The ache didn’t sleep.
It followed me into the morning like a second skin, tight, suffocating, impossible to peel away. But I didn’t let it show. Couldn’t. Not when every corridor I walked through whispered her name, not when every wolf I passed seemed to carry news of the upcoming Sealing Ceremony like it was a festival, not a funeral.
My funeral.
Kieran’s name was everywhere.
And Julia’s laughter was louder than ever.
So I buried it. The hurt. The burn. The shadow of a dream I couldn’t afford to remember.
And instead, I walked straight into the sun.
“Morning, trouble.” Selene’s voice found me just outside the greenhouse, sunlight bouncing off her curls like she was made to outshine the grief. “You look like you haven’t slept.”
“I haven’t,” I said, reaching for the herb basket she
