Thor

ckhouse. I paid the driver in a daze, my movements stiff and robotic. The late afternoon

light. It felt all wrong. How could a life, a whole universe of hopes and dreams, be reduced to something so small

y out of place that it made my stomach clench. It was a sound of celebration, a sound that had no right to exist

hed. Their faces registered a flicker of surprise before settling into respectful m

eat. I stepped over the threshold, my legs feeling

d ceiling. A massive banner hung across the far wall, proclaiming in shimmering letters, "Congratulations!" Pack

t the wrong funeral. This wasn'

f wrongness. And then I saw him. Leaning against the great stone fireplace,

o be gone, across the border settling a territory dispute. He wasn't supposed

e dam of my control finally break. I wanted to scream and cry an

ter, Lyra, was saying. She stood beside him, her hand on

wept the room a

ward me. He didn't open his arms. He didn't do any of the things a mate was supposed to do. Instead, a frown cr

led ruin in my chest, pl

ack on me, their whispers a low buzz that pricked at my skin. They stared at my

voice was a dry, cracking thi

arms, a flicker of disdain in their depths. He cle

or me. "Of course I'm back. It's my nephew's Naming Ceremon

tton. *Nephew? Naming Ceremony?* Then it clicked. Kian. Lyra's son.

ribs. He hadn't come back for me. He hadn't come ba

y lips trembling. "Ou

fine at the pack hospital. Dr. Vance is with her. Don't bring up h

read of hope I'd been clinging to snapped. He didn't

aringly hot, burning through my dress, bra

ough Ryker's, a picture of familial perfection. "Sister," she said, her eyes gleaming. "Yo

greedily on the

couple before me, at the joyful pack members surrounding them, and I understood. In th

The betrayal was too absolute to breathe through. All I could do was