Chapter Twenty-Four

I trailed my fingers down her bare back, tracing faint patterns into her skin. I watched goosebumps rise in the wake of my touch, her body showing its reaction even when she was asleep. It was hard for me to believe that she was beside me, in my sanctuary. We had come far in our relationship in the past few weeks and the feeling of triumph was only beat out by the feeling of her in my arms. We didn't have a claimed bond but we had one that she seemed to want and enjoy and that was something even better.

She shivered slightly, the cold of the air getting to her and I slid the covers up her back, pressing my lips to the back of her shoulder. I closed my eyes, inhaling deeply, savouring how her scent was slightly coated in mine, warding off other males from what was to be my future. My lips tingled from the warmth that radiated off of her and I parted them, touching my tongue to her skin, letting the sweetness of her taste coat my tongue. I shivered at it, desire clenching my gut slightly as I pulled back.

She mumbled something in her sleep, shifting slightly on the bed. I smiled at her slightly, holding back from touching her again. She needed her sleep. It was difficult to see her in the dark of my room but her bare skin was visible and almost luminescent. I reached out and touched the braid she had let me put in her hair before bed. My little cat had complained the entire time but she hadn't been able to hide how she leaned back towards me, her body craving the closeness of mine.

My wolf had taken control and initiated the kiss between us in the temple but she had been the one who escalated it. She had welcomed it and then demanded more. She was needy, more so than I would have thought but I wasn't one to complain. I nuzzled my face into her hair, her scent relaxed me and I sunk into the mattress. One could never truly understand how tense or on edge you were until you found an opportunity to relax completely.

Shey was my relaxation, the one thing I had found in five years that allowed me to relax completely. True she stressed me out and irritated me to the point where I wanted to rip my hair out. She made me tense and agitated but one deep inhale of her scent and it soothed everything over. It helped remind me that I wouldn't love her if she wasn't exactly as she was. I loved her blunt sarcasm and her caustic attitude and I didn't wish for her to be any other way.

I slipped an arm around her waist, my hand spreading out across the skin above her navel. Her skin was soft no matter how many scars it held. I nuzzled her hair again and she she turned her head. I froze thinking I had woken her but she simply exhaled before brushing her nose along my cheek, inhaling as she did so. She murmured something sleepily, her eyes closed as she repeated the gesture. I could see a faint smile on her face as she let her head roll back towards the pillow. I kissed her shoulder again, swirling my fingertips on her soft skin.

"I love you, Shey." I murmured the words into her ear. She wasn't awake but I needed to say it when she was deep in her sleep because I didn't want to face the rejection of doing it while she was awake. I reluctantly pulled my arm away from around her waist and rolled onto my back.

"She's dreaming of you, you know." The voice was gruff but it had a faintly familiar softness to it. I sat up in the bed quickly, my eyes narrowing as I sought out the intruder. A bulky form seemed to melt from the shadows and my mouth dropped open as my father's haggard face appeared. He gave me a small smile, his eyes sad before he sat down on the bed. I could feel his weight dipping the mattress down. "She doesn't usually dream of anything but memories. But tonight... tonight she is dreaming of you." His smile grew a bit and he set his hands on his lap before looking over at me.

"What-"

"She's beautiful and she's strong." His blue eyes went slightly warm as he looked between her and I. I swallowed thickly, tear blurring my vision. "She will be a wonderful replacement for your mother." His figure was blurry and I blinked the tears away.

"Dad-"

"They say the dead don't have regrets." His words were twisted with sadness and I reached out for him. He was my father, he was family and I didn't want for him to hurt in anyway. I wanted to touch him to make sure he was real but he shifted on the bed, taking himself out of my reach as he turned his body towards me. "Luka, I have so many regrets and you are the one thing that I regret the most." His shoulders slumped and I felt my heart lurch painfully in my chest, I let my hand drop to the blanket covering my lap. The rejection of my touch was a harsh thing for me, especially coming from him but the weight of his words threatened to crush me.

"I regret not spending more time with you. I regret not paying attention to what was going on with you. I regret not understanding you better, not trying to understand you better. You had so much potential, so much." He reached out for me, his hand hanging in no man's land between us. I reached out and took his hand in mine. His skin was ice cold and bare of the thrum of life but I tightened my grip anyway. I didn't want to let him go, not again. "I never understood you because I was just like my father but you had my mother's spirit. The mountains run deep in your veins and in your wolf. I treated you as if you were your brothers but you weren't, Luka. You were you and I never saw the strength in that." His eyes begged me to understand and I nodded, unwilling to close my eyes in case he disappeared.

"You were such a small baby. Smaller than my hands cupped together. You were born early and the doctor said not to hold our breath for you to live but you survived, Luka, and I should have seen the strength in you then but all I could see was this tiny child I could hold in my palms. That was all I saw when I looked at you and I regret it because I missed so much." His shoulders heaved with silent tears that spawned tears of my own. "I saw you, watched you pick up the pieces after we died. I watched as you dug our graves, as you carried us to our resting places. I watched you bury your family with your head held high and strength threaded into every single one of your muscles. You didn't falter on the outside, when on the inside I knew you were shattered. Pieces of grief swirling around in you, making you bleed, making you hurt." He let out a shuddering breath that I mimicked. It was strange seeing him like this. My father had only ever be strong but I was watching that strength splinter and I reached out with my other hand, clutching the back of his hand and holding it tightly as if he were my anchor.

"I watched as you shouldered the burden I hadn't prepared you for and I watched as you took care of your mother with a tenderness that exceeded what I wanted for her. I watched you turn into a full male and my greatest regret was the fact I wasn't there to tell you how fucking proud I was of you." The words were choked out and my heart ached for him. He seemed broken, a shell of who he had been. Held down by regrets and the life he had lost. "You were my biggest regret because I let Benjamin and Derek reach their potential but I held you back from yours. There were times I yelled at you, screamed in your face, instead of stepping back and trying to understand you. I sit here realizing that there was so much time I wasted trying to turn you into me instead of letting you be you." He wiped at his face, squeezing my hand so tightly it almost hurt but I squeezed it back just as tightly. I didn't lift a hand to wipe away my own tears. The burning liquid needed to be released, it was five years late but the ache still throbbed as if it were yesterday.

"You are my burden, Luka. My beautiful burden." He wiped at his face again but the tears were a steady stream from his eyes. He could never wipe them away completely. "It was one that Mene designed for me. I forsook you and she let me watch you become the male she wanted you to be and she let me feel that regret that I would never be here for you, for Lily, for your children. They will never know me, they will hear stories but they will never get a chance to hear their grandfather laugh with their dad as they grow up. They won't ever hear my voice or know the feeling my touch and there will be a time when you have forgotten it too." I opened my mouth to speak but he shook his head.

"That kills me. To know that my child, my puiu meu de lup, will soon forget the sound of my voice. The voice that sang him lullabies in Gamgam's kitchen when he was too small to leave the warmth her sanctuary provided, the voice that told him stories while he sat on my lap with wide and bright eyes that reminded me of the love of my life. That he would forget the touch of the hands that bathed him as a child, that tickled him and carried him when he was so tired he couldn't keep his eyes open." A soft sob erupted from his throat and he let my hand go, shaking off my grip before he reached out and grasped my face in his hands. His fingers were so icy it took my breath away. "Your memories of me will fade and that is my biggest regret because there are so few of them. You are my son, Luka. I should have told you I loved you more. I should have had you beside Benjamin and Derek in training. I should have been there for you! Instead I pushed you away. I forgot about you. My son." He brushed away my tears and I stared at him, willing myself not to blink. I didn't want to lose sight of him. His voice was raspy with tears and grief and his strong shoulders trembled and slumped as if he held the entire world on them.

"You are so important to me and I am a fool for the fact it took death for me to see it. It took me leaving this world, leaving your behind for me to realize how much I loved you and how much I regretted every angry words I said to you." He shook his head as he shifted closer to me on the bed. He let my face to to grab my shoulders. I hissed slightly at the iciness of his touch but I leaned into it. It was still his touch regardless of how cold and lifeless it was. "I said so many things to you, Luka, and most of them I am not proud of but you are so much more than I was. You took the words, you did not retaliate or fling them back in my face like I would have. You accepted my criticism and you moved on. You have this unending strength that is wired deep into you. A strength that I never possessed or could even comprehend." His eyes flashed slightly.

"You were my true heir, Luka. Your brothers had the power through birth but you would have gained it through strength." He closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh.

"I don't underst-"

"Your wolf does. He's of the mountains, Luka. He's not like everyone else. He never was, he was more than that. I should have seen it, seen him. He's incredible, Luka. You need to let him in. Let him in and return to being one. You cannot be this separated, not anymore." He squeezed my shoulders and a smile spread across his face. "That's why you ran because you believed you were protecting your brothers. Your wolf wasn't bloodthirsty, Luka. He simply saw a weakness in the future leader of the pack and wished to replace it. He was busy when you lived in the forest. If you let him in you will see it too." He let his hands drop from my shoulders and shook his head.

"Just like Lily-" He choked on her name, grief twisting his features. I could see how badly he missed her. He rubbed at his chest with a palm as if trying to rub away an unending ache.

"Heart ache goes away in time." I knew that. I had experienced it. His scales would be wiped clean and his heartache would end.

"You don't understand, Luka. My heart cannot break because I was buried without it." He looked at me before his eyes flitted to Shey and then back to me. "She is and always will be my heart and I left her. That's why I hurt." The knowing look on his face was clear as he looked at Shey again. I swallowed and reached over, my fingers grazing her arm. She leaned into the contact with a soft sigh. Shey was my heart just as my mother was his.

"She could see it in you, you know. She let you be, encouraged you after I would tear you down. She tried to build you up, to help you understand your strength, understand your wolf. She saw what I hadn't and tried to fix what I was breaking." His shoulders shook, he leaned his head forward. Regret swirled around him thick and bitter. "She was too good for me. I knew that from the moment she threw a pine cone at my head and called me a pompous popinjay." He gave a tearful chuckle at the memory before he fell silent and turned from me slightly.

"I'll have one more regret, Luka, and this one will tear me apart for the rest of my punishment." He said it quietly and I felt a lump in my throat before I reached for him. He stood up, "It's time, Luka. I'm sorry but it is." He turned away from me and I let out a sound of protest. He reached out and grasped my face in his hands once more, pressing a kiss to the top of my head.

"I love you and there are no words in this world or the next that will ever encompass how proud I am of you. You do right by your family, by her." He gestured to her, a soft chuckle erupting from his mouth. "She is quite the handful. Just take care of her and let her know she is loved." He moved around the bed before leaning over her. He whispered something in her ear, words I couldn't hear as he pulled away before kissing her temple. He brushed a lock of hair away from her face and he smiled at her with a tenderness that was almost out of place on his harsh face.

"Her mother has her own regrets she pays for but Shey doesn't need those burdens on her shoulders. Help her take them off and stay by her side. Stand by her." He gave me a stern look that made me smile. It was a look I was familiar with and it made a small flame of happiness spark in my chest. As short as it was, I had been given time with him. A few minutes with him was better than never talking to him at all.

"Benjamin and Derek... how are they?" I swallowed thickly. I needed to know how they were.

"Gone. Their scales wiped clean and reborn once more." Pride shone brightly in his brilliantly blue eyes and I smiled at him. "I need to go. It's time." His face fell before he moved backwards, slipping back into the shadows as if he was never there to begin with. I stared into the shadows before I became aware they were staring back. The creatures moved in the shadows, the figures enlarging and the shadows reaching for me. My heart jumped in my throat and I leaned over Shey protectively, snarling at the creatures I knew I could not destroy.

I woke up with a snarl rattling my throat as I sat up quickly. I let out a deep breath to calm the rapid pounding of my heart. The dream lingered at the edges of my mind and I wanted to get up and pace the length of the room. A feeling of unease had settled in my stomach. It had been too vivid of a dream and my father had never come to my in my room. I dreamt of memories sometimes, never of my room. Someone shifted beside me and I turned my head quickly in surprise before I relaxed when I remembered.

"You 'kay?" Shey's voice was slurred with tiredness as she sat up with a yawn. The blanket slid down her chest, showing me her softly rounded breasts and small waist and all previous thoughts went out the window as I took her form in. She reached out and grasped my arm gently, trying to get my attention. "Luka?" She rubbed at her eyes, blinking at me. I shook my head.

"It's nothing. Just a strange dream." Strange was not a strong enough for it. My stomach churned with a sudden anxiety. I never had a dream like that before.

"Is 'kay. Sleep." She tugged on my arm as she turned to lie down again. I slowly lay down beside her as she tugged the blanket to her chest, hugging it slightly. She yawned again as she wiped at her eyes once more. I turned onto my side and she wiggled closer to me, placing her head under my chin. I shivered as her warm breath moved across my chest. I brushed my thumb across her cheek and she nuzzled her nose against my collarbone. I was becoming aware that she was slightly needy when her defences were down or weak.

It wasn't a bad thing. I liked that she wanted contact with me and I was convinced it had to do with fact she had been rejected so many times before. When she was awake, she could care less but when she was at her weakest, she craved contact with me. It was if she was subconsciously needing reassurance that I still wanted her, that I was still right beside her.

Stand by her.

My father's voice was gruff and I jolted slightly at the words from the dream. The dream had been so vivid it was if he had truly been in my room speaking to me. I frowned slightly as I moved my hand from her cheek to grasp at her waist. Her skin was warm against my palm and I stroked her side, unable to help myself.

"Do dreams-" I stopped speaking, frowning slightly. I wasn't sure how to word what I wanted to know. "Can the dead speak through dreams?" I was puzzled. I had never truly paid attention to how Mene worked. I had known she was the one to balance scales but everything surrounding her was a mystery I never tried to unravel. She had been far from my life, I had never seen her in action or known someone who had. She was removed from most shifters.

"Hmmmm?" She nuzzled against my chest, pressing herself closer to me. She reached out and grasped the side of my neck in one hand before kissing my collarbone lightly. The action was distracting and I tamped down the fiery heat it ignited in me as she did it again.

"The dead. Can they speak in dreams?" I removed my hand from her side and tangled it in her hair, gently tugging her away from my chest. The barely there kisses were not helping me.

Her bottom lip stuck out slightly in a pout at the denial of her teasing. "Sometimes." The sleepy tone in her voice was less and she blinked at me a few times. "My mother spoke to me the night I met you. Mene was there too. She told me you were to be my punishment and I needed to stop fighting fate." I was a bit shocked at the information. I hadn't been aware that Shey had a connection to the goddess. I had known she knew prayers from Altia but Mene did not appear to just any shifter, or anyone at all for that matter.

"You spoke to Mene?" I couldn't withhold the disbelief as I looked at her. Her green eyes told me all I needed to know. She had spoken the truth. "How?" I watched her face carefully and she simply shrugged.

"Mene is strongest near death, Luka, my wolf is close enough." Her voice was soft and tinged with sadness and longing for a creature she could no longer reach. I brushed my lips against hers in a small gesture of comfort before I withdrew. Her pout grew deeper at my refusal of taking the kiss further. I bit back a smile. My needy little cat.

"I think I dreamed of my father." I said it softly and she shifted up onto her elbow slightly before tilting her head at me.

"Then you probably did."

"But why?" That was what got me, there was no logical reason for my father's spirit to reach out to me from his place in Mene's arms.

"I don't presume to understand the whims of the dead, Luka, and neither should you but maybe he just wished to see you again before his scales returned to balance. Maybe Mene granted him that." She lay back down, snuggling into the pillow and blanket. Her eyes closed, a deep sigh escaping her mouth. "Go back to sleep and if you wake me up again, I'll smother you with a pillow and I'll feel justified in doing so." She sniffed slightly and I chuckled lightly before pressing a kiss to the corner of her mouth. She shifted her head so her lips moulded to mine, heat flared through me like a raging inferno. She let out a happy sigh against my mouth before I pulled back, hesitant to end the contact but also knowing I wouldn't stop once we started. She was turning into an addiction that I couldn't control.

"Sleep, lubirea mea." I pressed my lips to her forehead, inhaling slightly, taking her lightly sweet and citrous scent as I wrapped my arm around her waist, holding her to me. Silence fell around us for a few moments before she shifted slightly.

"There was a blue eyed male in my dream. He whispered in my ear, told me to take care of his boy. Perhaps the dead didn't just visit you." She said it softly before kissing my chin and burying her face in my chest, inhaling my scent. I frowned, the scene from my dream appearing in my mind. His cold lips brushing her temple. I ran my fingers down her spine, gripping her hip slightly in thought.

He had been speaking of his regrets, of what he wished he could have done instead of what he did. If it had been truly him, I was more than thankful for the few minutes I got to spend in his company. It made my eyes burn at the memory of him explaining how proud he was of me. That was all I had wanted from him, his approval and his pride. Everything else seemed meaningless when I had been younger but when I realized there was only room for my brothers in his world, I had lashed out. I had run away, disobeyed and cursed his name but deep down I had only ever wanted his attention and it didn't matter if it was good or bad.

Having him say he was proud of me, that he regretted not spending more time with me. It was something that I hadn't really realized I had needed until I had gotten it. I closed my eyes but sleep wouldn't come, the strange anxiety was gnawing at my stomach. It put me on edge and my wolf whined in my head from his shackles, I had to agree with his assessment of the situation. Something about the dream had been off. Shey's breathing evened out and she relaxed more into the mattress. I slowly shifted away from her, not willing to wake her up because I simply needed to walk around a bit. I didn't doubt her smothering threat was serious.

I sat up and slowly moved off the bed, grabbing a pair of jeans off the floor and pulled them on. I quietly moved to the door and slid outside, closing it with a soft click. Shey didn't need to deal with my inability to sleep. I looked down the hall only to see a large black wolf curled up outside of Ainsley's room. I bit back a growl at the sight of him. Sombro as Shey called him. Samuel Eddings, better known as Sammy as he told me. I didn't like him. He had harmed Shey, she had called me off of killing him but that didn't stop my dislike for him.

I had to admit that he seemed truly taken with Ainsley, despite the fact the fiery haired shifter seemed to want nothing to do with him except run the other way when she saw him coming. I didn't want to but I felt a bit of empathy for him with that. I knew all about a mate who wanted nothing to do with me. At the same time I liked the fact Ainsley wasn't one to fall for a pretty face. She deserved a better mate than a self-professed male-whore, as Shey referred to him as.

His head lifted as he looked over at me but he simply laid his head back down, unwilling to push me after the temple. Black rage had filled me and he had been at the brunt of my fury and he was lucky Shey had managed to get through the hazy buzzing in my mind. I would have killed him but she saved his life and he knew better than to spit on that.

I moved towards the office, it felt a bit strange not having Michael or Ezekiel sleeping in the room with me but they simply refused to some into the house. They had strong enough noses to understand that my relationship with Shey had changed. They were giving us privacy and I appreciated it but it was simply strange to not have them there with me. I never felt like I had a good sleep without waking up at least once to Michael's foul breath in my face or Ezekiel's over bearing warmth pressed to my side.

I opened the office door and flicked on the light before rubbing my face. Everything was in place and I moved towards the window. The half moon was bright and its light was cold as it shined through the glass. I stared up at it and the dream tugged at me as I stared at the pale moon.

It's time, Luka. I'm sorry but it is.

I frowned and the anxiety twisted around my stomach and tightened to the point where I pressed my hand against my belly to try and calm the twisting pain. Something was tickling at the back of my mind but I couldn't understand it. Shey had said she didn't presume to understand the whims of the dead but my father wouldn't have appeared without a reason.

Mene is strongest near death, Luka, my wolf is close enough.

Shey's words floated in my head. The rejections had nearly killed her wolf and that was why Mene had been able to speak to her. Shey's wolf, and by association, Shey, was a hair's width away from death. It made it easier for the goddess to reach through to her. The night I had met Shey proved that as well. Mene spoke through the dead. She was strongest near death.

She was strongest near death. Something had given my father strength to reach out to me and I didn't like the feeling it left in the pit of my stomach. If Mene was strongest near death then there was only one reason why my father could have appeared.

It's time, Luka. I'm sorry but it is.

I felt my heart stop in my chest as clarity filled me. It was his biggest regret because it was time. I turned away from the window and bolted out the room.

"No no no nononononono." It was a repetitive chant, a mantra, as I nearly stumbled over my feet as I hit the stairs. I rushed down them and became away of an eerie silence that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I hit the bottom stairs and sprinted to my mother's room. It couldn't have been that. It had to have been someone else. Light shone around the door and I tore it open. Doc Howard was comforting a rather catatonic May while Gamgam sat on my mother's bed, stroking her face. They looked at me and May's chin trembled, guilt radiated off of her.

"I'm sorry. I came to check on her but I couldn't- I tried- It's just- I'm so sorry, Alpha." She could barely get the words out over her stuttered breathing and I shook my head.

"No, May. No." I said it harshly. I didn't believe it, wouldn't believe it. I moved towards my mother's bed with purpose and Gamgam sniffled slightly. My mother's face was serene a faint smile on her mouth but I couldn't feel her there anymore.

"She went quietly. In her sleep. She didn't suffer, Luka." Gamgam's voice was brusque but it trembled with unshed tears. I reached out and took my mother's hand, her fingers limp and starting to cool.

"She's gone?" I looked at Gamgam as I held my mother's delicate hand in my own. There was no feeling of life to the touch and I felt like a confused child. I couldn't comprehend what was happening.

"Yes. Jason will be coming to see what exactly happened." her light blue eyes were rimmed with red as she stroked my mother's face. My heart stuttered and reality crashed down on me. She was gone. My knees buckled and I hit the floor. She was gone. There would be no more visits in her garden. No more memories. Nothing because she was dead and I would have to bury her in the cold ground. She would never smile at me again and call me her sweetest boy.

There would never be another squeezed hand or a touched cheek. Everything that she had been was now gone. My children would never see her, never hear her voice or feel her loving arms. She would cease to exist, returning to the earth as Mene balanced her scales and sent her to be reborn. The foundation of my world was crumbling under the realization that the last of my family was truly gone.

I bowed my head, tears filling my eyes as I kissed her hand, holding it against my cheek. My chest fractured and cracked and I suddenly felt everything. They would never come home and she would never wake up. Pain seeped into every crevice of my soul, of my being. I was torn apart by grief, old wounds opening and seeping bitter poison into my veins while new one were torn into me. I was alone.

"It was most likely a stroke, Alpha, but she passed quietly and that is more than we hoped for." Doc's voice felt muffled and I stared at the floor, tears splashing against the hardwood as they dripped from my nose.

"I'm sorry, Alpha. I came to check on her but she wasn't breathing. I tried. I tried so hard but I couldn't get her to start breathing again. I tried!" May's voice was borderline hysterical and I kissed the back of my mother's hand, taking in her soft scent. "If I came in sooner, if I made it to her sooner, I could have done something!" Her voice rose in pitch and Doc shushed her gently. I closed my eyes against the throbbing sharpness in my chest. I was bleeding inside, hemorrhaging into my chest cavity but there was nothing anyone could do about the wound I had.

"This is no one's fault, May. It was simply her time to go." Gamgam's hand smoothed down my hair. "We were blessed to keep her as long as we did but she always had to go to him. There was no Lily with Richard." My wolf whimpered and whined in my head, sounds of sorrow for his human mother, for her loss. His grief crashed over me in waves that made me feel like I was drowning. I couldn't get my bearings with the pain and the grief tearing me to shreds.

"I needed her." I choked it out and Gamgam made a soft shushing sound as she stroked my cheek.

"I know, lubirea mea. I know." She gently removed my mother's hand from my grasp before she wrapped her arms around me. "It's okay to grieve for her puiu meu de lup, to cry out the hurt." She rocked me slightly before I pulled away from her and stood up on shaky legs. The pain was accentuated by anger at how unfair it had been. I had my entire family taken from me. There was no fairness to it.

I shook my head, gritting my teeth as I leaned over and kissed her forehead. "May Mene's light guide you home and may your mate wait with open arms." I drew my fingers down her face, over her eyes, nose and mouth to rest on her chin. The icy white exhale escaped her mouth nearly immediately. I pressed my forehead to hers, feeling her loss acutely. My wolf thrashed in his cage, he gnawed on his shackles, demanding release. His grief switching to anger as mine was. It was a slowly burn under the pain I was feeling. "I love you." My tears dripped onto her face and I stood up, wiping the wetness away from her face before I stepped back.

"Is everything alright?" Shey's voice made something snap in me and I whirled around breathing heavily. "May? What happened?" Her green eyes were filled with worry until her eyes landed on me and then Lily. Her hand covered her mouth in a harsh gasp. "Oh god! Lily!" She started into the room and there was a roaring in my ears as I stalked towards her. My vision was hazy as my wolf snapped through his shackles like they were paper. It was his sounds of angry pain that I was hearing. There had to be a person to blame. There wasn't any other person who could have caused this but her.

"No!" I grabbed her arms tightly, stopping her progress. "You did this." I hissed it out, pure anger and venom in my words. My wolf's rage washed over me and I embraced it, the haze in my vision grew darker, my hearing more muffled.

"That hurts-" I shook her, cutting off her words. I could barely see her through the haze of rage covering my vision.

"If you hadn't been so foolishly reckless. If you had used your fucking head she would be alive! I trusted you with her! I trusted you!" I gritted my teeth, my bones aching for a shift, canines lengthening "She is dead because of you! You killed her, Shey, and if you don't get off of my territory before I come back I will do the same to you." I shoved her away roughly, I didn't trust myself not to kill the reason why my mother was gone if I held her any longer.

"Luka!" Gamgam's voice was basically a roar and I whirled around a deadly snarl echoing in the room. I could sense her backing off and my jaw snapped in a partial shift, my jaw elongating. I stalked out of the room, my joints aching to shift. I threw open the front door and the shift was fast and vicious. I landed on four legs but before the world went blessedly dark, my father's words echoed in my head.

You do right by your family, by her.