The courtyard was a grave of silence. No one spoke, though dozens of wolves lingered in the half-light of dawn. The trial’s embers still glowed faintly in the pits where fire had burned through the night, but no warmth touched Bella now.

She stood in the center, her breathing shallow, her body stiff. She had faced blood and battle before, but this silence—the weight of so many eyes pulling away from her—cut deeper than any wound.

Alfred was at her side, though his aura, usually ...