Estella’s POV
The aftermath of what happened in Riverfang stayed with me long after we returned to the Academy. No one in the club knew how close Christina had come to losing everything or how much blood had been spilled that day. Dane had ensured word of the incident never left the lands of her pack and had made some excuses in front of the school board about her absence and her stepbrother’s dropping out of the Military Academy.
Still, the truth left its mark. Christina smiled when she had to, laughed when others did, but her eyes often got that vacant look that made my heart ache. The weight of what happened tormented her more than she cared to admit, and it showed no matter how hard she hid it.
The others noticed it too, especially the original club members who hadn’t been there wit
