"Trust must be earned, even in blood."
The messenger's warning clung to me like morning mist that refused to lift.
They're coming for you next... someone much worse.
Mara's broken confession replayed endlessly in my mind as I moved through the Academy's stone corridors, each whispered utterance of my name feeling sharper than wolf claws against exposed skin. Fear tried to sink its hooks into my chest, but I forced my spine straight as a sword blade, my chin lifted with hard-won pride.
If I showed weakness now, if I cracked under the pressure of threats and shadows, Gideon would claim victory before any real battle had even begun. Worse still, Darius would see me as something fragile that needed protecting rather than a partner capable of standing at his side.
And I refused to be eithe
