Rue’s POV

The silence after my telepathic response was long.

I felt it in the air first: the collective acknowledgement. Eyes that had once skimmed past me now lingered. For years, I had lived inside other people’s assumptions. Tonight, I watched those assumptions die.

Sora stood frozen, stunned.

Her jealousy was not subtle. It radiated from her, the way untrained wolves leaked emotion when their control failed. Her fingers curled into her palm, nails biting skin, as if pain were the only ...