Chapter 284

AURELIA’S POV I woke to noise. At first it was faint—a dull thudding, hurried footsteps, voices rising and falling in clipped tones. Then it grew louder, pressing against the walls of my room until sleep was impossible. They were back. My family. But what was with the noise? I pushed off the blankets, my bare feet hitting the cold floor, and padded to the door. The closer I came to the hall, the clearer the chaos became: men I didn’t recognize carrying crates and chests, servants rushing to make space, the air buzzing with activity that didn’t belong to an ordinary morning. What the hell was happening? Are we moving? Why is there so much new stuff? When I stepped out, my breath caught. Strangers. Wolves I didn’t know, their scent thick in the air. Extra people, dressed in the colors of another pack, moving heavy trunks down the hall like they belonged here. They all had same symbols, they all were bulky as if they all were warriors but I could tell that they weren’t. Confused, I caught