#Chapter 158: Suppression

ELENA I had really looked forward to tonight. I’d picked out my dress earlier in the week—something soft, not too formal. Light blue, with flutter sleeves and a cinched waist. I even dabbed on perfume, something floral and subtle—nothing I would’ve dared wear back when I was a rogue, when every scent had to be masked, not noticed. It felt good to have something to celebrate, something personal. Something that wasn’t a crisis or a press event or another late-night strategy meeting. And after everything with the Foundation finally coming together, after weeks of feeling like I was drowning in logistics and scrutiny, this felt… different. A break. A breath. I’d also let go of some of my resentment. Not all of it—but enough. Derek had said things that cut deeply when I was with Silverclaw. About rogues. About what they were and what they weren’t. But I understood where it came from now. He was raised in a pack that taught him rogues were monsters, and he’d been attacked by t