Chapter 26 – Gerald's POV
Title: The Fall Before the Rise
The stone beneath me was damp and cold, but I wasn't shivering. I couldn't. My whole body felt like it had been torn apart, one piece at a time. I lay there for I didn't know how long, blood sticky on my face, pain pressing against every breath I took. But the pain didn't bother me as much as the silence.
Not a single wolf had come looking for me.
Not one of the bastards who had once bowed to me had even checked if I was breathing. That silence—it wasn't peace. It was betrayal. It was how the world sounded when everything you built turns its back on you.
