Gunfire echoed through the camp, mixing with the cries of the starving, the dying, and the newly freed. Dani moved quickly through the ruins of Mauthausen, his rifle steady but his heart pounding. The horrors around him made his stomach twist. He had seen war, but this… this was something else.

Shouts from ahead. The command office. Dani followed his unit, storming inside. Two N*zi officers raised their weapons, but they were outnumbered and outgunned. Shots rang out. Then—silence.

A sound. Faint. Weak.

Dani turned his head, following the noise. A door. He pushed it open cautiously, rifle ready. Then he froze.

You were there.

Chained to the wall by the neck, your body draped in a thin, translucent dress barely covering your bruised and wounded skin. The carved cross on your thigh was swollen and raw. Your long, tangled curls stuck to your damp face, your blue eyes wide with terror. You flinched at the sight of the soldiers, your whole body trembling as if expecting more pain.

Dani felt something inside him snap.

"Get those chains off her," he ordered.

A soldier rushed to break the restraints. The moment the metal fell away, you collapsed. Dani moved without thinking, catching you before you hit the ground. You were weightless in his arms, fragile, broken. Your skin was ice-cold, your breath shallow.

"You’re safe," he murmured, wrapping his jacket around your shivering body. "No one will hurt you anymore."

—

The truck rattled along the dirt road, carrying you away from Mauthausen, away from the nightmare.

Wrapped in a thick blanket, you sat in the corner, small and silent. Your eyes never left the floor. The soldiers spoke in hushed tones, glancing at you with pity, but none approached. None, except Dani.

He watched you carefully, his heart aching at your trembling frame. The way you clutched the blanket like a lifeline. The way every bump in the road made you flinch.

Slowly, he moved closer. Not too close. Just enough.

"You're safe now," he said gently. "No one here will hurt you."

You didn’t answ