THANE POV
I had been feared my whole life.
Not always openly.
People were rarely brave enough for that.
But I had learned the shape of it early. The way eyes slid away from my face and found safer places to rest. The way voices changed when they spoke to me, lower or quicker, like they were trying not to poke the bear. The way rooms rearranged themselves around me.
Fear had a smell.
I had worn it on other people for so long that, at some point, I stopped expecting anything else.
Aiden had never feared me.
Keres had never feared me either, but Keres had no survival instincts and once tried to bite a man twice his size because he insulted Aiden’s haircut, so his judgment was not exactly a medical standard.
Perse did not fear me. Even before. She would be the only one to look me righ
