I blinked, caught off guard. Suspicion crept in before I could stop it. "Why are you so good to me?"
My master stroked his beard and smiled. "Because I think of you as my own daughter."
"If my little girl starved, what kind of father would I be? I'd be heartbroken."
"I'm already old. I don't want to spend whatever years I have left crying my eyes out."
In that moment, looking at the white hairs that had grown in from worrying over me, I felt the walls around my heart crack for the first time in years. Somewhere deep inside, my wolf, which had been silent and feral since the day I was reborn, lowered its head and let out a sound that was almost a whimper.
So there was someone in this world who loved me after all.
All at once, I didn't want revenge anymore.
I buried Soulreaper beneath the hibiscus tree and buried all my hatred along with it.
But Fenris shattered my hard-won peace with his own hands, all over again, and dug my hatred back up from the roots.
I lifted my gaze toward the sky where his voice had come from and spoke, each word deliberate and distinct. "Fenris. It's been a long time."
Before the last syllable faded, a flash of white light split the air.