Skye’s POV
One week after Radia funeral, the desert alt hung beway with the scent of extinguished candles and grief, Four warrior graves joined Bach boas struck t fresh wound in our community.
According te werewolf tradition, families must keep vigil for seven days beside their deceased relatives, ensuring candles hum continuously around the body, I had called Nadia’s father, Steven Bennett, to inform him of his daughter’s death, asking if he would come to maintain the vigil for her.
answer haunted me still.
I final: “When Nadia chose to follow Adrian out of tool three years ago, I already
After a long silence, his voice had come through the phone, cold and final; moumed her. She died to me them. You bury her properly.”
The line had gone dead, leaving me staring at my phone in shock. How could a father refuse to say goodbye to his daughter? How could he have hardened his heart so completely?
The question spiraled into a darker one that kept me awake at night: Would my own parents feel the same if they learned of my fate?
Had they already buried me in their hearts when i fled Frostshadew?
I found myself reaching for my phone repeatedly, my parents‘ numbers burned into my memory from years of writing them in journals, thinking about them during holidays, imagining calls I never made. Once, I actually dialed my mother’s number, only to hang up the moment it began ringing.
Next time, I told myself. Maybe on Mother’s birthday, the timing will be better.
But I knew I was just bring a coward.
Seven days after the battle, Adrian finally emerged from his grief–stricken isolation and returned to his office. The dark circles under his eyes had faded slightly, though his usual commanding presence seemed dimmed, like a flame burning lower thanual,
Skye,” he s
said one morning. “It’s time you leamed what being lleta truly means.”
I followed him to the Beta office–Nadia’s office with my stomach in knots.
The room still carried her scent, a faint mix of leather and sage that made my chest tighten with guilt. Her desk remained exactly as she’d left it, with training schedules meticulously organized and pack reports filed with mathematical precision.
Adrian noticed my hesitation as I lingered in the doorway. “It’s yours now,‘ he said gently, though I heard the strain in his voice. She would want you to use
I forced myself to step inside, running my fingers along the edge of her desk. Part of me felt like an imposter, siging in a chair that had been shap years of Nadia’s presence. But another part of me straightened my spine, remembering her final request
Take care of him. Be the Beta he needs
“Teach me,” I said, meeting Adrian’s gaze directly. “Show me how to honor what she built.”
Relief flickered across his features as he began explaining the daily responsibilities–coordinating training schedules, managing security rotations, mediating daputes between pack members, reviewing border patrol reports.
His voice grew stronger as he fell into the familial rhythms of leadership, though I caught him glancing at Nadia’s empty chair more than once.
By evening, as I organized the last stack of papers, Adrian appeared in
doorway.
“Call the council,” he said, his expression serimus. ‘I need to speak with everyone. Tonight.”
“What’s happened?
1/3
Chapter 93
Gjust call them, Skye Pleme,
Adrian gestured to the beat beside him. “Skye.” It was Nadia’s seat.
“We can handle it,” Marcus said firmly: “Our pack is stronger than ever. And after w
what we’ve just endured, Adrian is ready.” His blind eyes seemed to burn
Ryder had remained quiet, staring at his hands. When he finally spoke, his voice was hollow. “Nadia always said you’d become Alpha King someday. She believed in that dream more than anyone.”
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