ELLIE’S POV
I had thought naively that when Wesley was finally dragged away, his broken cries ripping through the trees and scattering like crows into the night, I would feel lighter. That some great burden would fall from my shoulders, leaving me free, unshackled at last. I thought the sound of his chains clattering against the earth would silence the ghosts that had haunted me since childhood.
But when the clearing emptied, when the last echoes of his madness faded into the dark, I felt no such release. Instead, I felt only the crushing weight of years pressing against my ribs, the unhealed bruises of the past pressing harder than ever.
The pack stood in stunned silence, their eyes heavy upon me. Not a single voice rose against the quiet; no whispers hissed in the shadows as they once
