Tension gripped the manor over the next few days, which I was painfully aware was my fault. Somebody had to stay in the manor to guard me, and if not David or Catrina, then it was a packmate or two lounging in the parlor, or it was Colt in his bedroom studying. Nobody actually talked to me. I spent those days cleaning and returning to my bedroom without talking to anyone. My entire family was angry at me and I was in the wrong for being so disobedient; it poisoned me a lot to think about, but I couldn’t just… stifle what had been awoken in me. Sometimes in moments of weakness, I did want to grovel for forgiveness and admit I was wrong. I was always tender-hearted; it was hard to be emotionally distanced from the only people I’d socialized with through my life, the people I depended on for
