Chapter 11

Maeve’s POV

Dawn had only just broken when I awoke, earlier than usual and unable to reclaim my sleep. My chest throbbed with a dull ache, and for some days now I’d been plagued by headaches that lingered for hours.

Rising from my bed with a lingering weariness, I slipped into a long blue velvet gown and set out along the castle’s vaulted corridor, alone in the stillness of morning.

Aria and Elysia were already away on their patrols; Draven had departed at first light, accompanied by Mason, Galen, and Seraphine, to attend an important council meeting beyond these walls.

With their absence, the castle felt simultaneously emptier and more bearable—if only I could stop picturing Draven beside his new lover at every turn. I’d grown acclimated to life here: it wasn’t comfortable, exactly, but it was tolerable when I could remind myself that I had friends among the pack to lean on.

My destination was the dining hall, where breakfast waited, but as I