Chapter 7: The Penance in the Rain

The car ride back to the pack house was a silence so profound it felt like a physical weight. Wesley’s fury was a living entity in the confined space, his knuckles white on the steering wheel, the scent of storm and aggression so thick it choked her. He didn’t look at her, didn’t speak. The punishment was a foregone conclusion, hanging in the air between them. He pulled up not to the main entrance, but to the center of the training grounds—a vast, open field of hard-packed earth used for pack drills and discipline. The moon was shrouded by thick, rolling clouds, and a cold, misting rain had begun to fall. He got out, and she had no choice but to follow. The wet earth clung to her shoes. “Kneel,” he commanded, his voice devoid of all warmth, echoing in the empty, rain-swept space. Emilia stood frozen for a moment, the last vestiges of her pride screaming in protest. The training ground. Where every pack member could see, a place of com