Elara had barely stepped through the doorway when a voice, sharp and mocking, cut through the air.
"Oh, look who is back!" Mona sneered, her tone dripping with false sweetness.
The sound made Elara shut her eyes for a brief second in pure annoyance, her chest tightening. She had known this would happen, she had prepared herself for it in her mind a hundred times.
The moment she returned to the pack, she would be met with scorn, their eyes burning with even more hatred than before. She had told herself she could endure it, that she would be strong, but facing the reality of it was far more painful than any scenario she had imagined.
It was easy for people to say that you shouldn't care what others thought. But when so many eyes glared at you with disgust, when whispers spread like fire behind your back, blaming you for sins you hadn't even committed, it cut deeper than any blade. It wasn't just humiliating, it was crushing.
