She opened her mouth, then closed it again.

Fear rose in Desiree’s chest. It was sharp, almost like it was about to choke her. sharp, but she swallowed it down. She refused to give it a voice. Refused to let the crowd see how scared I was and use it to belittle her.

She nodded slowly. “I understand.”

The words tasted bitter on her tongue.

A wave of scoffs came from the gathered wolves.

“Alone? She won’t last an hour.”

“She’s human, she’ll get eaten before she even finds ...