Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 1 - Chapitre 7

Wren's povMaribel found me still standing in the driveway ten minutes after Kade left. "You are going to catch a cold standing out here," she said, though the sun was warm and there was no wind at all. I followed her in without a word.The kitchen smelled like rosemary and roasted meat. Every surface had been polished twice. Every flower rearranged until Vivian finally approved. Maribel poured me a glass of water I did not ask for and studied my face while I drank it."You look pale," she said."I am fine.""You keep saying that word like it means something."I took the glass anyway. My hands were not quite steady. "Kade wants to talk tonight. After the ceremony."Maribel went still. "Talk about what.""I do not know. He would not say.""Wren. You know what tonight is.""I know.""Then why would he need to talk to you after, unless”"Do not," I said. "Do not say it out loud.""I am not trying to hurt you. You have spent years watching that man look at you like you are the only person

Wren's POVMidnight came slower than any hour had ever come in my life.The hall still buzzed with leftover energy long after the formal part of the night ended, pack members lingering over drinks, retelling the ceremony to each other like they had not all just watched it happen together. I spent the hours after clearing tables, my body moving on its own while my head stayed somewhere else entirely. Vivian barked orders about folding linens the right way. Celeste floated through the crowd taking congratulations like a queen taking tribute, her laugh cutting across the hall every few minutes. Edwin shook hands with council members who lingered long after the food ran out.Priya passed by twice while I worked, each time slower than the last, watching me the way a cat watches something it has not decided whether to bother with yet. The second time she stopped."Enjoying the cleanup," she said. "Fitting, really. You always did belong with the dirty dishes.""I am fine, Priya.""I did not

Wren's povThree weeks passed before the real ceremony date arrived, and every one of them changed me a little more than the last. Odette trained me in secret, evenings mostly, tucked away near her cabin where nobody thought to look. She taught me to sit still with the feeling instead of running from it, the cold pull in my chest that came before something went wrong. Small things first. A cracked cup before it slipped from Maribel's hands. A storm two days before the clouds ever gathered."You are getting stronger," Odette told me one night, watching me flinch at a warning I could not yet name. "Faster than I expected, given how long it was buried.""It does not feel like strength. It feels like something is wrong with me.""That is fear talking, not truth." She patted my hand. "Your family taught you shame instead of pride. We are unteaching that now.""What happens when the ceremony finally comes? When Kade actually claims her?"Odette went quiet for a moment, her eyes far away. "I