A Y L A
The silence that followed was not empty.
It was heavy. Pressed tight against every wall, every breath, every heartbeat in the hall.
No one moved.
No one dared.
The dust from the shattered necklace drifted slowly to the floor, glittering faintly before going dull and lifeless against the stone. I watched it fall with detached satisfaction, even as something deep inside me screamed.
That was my past.
That was the last lock.
My wolf…her…didn’t flinch.
Liora sank to her knees.
The sound of it finally broke the spell. A sharp, hollow thud as her legs gave out beneath her, her hands clutching uselessly at her chest as if she could still feel the necklace there. Her sob tore through the hall, raw and desperate.
“You don’t know what you’ve done,” she cried. “You don’t know what
