Chapter Seventy-One
The summer heat had finally begun to break, replaced by the first quiet, cool whispers of autumn. The leaves on the massive oak trees surrounding the high iron gates of the compound were just starting to lose their deep green, turning a faint, dusty gold at the edges.
Three long, agonizing, yet deeply transformative weeks had passed since the roaring pack had disappeared into the highway mist.
In those three weeks, I had learned how to breathe in the silence. I had learned how to wake up in a cold, empty bed without feeling like the walls were collapsing inward. Under Lisa’s steady, unwavering guidance, I had found a quiet rhythm. I was no longer the fragile, trembling girl who hid in the shadows of the chapel. I was the girl who ran the clubhouse bar with a smooth,
