Todos os capítulos de Marked and Cast Out, She Came Back Untouchable : Capítulo 21 - Capítulo 30

Sable's POVThe idea of Alaric weakening somewhere behind Ironclaw's walls, tangled up in whatever was still stretched, kept circling my head no matter how hard I tried to push it out.Part of me told myself it wasn't my problem anymore. He made that clear enough the night he cast the mark. But another part of me, the part I didn't like admitting existed, couldn't stop wondering if the ache in my chest meant he was already suffering for what he'd done.Camp life carried on around me regardless. A few days after the trading post, Ivy found me mending a torn strap near the fire pit, a couple other wolves gathered nearby swapping gossip picked up from various supply runs."Heard more about the engagement," one of them said, a woman named Fira who ran trade contacts along the eastern routes. "Ophelia Rourke. People can't stop talking about her.""What are they saying?" Ivy asked, more out of politeness than real curiosity, but I noticed her glance my way before asking."That she's exactly

Sable's POVRook's words stayed with me the rest of that day, settling somewhere deeper than the ache in my arms from training. I kept turning them over while I helped haul water back to camp, while I sat through the evening meal barely tasting anything, while I lay awake that night listening to the usual sounds of the Hollow settling into silence.I still didn't fully believe him. Ten years of being told I was the weakest thing in every room didn't undo itself over one training session. But something about the way he said it stuck anyway, lodged somewhere I couldn't quite shake it loose from.Two days later, the camp erupted into chaos before I even finished waking up.Shouting carried across the clearing, urgent and loud enough to pull me out of my tent half-dressed, my heart already racing before I understood what was happening. A cluster of wolves had gathered near the edge of camp, and through the gaps between them I caught sight of two scouts half-carrying a third between them,

Sable's POV"I understand," I said, and this time I meant it. "It means I could die trying to save someone. It means I need to know my limits before I hit them.""Good." Yarrow finally let go of my hand, some of the tension easing out of her shoulders now that she was sure the point had landed. "From now on, no more healing without me nearby, or at least without checking in with me after. I need to know how deep you're reaching every time, so we can figure out where the line actually sits before you cross it blind.""That scout would've died without me stepping in.""I'm not telling you to stop healing people. I'm telling you to stop doing it recklessly." Her voice softened, the seriousness didn't fully leave it. "There's a difference between saving a life and throwing yours away in the process. You need to learn where that difference sits."I nodded, exhaustion still pulling at every part of me, but her words had at least given me something solid to hold onto, some sense of what I ne

Alaric's POVI told myself I will sleep it off. That's what I'd been telling myself for weeks now, and it hadn't worked yet, but stubbornness has a way of outlasting evidence when you're desperate enough.I made it through the next morning on sheer will, forced myself through another council session, through a meeting with the border scouts about the movement Corwin still hadn't confirmed as Vaelor. By the time I retreated to my study that afternoon, my whole body felt like it belonged to someone else, borrowed and failing.I sat down at my desk to review the wedding preparations, papers Ophelia's people had sent over about seating arrangements and guest lists and formalities I couldn't bring myself to care about right now. The words blurred together on the page, refusing to hold still long enough to read properly.My hand started shaking again, worse than before, and this time it didn't stop when I flexed my fingers or pressed my palm flat against the desk."Not now," I muttered, gri

Sable's POV"We need to go," Tomas said, pulling my arm gently but firmly away from the treeline. "Now. Before that patrol spots us."I let him pull me back, my legs moving on autopilot while my mind stayed fixed on that distant figure, the wrongness in his walk, the way he'd looked smaller somehow, even from a hundred yards away.We made it back to the Hollow well before dark, the walk felt like it took twice as long as usual, my thoughts too loud to focus properly on the path beneath my feet."You okay?" Tomas asked, once we cleared the last stretch of trees before camp."Fine," I said, the word came out hollow.He didn't push,but I could tell he wanted to. We split off toward our separate tents, and I spent the rest of the evening barely present, going through the motions of the evening meal, of the small chores that filled the hours before sleep, my mind stuck somewhere back on that ridge.Ivy found me later, sitting alone near the edge of camp, staring out at nothing in particula