The silence came like a held breath, silver noticed it when she woke. She lay still beneath the furs, eyes open, waiting for the familiar brush of sound along the edges of her thoughts. The whispers had become a constant companion over the past weeks, unwelcome but predictable. They curled through her mind at odd hours, pressed into her insecurities, named her fractures with cruel intimacy.
This morning, there was nothing, no murmur or presence.
Her chest tightened.
She sat up slowly, pressing two fingers to her temple as if she could coax the sound back. The quiet stretched, deep and unnatural, like a forest emptied of birds, it was too still.
Her wolf stirred uneasily beneath her skin, pacing in a tight, anxious circle. It didn’t feel relieved.
It felt lost.
Silver swung her legs o
