Chapter 9

Rowan's POV

The market is unusually crowded for a midday hour. Wolves bustle from stall to stall, arms full of cloth, fresh bread, and jars of honeyed roots. None of them look at me.

They part like water around a rock as I pass,stepping aside, pretending not to see me. The silence that follows me is louder than any insult.

I came out today because I needed to feel air, to remember what it's like to stand under the sun. To feel like a person, not a rumor.

But I regret it already.

I clutch the small list in my hand,nothing special, just herbs, bread, and soap. The stall-keeper avoids eye contact as he hands me the items. I leave my change without a word.

And then—

“Rowan, right?”

The voice is like a song, light and unexpected. I turn, startled, and find a girl smiling at me like I’m not the pack’s outcast. Like I’m just… someone.

She’s all sunshine,golden curls pulled into a loose braid, freckles dusted across her cheeks, wearing a ridiculous yellow coat far too bright for spring. She grins like she knows a joke no one else has heard.

“I thought it was you,” she says again, stepping into my path. “I mean, I’ve seen you around, obviously, but never got to say hi properly. I’m Thessaly.”

I blink. “You’re Elder Thera’s daughter.”

Her grin falters just a bit, but she recovers fast. “Ugh, yes. Unfortunately. I promise I didn’t inherit the ‘doom and gloom’ gene.”

I shouldn’t speak to her. People are staring. I can feel the whispers beginning again, curling around us like mist.

“You probably shouldn’t be seen talking to me,” I murmur, not in the mood to fall for this obvious trap set by the Elders.

“Why? You contagious or something?” she says, deadpan, then winks. “Besides, I’m not particularly concerned with what people think. Being boring is worse than being hated, don’t you think?”

I don’t answer. But something about her makes the corner of my mouth twitch, this is a trap...right?

She gasps dramatically. “Was that a smile? Rowan, was that,did I just crack the infamous Stonewall Stewart?”

I freeze. "What ?" I question, shocked by the nickname.

"Don't stress yourself over it, I've just heard that you lack emotions" she rolls her eyes as she speaks. "It's no biggie, everyone says I have rocks for brains, even my mother"

“You’re absurd.”

“And you’re lonely,” she replies, softening. “I don’t like seeing people left behind.”

The honesty stings. I shift uncomfortably. “I'm not left behind, I prefer to be on my own"

She shrugs, brushing a curl from her face.

"Then let me apologise in advance because from now on, I'm not leaving you alone. I promise, scouts honor"

I finally let the frown I've been wearing fall from my face, not sure what to make of Thessaly, of course I've heard the rumours about her : dumb,slut, stubborn.

"Anyways, we should go shopping, for the Moonlight festival, I don't have a dress yet, and I'm sure you don't either"

"I don't plan to go" I Inform her.

She laughs, short and sarcastic.

"You're going, and we'll find the perfect dress, I'll swing by the park house this evening, meet me outside by like 3"

I'm too dumbfounded to speak.

She places a wrapped paper packet in my hand. “Minted sugar cubes. For when the world tastes sour.”

I stare down at it, unsure what to say. No one gives me gifts anymore. No one even gives me kindness.

“I should go,” I say quietly.

She nods. “Sure, but don't forget we have to shop till we drop"

She spins on her heel and walks off without waiting for thanks, humming some tune I don’t recognize.

I hold the sugar cubes like they’re fragile glass.

And for the first time in weeks, something warm presses behind my ribs.

Hope.