Thalia's POV The room felt as though it were shrinking, the air growing heavy and suffocating until nothing remained but the thick, intoxicating scent of Lysander’s musk. I stood there, rooted in the center of the chamber, my skin crawling and burning under a gaze so intense it felt as if he were stripping me bare, layer by agonizing layer. "Do you really think you can run from me after everything I sacrificed to possess you, Thalia?" His voice was a low, guttural hiss that vibrated deep in his throat, a sound that bypassed my ears and went straight to the primal dread coiled in my stomach. His massive, calloused hand shot out, not with hesitation, but with the cold, ruthless precision of a predator closing in on its prize. He gripped my shoulder, the fabric of my thin nightgown offering no resistance. Srak! The sharp, jagged sound of silk tearing echoed violently in the sudden silence of the room. "Thalia, you belong to me," he growled, his eyes darkening to a shade of molten
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