The Keep had never felt so large, or so empty. The council’s decree was a tangible force, a wall of ice that had sprung up between the wings of the fortress, separating my world from Darius’s. I was quartered in the guest wing, far from the Alpha family’s private chambers, under the pretext of providing a “distraction-free environment” for my training. The irony was a bitter pill. My every moment was now more scrutinized than ever.
The first patrol was in two days. The thought was a knot of anxiety and anticipation in my gut. It was a chance to prove my worth, but also a stage for public failure, far from the seclusion of the grove.
That night, sleep was a distant country. The silence in my new chambers was absolute, broken only by the frantic rhythm of my own thoughts. The council’s col
