Chapter 26
Maureen
The pack did not speak to me the next morning.
They watched.
That was worse.
Servants who once at least pretended not to see me now stared openly. Warriors stood a little straighter when I passed, as if I were an enemy scouting their halls instead of a pregnant woman trying not to stumble down marble steps.
Word had spread.
The Alpha had invited a challenge.
For me.
For the child.
For blood.
I should have felt protected.
Instead, I felt marked.
Two guards followed me to the eastern courtyard where the air was clearer and the winter sun touched stone instead of shadow. The courtyard overlooked the valley below the fortress—a stretch of forest and cliffs that seemed endless.
Freedom was somewhere past those trees.
I placed my hands on the railing and closed my eyes.
"You should not stand so close to the edge."
I didn't turn at first. I knew that voice.
Stefan.
