Love was a dangerous emotion, it always was, even when I despised it most, I was slowly coming to admire the word again. Xerxes’s sick love had morphed into an obsession, and I was suddenly having flashbacks of my past. I was holding onto a piece of me I desperately wanted to let go of. My efforts to start over and leave my past behind were all in vain. He scared me. Terrorised me. Ironic how the mate I thought I was in love with was the sole reason that made me feel the hatred that much.

My body felt overly exhausted, my limbs aching, the back of my spine...