Chapter 17. Duel for Respect

Celeste’s POV

Ever since our last encounter, Nora had made a deliberate effort to avoid me at every turn. In theory, her disappearance from my daily life ought to have felt like a relief, yet I found myself unsettled by a persistent suspicion—she was clearly up to something. It was unlikely to be anything outright malicious, but it still gnawed at me to see her dedicate herself to training, day in and day out, from the first pale light of dawn until the stillness of midnight.

Under the edict of the Goddess, nobody in the pack dared to cross me or address me with anything less than utmost respect. Rumors were already ripping through our ranks like wildfire: they whispered that I, Celeste, was destined to be the next to ascend the throne.

Even without the Goddess’s direct intervention, these rumors carried weight. And yet, to my surprise, Nyra—the one person I believed would stand by me no matter what—had inexplicably begun to keep her distance, too. When eve