#Chapter Sixteen: The Stepmother

The respect I had long been denied finally started flowing my way, and I absorbed Elijah’s lesson deeply. The whispers of doubt, the cruel judgments, all the rumors that had once circled around me—now, they were crumbling, like ash blown away by the wind. People who had barely acknowledged my existence in Silvermoon’s central building, people who had sneered at me or whispered behind my back, suddenly found it necessary to offer their apologies. I saw some of them approach me, their heads slightly lowered, bearing small gifts as tokens of their regret. It was almost comical, how swiftly their attitudes changed once the truth came out. A week ago, I was nothing more than a rumor to be entertained or dismissed, but now I was the Luna’s mate, the one they had underestimated. Perhaps most satisfying of all was Ava’s absence. I’d heard she had taken a leave of absence. Maybe it was the weight of her own guilt, or maybe she feared the consequences of her lies catching up to her. Eithe