They didn’t let her leave the territory.
Not explicitly.
No guards at her door. No chains. No commands barked in Alpha tones. Just a quiet, suffocating vigilance that wrapped around her like wool soaked in water—heavy, warm, impossible to shrug off.
Ember noticed it in the way warriors suddenly appeared on patrol routes she favored. In the way Aurora’s laughter dimmed when Ember entered a room, as if joy itself was afraid of reminding her what she’d lost.
In the way her parents watched her.
Not with suspicion.
With fear.
That hurt worse.
She sat on the edge of the training field long after dusk had fallen, knees drawn to her chest, watching the moon climb through torn clouds. Vespera lay curled inside her, restless but subdued, her presence muted since the clearing.
They don’t tru
