Sally's POV
The weight of what just happened crashes over me like a tidal wave. My hands won't stop shaking as I meet Karl's intense gaze.
"That was brutal," I breathe out, my voice barely steady. "Way worse than I imagined it would be."
"But you didn't break." His voice carries both fierce pride and barely contained rage. "You stood there and took everything they threw at you without flinching."
My throat constricts. "I wanted to run. God, Karl, the way they stared at me like I was some kind of disease. Like I had no right to breathe the same air as them. Every instinct screamed at me to bolt."
"You're not the problem here." Philip's voice cuts through my spiral, steady and sure. "You represent everything they can't control. Change scares the hell out of them, and you're the biggest change this pack has ever seen."
