Chapter 219

The morning felt heavy.

Not because of the weather—the sun was out, pale gold threading through the shutters of our chamber—but because of the silence pressing in from the halls beyond.

Silence in a house filled with wolves was never natural.

Wolves thrived on sound: footsteps echoing down corridors, sparring grunts in the yard, laughter rising from kitchens.

Silence meant something had cracked