Shadows of Trust
Morning arrived with a whisper instead of daylight. It cloaked itself in half-closed doors, clipped silences as she passed, and eyes that lingered just a second too long, then swiftly looked away.
Katelyn sensed it before she saw it—a packhouse that no longer thrived around her but subtly shifted to avoid her presence.
A servant quickly stepped aside with folded linens; two younger wolves paused mid-conversation, then went silent as she drew near.
Not fear. Not awe. Something colder—assessment, judgment. Still, she kept walking.
Daniel’s scent faintly lingered in the hallway from last night, but even that comfort had become distant, like a memory slipping through her fingers.
She paused in the main hall, where voices floated—soft, controlled, deliberately lowered
