Sindy
The morning came too soon.
I barely slept, if I slept at all. Every time I closed my eyes, the shadows returned—the roar of the bear, the eyes of the wolves as they waited for me to stumble, the weight of Lorenzo’s voice when he told the pack I would face the proving. I heard him in my dreams, his words curling like smoke around me: Don’t be afraid to burn.
When I finally rose, it was with muscles that ached and a heart that felt like it was beating in the wrong place. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror above the washbasin—pale, dark circles under my eyes, my mouth pressed thin. I looked like someone preparing for an execution, not a trial.
For a moment, panic threatened to swallow me whole. I gripped the edge of the basin until my knuckles whitened, forcing myself to bre
