Chapter 195

The morning after, the pack woke to argument.

Not shouting—nothing so clean—but murmurs that braided through the halls and spilled into the training yard. Change always sounded like that at first. Unsettled. Untidy.

Caleb heard it as he sparred with Tomas, blades dull, movements slow and deliberate.

“You’re holding back,” Tomas said under his breath.

“So are you.”

Tomas snorted. “I’m trying not to win.”

Caleb disarmed him anyway and stepped back, breathing ...