They didn’t speak.
Not at first.
Not Kieran.
Not Julia.
Not even the crowd.
The entire courtyard held its breath, like the pack itself had forgotten how to inhale.
Kieran’s words still rang in the air, sharp and final, like the echo of a blade striking stone.
Julia’s eyes widened, disbelieving. Her mouth opened, but no words came. The color drained from her cheeks so quickly, it made the smear of red lipstick across her mouth look garish, like blood on snow.
“You’re… joking,” she said finally, her voice too loud in the silence, teetering between laughter and hysteria. “This is some sick way to punish me? You’re defending her?”
Her hand lifted as if to gesture toward me, but it dropped uselessly back to her side when she realized no one was laughing. Especially not him.
“I gave yo
