Brie's POV
The courtyard air is sharp and it cuts right through the thin white wool of my dress. I don’t move. The cold is the only thing that feels honest right now, and I am not ready to go back inside. I wrap my arms tight around my ribs and keep walking.
Counting keeps the chest pain away. I count my steps across the courtyard. One, two, three, four... If I stop counting, I will think about the hall and the way Alpha Dexter pointed his thick finger at me and the way Damien said the words.
‘He bent his knee,’ Jackling growls low inside my head. ‘He is the heir but he smells like weakness and false pride. We hate him.’
‘I hate him too,’ I tell my Jackling.
‘I can see in your memories how he hunted you,’ Jackling snaps, her fur bristling in the dark corners of my thoughts. ‘For month
