The meeting ends in a silence thicker than any argument. The messenger is gone. The scroll is sealed again in the Alpha’s hands. But the damage is already done. Something in the room has cracked open, and everyone feels it. They pretend not to look at me, but I feel their attention like invisible claws dragging across my back.
No one speaks to me as we file out of the hall. Not a word. Not even a breath directed my way. Wolves step aside as I pass, eyes sharp, wary, calculating. The Moonbond threads in my wrist pulse faintly, responding to the tension. Every heartbeat around me hits me like ripples through cold water.
Talon reaches toward my hand, but I pull it away before anyone notices. Not because I do not want to touch him, but because I can feel the fear spiraling through the hall.
