Winter Wolf

Chapter 30

Lily felt numb as she stared at the male who would never meet his fated. His expression had blanked out, was that shock?

Lily looked at his mother who was crying now. For her son. Mourning a daughter she would never get. She tugged on him and pulled him into a hug he didn't return.

Lily glanced at Sulema. Her face was scrunched in pain for them. Lily felt a sinking in her heart... when she realized how many marked females found their deaths at the hands of the Vargas.

...how many more were out there having not lost hope?

Why was fate so cruel?

"...you're sure?" He asked. Lily tried to swallow the painful lump of emotion as she nodded. His face twisted into pain for a moment, then relaxed into what looked like denial. He shook his head as he looked at her again.

"I don't believe you." He snarled, his eyes going wolf glazed. He growled again, and was gone a second later in a shift to fur. His mother choked on her sob.

The room grew eerily silent.

"Thank you... for telling us. Alec's my youngest... the last of my pups who haven't mated. He was waiting for her. I don't think he would have ever given up." The mother said through her heartbreak. Lily just felt... numb.

...was it wrong to crush his hope? Would keeping hope be better than knowing the truth?

"Do you know who her parents were? We... we would like to meet them. I think it will help give him closure." His mother said as she cried.

"Yes, they are the Beta male and his mate in Lykaia. She was their only daughter." Lily said. The mother nodded sadly.

"Thank you." She said and left.

"...are you okay?" Sulema asked, but Lily didn't know.

Looking at that male's face. The one Ivy was looking forward to meeting. He was part of what kept her hope alive that year she had been locked up there...

Lily was starting to hear things she had tried to repress so hard for so long. Ivy's voice.

Hey! You! Come here! It echoed hauntingly in her head. Conversations she'd had with her over the months, all blending together, overlapping.

Do you have water?

Lo? What an odd name.

Who told you that? It's not true.

If you help me escape, my pack is big and our males really strong... they can kill them.

I know they are looking for me, and they will want revenge for what they did.

I'll bring them back and free all of you.

I can't wait to meet him someday... it's what gets me through the night, knowing he's there somewhere.

I know who your fated is, if you help me... I'll tell you.

Her mother's voice; Stop talking to that female... it will only lead to trouble. She's lying. Those desperate will say desperate things.

Her own voice at twelve years old; I think I found a place. If you can avoid the border guards... you can probably get across.

...next mating moon... they'll be distracted.

Be safe. I promise I'll come back. Go back to your mother now, don't get caught.

Lily felt like she was going to be sick. The vivid memory of watching Ivy make it to the opposite bank of the river. Lily had freed her and shown her where to go. She had found a safe spot after gathering herbs with her mother.