Pretending to be strong and fitting to his vision had become his excuse to abandon me repeatedly.
After blocking him, I knelt before my mother’s grave, guilt gnawing at me. My father had died defending our pack’s land, and now, my mother had been taken by grief—both because of the Nightclaw pack. She raised me alone, hiding the pain from her heart’s slowly failing. Her greatest wish was to see our packs united in peace. Here I am, kneeling alone and crying because I had failed her.
I remained by her grave until it got dark. On my way back to Talon’s mansion, I saw them—Talon and Lily. He was supporting her fragile form, and in Lily’s hands, she cradled a small urn.
“It’s close to my home, Talon,” she whispered, her voice frail. “If I bury him here, it’s like he’ll never be far from me.”
The urn held the ashes of a small dog—a pet she had adopted a while ago. Seeing them together, a deep ache settled in my chest. I tried to walk past them unnoticed, but Talon’s sharp eyes caught me immediately. His expression soured.
“Sloane, are you following me?” he asked, his tone irritated. His accusing gaze burned into me. How could he not understand why I was here?