Tears filled my eyes. I had been nothing more than an object to him, a trophy in his world rather than a partner in life. I blocked his sigil, severing the last tether to him, determined to carve my own path.
Days later, word reached me through mutual pack members that Lorenz was frantically searching, sending messages I never received.
[Toni, I’m sorry. Return to me.]
Tomorrow marked my graduation after four cycles of grueling study at the Rhode Island School of Art, a day I had longed to share with Lorenz. But when I mentioned it at dinner, his response was cold as the winter wind in the northern forest.
“I have obligations tomorrow,” he said sharply. “I’ll send you a gift.”
He rose, already absorbed in his crystal communicator, leaving me staring at the empty space where he should have been, feeling as though I’d been erased from his life.
In recent moons, just as I thought he might be warming back to me, he withdrew again. The reason was obvious: Emily Javier had returned, ready to establish her den in Providence.