Serene
The silence is worse than the shouting was.
After the birthday party, after the fireworks, after Kael's arrival and Lilith's declaration, the noise faded. The guests went home. The gossip spread outward like cracks in ice.
And I was left standing in the center of it.
Alone.
The Moonclaw Pack doesn't look at me the same way anymore.
Before, their gazes held pity. Protection. Moral obligation.
Now?
Their eyes assess me with cold calculation. Some look at me like I'm a liability. Others like I'm a mistake that hasn't been corrected yet.
No one says it directly, but I feel it in the way conversations stop when I approach. In the way, elders avoid meeting my eyes. In the way my name is spoken with caution instead of sympathy.
The outside world is worse.
