The Breaking Point

TESSA MERCER.

I barely managed two hours of sleep. My right knee throbbed a vicious rhythm against the rough spun sheets, a stinging reminder of my fall on the gravel path. The phantom burn of Alpha Garrick’s whip still etched fire across my back. Every breath pulled tight against my bruised ribs. The thought of facing his cruelty for another full day clamped around my throat. I swung my legs ove