*Chapter 14: Fallout*
The courtyard stayed silent long after Damon’s footsteps faded past the gates.
It wasn’t the good kind of silence. It was the kind that settled after a blade was drawn but hadn’t fallen yet.
Mara didn’t speak for a full minute. She stood at the edge of the dais, watching the crowd. Half the pack was still on their knees, heads bowed to the new bond. The other half stood rigid, faces unreadable. Fear and loyalty were warring in that back half. I could see it in the way their hands clenched and unclenched at their sides.
“Disperse,” Mara said finally. Her voice was calm, but it carried. “Go home. Speak to your families. The pack will meet again in three days.”
No one moved for a second. Then the crowd broke, slowly, like ice cracking under weight. Conversations s
