Aya was still processing the two-year revelation when she noticed Elias at the far end of the training ground.
He had handed the leather water bottle back to the person standing beside him and now just stood there with his back to the group. He wasn't moving.
He was just... standing. His shoulders were set rigid and the muscles across his bare back were taut.
His jaw was tight. She could see the clench of it even from the side.
He was angry. But he still hadn't acknowledged her existence.
She sighed and started making her way towards the steps of the verandah.
The wolves sitting there went rigid. A few of them scrambled to shift out of her way, pressing themselves against the pillars or standing up entirely as if she were a lit match being carried toward dry wood.
Aya sat down on the stone step as casually as if she were settling on a park bench.
The silence was deafening.
