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For the attention of Lord Wolfe Usani,
My name is Orion North. I am the older brother of one Hunter Usani on his mother's side. I hate that I am the one who must write this letter to you. It is not something I ever imagined I would be responsible for. When I first saw Hunter I decided that he would be nothing to me, that I would complete my goal in Ricell and return home to pretend that he did not exist. However he impressed me. I saw a loyalty and strength in him that forced him to put himself in dangerous positions to protect Lord Logan. He got his hands dirty and he threatened to get what he needed. But not once did I see him cross the line. He protected the innocent and he calmed the fearful.
You have brought up my brother better than most could have hoped. He spoke fondly of you all and I know he intended to return to you soon. I just wish he had thought to return sooner. He was sent on an important mission by the Royals. It was an honour that he tried to fulfil. The men were ambushed and only a few returned with their lives. They told me that he fought bravely and that he protected his fellow men. But there were too many of them and he succumbed to the blade. They reassured me that his death was quick and as painless as it could be. He did not crumble or surrender but stayed loyal and true to the end.
I know that this information brings little comfort. If I had not been restrained the men who survived would no longer be survivors. He has been taken from all of us far too soon. I will find out who is responsible and I will make them pay. I give you my word.
I send this letter in the hands of your brother, Lord Bear Usani. He assured me that he could relay this message verbally but I have no wish to cause him the pain and anguish of repeating this to you and to the rest of your family. I apologise for causing you sorrow and anger, there is no right way to write this letter.
Just know there are others missing him too. He has affected a great many people in his short time here and he will never be forgotten.
With deepest condolences,
Orion North
Wolfe Usani,
Your brother has been kind enough to deliver my message to you also. I am deeply sorry for the pain these letters will cause you and continue to cause you. My name is Khiara Glen; I am the woman who gave him up as a baby. I must thank you for allowing him to make this journey alongside his brother. It had given them a wonderful bond and brought so much more happiness into our lives. I am not going to lie and tell you it has been plain sailing. Hunter and I had our issues to resolve. But I am ever so grateful for the opportunity to resolve them.
You have raised a fine young man. My daughters and my younger son adored him. My husband thinks he was remarkable. And Orion will always carry him with him. He has made him a better man than he was before. I will always be eternally grateful to Hunter for that. Patience and understanding were not qualities my son was equipped with but now I see them in him every day. I regret that I caused him to carry around pain and anger as a child but I do believe some of that was eased through our time together. I will miss him.
We parted as friends but I wish this was not the way we had to part. I wish we could have sent him home to you and not experienced any of this sorrow or grief. I weep for you when you must read this heart-breaking news.
My heart and mind is with you and your family.
With all my love,
Khiara Glen.
Wolfe reads out the letters in the most emotionless tone that he can muster. He has to be strong for his family, now is not the time to break down. He is their head; he has to be the support they all need. Everyone who loves Hunter stands motionless in the room, still absorbing the information, unable to believe their ears. Surely they must all have misheard. Wolfe watches them all carefully, waiting for the first signs of cracking that is sure to come. A tear slips down Sparrow's cheek, lips trembling, her carefully construed mask crumbling. Wolfe squeezes her hand and the cracks break wide open and she weeps into his chest. He holds her close, jaw clenched to hold back his own feelings.
Bronco sinks down into a nearby chair, head falling into his hands as he tries to imagine the dark headed, wide eyed young boy he watched grow up with the awful news he has just had to hear. The thoughts refuse to connect until his wife places a loving hand on his shoulder. He looks up at her tear stricken face. She gently touches his cheek and shakes her head. He is gone. He succumbs to his grief.
Bear moves to the window and gazes out. Silent, steady tears fall down his cheeks. Anger courses through him, thick and fast. His vision blurs, fists tightly clenched by his side. If he dares to relax even a little he is sure he will shatter and the grief will overtake the anger that gives him the strength to continue standing. Wolfe wishes to go to his twin but his eyes watch Logan instead.
He still has not reacted. An empty shell of a man stands in his place. Lady Claire sobs openly, body heaving as she reaches for her youngest. Her touch triggers his first response. He shudders away, eyes shining with unshed tears. Her hand falls away limply as he refuses the comfort she offers and wishes to receive. Sparrow untangles herself from Wolfe, pulling herself together to support the woman who desperately needs help. He may not have been her son by blood but her emotions run deep for the child she cared for since he was a baby.
Logan wordlessly holds his hand out for the letters. Wolfe hands them over, unable to contain the shaking of his own hand. Logan reads through the letters, once, twice, three times. A chasm lies within him but somehow he holds it together and hands the letters back, his hand still and controlled. "Logan." Lady Claire sobs. Logan glances her way and shakes his head. He is in no position to do anything for her.
Still without making a sound he walks out of the room, leaves the Manor and heads straight for the stables. No one follows him. He tacks up his horse, mind completely functioning on autopilot. He leads his horse out and swings himself up. Then he rides off in a flat out gallop, no real destination in mind as the icy cold air batters his face. If it was up to him he never would have stopped. His horse, however, has other ideas. It halts, sides heaving and Logan has enough sense not to push his horse any further. He slides from its back and rests his head on his horse's lathered neck.
"You look truly awful." The unfamiliar voice is the mallet swinging down and expanding the fissures for the chasm to consume him.
He sinks down to his knees, a fountain springing from his eyes. Warm, kind hands guide him to a nearby cottage and into the warmth by a roaring fire. They push him down into a chair and place a blanket over him to quell the trembling. He is left alone for mere minutes while she pats down his horse and leaves it in her small fenced garden to graze. Then she returns, pours him a hot drink and places his hands around it. "I am so sorry." She whispers. Logan, the one who cares for others, the one who heals, is finally being cared for and she will slowly heal him, putting the pieces back together.
"My name is Skyrah. Ask for anything and I will do my best." She promises.
"My brother is dead." Her arms quickly envelop him, empathy for his situation deep in her heart.
○ ○ ○
It is not until everyone is in their beds that Wolfe finally allows himself to feel. Pieces of glass stick out of exposed flesh across his knuckles. The remains of the mirror are shattered across the floor. They shimmer in the candlelight, only muted by the fresh red leaching onto them. Sparrow kneels down before him and removes them one by one, unaware that they slice her fingers open also, her blood intermingling with his. Wolfe winces but appreciates the pain that mirrors his heart. He places his hand over Sparrow's when all the glass has been removed. Miserable green eyes meet his. However it is the resolve to believe in hope he sees that breaks him even further.
"I refuse to believe this." She utters, almost silently. "Hunter is so highly skilled. No matter how many there were he would have continued to fight. He cannot be dead. He just cannot. I refuse to believe until I see his body."
"Sparrow. He is only human. You have to accept this." Wolfe calmly demands.
"No." She pulls away, mouth pressed tightly closed to fight back her words. "I am sending men to find him. I have to!"
"He is my brother!" Wolfe roars then quietens. "If I thought there was any chance he was still alive that letter would have gotten no further than me. Bear and Orion were there. They heard this news direct from the survivors' mouths. If there was any chance he was still alive Orion would not have wrote to us. If there was even a sliver of doubt do you think Bear would have returned without exhausting every possible idea?" He firmly tells her. Sparrow hits her fists against his chest and he lets her until she wears herself out. He grips her wrists lightly and stares into her eyes. Tears cascade down her cheeks.
"Do not follow me." She orders. Then she runs from the room. Wolfe lets her, knowing exactly where she intends to go. Shadow will provide the comfort she craves. That horse will have to be the support she desperately requires.
The floorboards creak and he looks up. She has come back and surprised him for he truly thought he would not see her again till morning. He holds out his arms to her. She bites her lip. "This is my fault." She shakily admits. "I told him to go. He would have been safe here if I had not."
"This is not your fault. You did right telling him to follow his heart. Hunter needed to meet her. He will have died complete rather than lived half empty." He rises and pulls her into his grasp. He kisses her forehead and holds her close. "We cannot control death but we can choose which path to follow in life. Hunter followed his to the best of his ability. We must have no regrets on his behalf."
"I will never be able to forgive myself. What if he only followed Orion because of me?" He rubs his hand gently up and down her back. She trembles within his grasp. He wishes he could make that pain go away for her. He wishes he could make the pain go away for everyone. But there is no changing the truth and they shall simply just have to survive this.
"Then he had an adventure. Hunter would only have regretted staying here with us. We were not to know of how it would end. We do not know how any of our adventures will end."
I know this chapter will have possibly caused sadness, anger, maybe feelings of betrayal...This has been planned from the start and I could not rewrite this. Hunter's part in this story has come to an end but the book itself is not finished. I hope you all continue to read.