Chapter 326

AURELIA’S POV The morning air was crisp, cool against my skin, carrying the scent of pine and smoke through the open hallway. The packhouse was quiet — too quiet — the kind of silence that made your instincts prickle. I’d woken earlier than usual, unable to sleep after the whirlwind of questions Derek had left me with the previous night. Every thought tangled into another until I couldn’t tell where my anger ended and my curiosity began. I wasn’t planning to eavesdrop. Truly, I wasn’t. But when I passed by Derek’s office and heard Kael’s raised voice through the slightly ajar door, something in me froze. “Does she know yet?” Kael’s tone wasn’t just angry. It was disappointed. There was a pause — long, heavy. Then Derek’s voice, low and calm, came through. “No.” No? My pulse quickened. I shouldn’t have stayed. I shouldn’t have. But my feet refused to move. “Damn it, Derek!” Kael snapped. “You’re doing it again. You’re making decisions for her like she’s some clueless child. You should’v