefully into a ziplock bag from the bathroom drawer and sealed it shut.

Evidence.

My hands were steady. That surprised me.

I crossed to the walk-in closet and reached into the lining of my old suitcase. The burner phone was exactly where I'd left it six years ago - dead battery, cracked screen, but functional. I plugged it in and waited for it to power on, then dialed a number I'd never forgotten.

It rang twice.

"Astra?" The voice on the other end was warm, steady, instantly familiar. "Is that you? You finally called."

"It's me, I want to leave here." I said quietly. "Will you still help me?"

"Of course, I've been waiting for this call for six years," his tone on the phone was resolute.

"But you know the power your mate Dominic holds in the Northern Territory now, and I need time to prepare."

"Okay, I'll wait for you." I felt a weight lift off my shoulders. "How long do you need? Can I... can I bring my son Cyprian with me?"

"Of course, one month, two plane tickets, wait for me."

"Astra. I'll come personally."

Reid Mordred. Alpha King of the European Territory. And the man who knew exactly who I really was.

Those years Dominic thought I'd spent studying abroad in Europe? I'd been training as Reid's second-in-command. The ghost they called "Echo" - the one whose name made pack intelligence officers go pale - that was me. I'd walked away from it all for Dominic. For love. For the dream of a family.

What a goddamn joke.

I ended the call and walked back to the bedroom. Dominic was still sleeping, sprawled on his back now, one arm flung across my side of the bed.

I picked up the calendar from my desk and turned to next month. With my thumbnail, I scored a deep crescent into the paper, thirty days from today.

Then I lay back down on the bed.Dominic rolled over in his sleep and draped his arm across my waist, pulling me close. His breath was warm against my hair.

I stared at the ceiling. I did not push him away.

His control over the Northern Territory is growing stronger by the day; I must be careful and mustn't let him discover that I'm planning to run.

Thirty days.