By the time I stepped onto the training field, the dirt had already been churned up by too many boots and too much waiting, and the whole clearing looked like it had been holding its breath since before sunrise.
No one was relaxed. Even the low voices sounded wrong, quieter and tighter, like no one wanted to say anything out loud yet.
They were here to watch. Not support. Not comfort. Watch and judge.
The morning air bit against my skin even though the sun had started climbing, and I rolled my shoulders once and kept moving because routine still mattered, and if I let myself think too hard about what today meant, then I was going to feel every eye on me like a hand pressing down.
Ezra stood near the front of the crowd with Declan at his side, and even from a distance I could feel the b
