I stayed completely still, back straight, face calm, even though something inside me immediately tensed. My hand lingered against the wall beside me, fingertips grazing the cold stone.
The second girl snorted. “They say she’s the twin sister of the original. So maybe she looks similar? But I mean, no one...including Alpha Alexander...ever even met the lady sage, so it’s not like anyone would care if the replacement didn’t look exactly like her.”
Their laughter bubbled up again, soft and cruel, the kind that people use when they’re confident the subject of the joke isn’t around to hear.
But I was right there. Listening.
They couldn’t have known, of course. But that didn’t make it sting any less.
“Still,” the first one went on, her voice more animated now, “it doesn’t change the fact th
