Elaine needed time—time to still her racing heart, to push down the storm threatening to break inside her. Her chest felt tight, every breath shallow, but she forced herself to pause just long enough to gather her composure.
She could not stay away for long. If she lingered too much outside, if she returned late, the whispers would only grow sharper. Attention was the last thing she wanted. Already, her very existence seemed to provoke curiosity, pity, or worse—scorn.
On the way to the dining hall, Alpha Darius had spoken to her as if nothing had been amiss, his presence commanding yet strangely comforting. But he hadn’t noticed, or perhaps he chose not to notice, the way every eye followed them as they walked.
She had. The weight of their stares pressed against her back like a thousand
