Faye's POV
The stares burned into my skin like brands. Whispered conversations died the moment I entered a room, only to resume in hushed tones behind my back. I had grown accustomed to this treatment since arriving in the North, yet it still managed to steal the air from my lungs every single time.
My old instincts screamed at me to shrink away, to lower my gaze and wait for the storm to pass. That broken girl who never awakened her wolf still lived somewhere inside me, the one who believed she deserved every cruel word and pitying glance. But Hardy had been slowly killing that version of myself, day by day, until something stronger began to take her place.
