Annie's POV:
"Nothing," Chloe repeated flatly. "Right."
She didn't believe me. I saw it in the way she looked at the cart instead of at me. But she was Chloe, and she knew when to stop—and she stopped.
"I'll see you at the first stop," she said. "Don't let the cart roll over you."
"I'll try not to."
I left her with the bandages and went to my cabin. The square was full of noise behind me—carts, warriors, and the pack's goodbyes. The cabin was quiet—and the quiet felt like a door already closing.
There wasn't much to pack. A blanket. Jack's favorite shirt, the one with the torn sleeve I had never gotten around to mending. The dress I had worn to Louis's funeral. My whole life, small enough to fit in one bag. I had come to Ironclaw with nothing but a newborn and a broken bond. I would
