Chapter 28

The whispers hadn’t stopped. If anything, they’d grown louder, swirling through the pack like an unstoppable wildfire. Althea could feel them wherever she went: sharp glances, fleeting smirks, and the ever-present weight of unspoken judgment pressing down on her shoulders. She tried to keep her head down, to focus on her tasks around the estate, but the effort it took to ignore the pack’s murmurs left her feeling more exhausted than ever. Each day felt like a battle against her own thoughts, against the idea that maybe everyone was right. What was worse, Kaden wouldn’t leave her alone. Not in a cruel way: no, that wasn't his style, but he wouldn’t let her pull away from him either.Every time she tried to hide, he found her. Every time she tried to avoid him, he stepped into her path. He was relentless. So when he told her to meet him in the training yard that morning, she wasn’t surprised. What did surprise her, though, was the intensity in his silver eyes when she showed up. “Althea,”