The silence after the training yard confrontation clung to me like smoke. Every corridor I walked through afterward carried whispers—half in awe, half in suspicion. Some eyes looked at me as though I was dangerous. Others, as though I was a fraud. Either way, I was no longer invisible, and the weight of that visibility pressed against my chest with every breath.
Selene fussed over me the moment we returned inside, checking my arms for bruises that were already fading faster than they should have. “You shouldn’t have let him push you so hard,” she scolded, voice clipped but thick with worry.
“He didn’t let me,” I murmured. “I wanted to.”
Her sharp eyes searched mine. “Wanting is one thing, Aria. Surviving it is another.” She touched the back of my hand, softer now. “Your wolf is changing
