Chapter 18 – The Council’s Verdict
The morning after the attack was heavy with silence.
Not the peaceful kind, but the suffocating quiet of suspicion.
Elena could feel it the moment she stepped into the courtyard. The air was thick with unease, warriors limping about with fresh bandages, their gazes snapping toward her as though she carried the plague. Every whispered word seemed to coil around her, sharp and accusing.
She burned him alive…
What kind of wolf does that?
Damien is hiding something. She’s dangerous.
She swallowed hard and hugged herself, wishing the earth would swallow her whole. The blood-stained stones beneath her feet told the story of last night’s battle, and though they should have been a reminder of survival, they felt like a brand of guilt pressed against her sk
