The instant I broke the surface, the water’s icy grip wrapped around me like shackles of frost. Air tore from my lungs in a violent gasp as panic clawed through me, dragging me under. I thrashed blindly, each frantic kick burning what little strength remained.
I couldn’t swim. I’d never been taught; they always said I was too unworthy, too forgotten.
My chest burned as water flooded my mouth and nose, suffocating me. Above, voices warped into cruel laughter, merging with the thunder of my own heartbeat. Through the blur, I saw my mother’s cold silhouette at the pool’s edge, arms crossed, eyes gleaming with icy disdain, her voice sharper than any claw.
“Stop pretending, Kaia,” she sneered, her words dripping with venom.
“No wolf will fall for your pitiful act. You have been nothing but a curse since the day you were born. It was your weakness that allowed Nyra to be taken before, and now you try to destroy her again? I should never have birthed you into this world.”
Each word was a stone tied to my body, dragging me further beneath the surface.