[Ann's POV]
The wind howled around me. My hair whipped against my face. Debris stung my cheeks. But I stayed where I was.
"If you really think that I'm a threat to Lady Ovelia…" I raised my chin, meeting his gray eyes through the chaos. "Then kill me."
The words came out steady. Calmer than I felt. Calmer than I had any right to be.
"But if you let me live—if you believe even a little that I'm telling the truth—then help me. Help me control this thing inside me. Help me protect her. Because I can't do it alone."
I bowed my head. A deliberate gesture. Vulnerable. Trusting.
"Please." The word felt foreign on my tongue.
I had never begged for anything in my life. Not when I was an assassin. Not when my mate died and left me alone in a world that wanted me dead.
But I begged now. For Ovelia. For the chance to be something other than a monster.
[Gale's POV]
I stared at her.
