The clearing fell into a charged silence after my words, the weight of the moment pressing down on all of us. I could feel the eyes of the pack shifting between me, Damian, and Elijah—unsure of where their loyalties should lie, their trust cracking like fragile glass. But beneath the fear, there was something else.
Doubt.
Elijah took a step forward, his eyes locked on mine. That familiar darkness radiated from him, a power he no longer bothered to conceal.
He had grown bolder, more dangerous, and the more he embraced it, the clearer it became that he wasn’t interested in playing games anymore. He was ready to take control.
“You’re still pretending you have a choice,” Elijah said, his voice calm but edged with the promise of violence. “But you don’t, Annabel. You never did.”
His words
