Chapter 10. Secrets and Whispers

The stars were out by the time she returned.

Neriah moved through the Stormfang camp like a shadow—barely acknowledged, but always watched. Even with the summit winding down and the threat of Blackbriar’s Alpha finally leaving, the air was tense, crackling with anticipation. The wolves didn’t meet her gaze anymore. Instead, they dipped their heads, parted to let her pass, and a few even offered the subtle gesture of deference usually reserved for alphas.

She didn’t go to the lodge. Not tonight. The thought of sitting beside the fire, listening to the low hum of anxious voices, was unbearable. Instead, she made her way across the muddy yard, past the dying embers of the communal fire, and slipped into the old stables—half collapsed, half haunted by the memories of beasts long gone.

She pulled open the warped door and stepped inside, boots crunching on old straw. The scent of dust and rain-gray wood filled her lungs. The stables were barely more than a skeleton now—r