Chapter 29 The Gathering Storm

• The immediate aftermath of Elara's confrontation with Marcus Thorne was a chilling silence, heavy with unspoken threats. Marcus, defeated in his immediate attempt to discredit her, retreated into a simmering fury.
• He did not attempt to confine Elara again; the sheer, untainted power radiating from her was too potent to ignore, too clear for even his loyalists to easily dismiss. Instead, he simply left the study, his silence a promise of further, more calculated resistance.
• The pack vibrated with the tension. Whispers followed Elara through the compound – whispers of awe, of fear, of uncertainty. Her pure silver eyes, no longer haunted by corruption, held a clarity that many found unsettling, a power that few could meet directly.