Chapter 49 Shadows And Thorns

• The night marched on relentlessly, bringing with it the dense silence of the forest. Torches lit the path of damp soil and crunching branches, but they weren't enough to clear the tension that hung among the travelers. Ellie felt it. She sensed it in the averted gazes, in the conversations that died when she walked by, in the lack of answers when she tried to speak.
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• The stares of the wolf men and women were harsher than before. They no longer bothered to hide their disapproval. Now that they knew their Alpha truly intended to marry the human, their expressions were a mix of resignation, irritation, and a veiled sorrow—as if they saw it as a sacrifice. Still, no one dared to speak it aloud. Perhaps they still clung to the hope that it wasn’t final. Perhaps admitting it hurt too much.