Warriors, scouts, everyone—my father, the Alpha, led the search, his face pale with worry. My mother, the Luna, prayed to the Moon Goddess every waking second, her eyes red from crying. I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat. The house felt empty, like a void had swallowed all the light, all the warmth. And I realized how much I needed her, how lost I was without her.
When Gloria finally returned after two days, everyone rejoiced, myself most of all. I remember running to her, throwing my arms around her and burying my face in her neck, breathing in her scent. “Tori! Tori, I thought I lost you!”
But she didn’t hug me back. She stood stiff, her body cold and unyielding. I pulled back, confused, searching her face for the warmth that had always been there. She looked the same, but something in her eyes had changed. When she smiled, it wasn’t the bright, loving smile I’d known my whole life—it was colder, more distant, like a stranger’s smile wearing my sister’s face.
“Sorry to worry you,” she said, her voice flat. “I’m fine now. Don’t be so dramatic.”