Aria’s POV
The sound of boots crunching on the gravel faded faster than I expected. One moment, the courtyard had been alive with movement—the clinking of empty crates, the murmur of warriors exchanging quick words before heading back to their posts—and the next, it was already dissolving into the kind of stillness I didn’t like.
The warriors who had come to see Klaus, my father, and the twenty others off didn’t linger. Once the crates that had held weapons were stacked neatly to the side, they slipped back into routine, efficient as always. It was what they were trained to do—keep moving forward, keep the rhythm of the pack intact even when our strongest were gone.
I stood there a little longer than I should have, my gaze fixed on the gate where Klaus had disappeared from sight. It was
