Chapter 4
“What do you mean? Are you in cahoot. with Sloane?” Talon’s usual authoritative
tone vanished. His eyebrows were drawn in confusion.
“No, Alpha. My loyalty will always be yours. But I am telling the truth.”
Talon lowered his phone slowly and looked at me with his pale face. But I was on my knees, gathering the ashes scattered on the cold damp ground, determined not to leave any of my mother behind.
“I’m sorry, Sloane. I didn’t know…” he said and crouched beside me to offer his help.
“Don’t touch my mother! You don’t deserve it!” I growled, slapping his hands
away.
The beast within me urged me to tear Talon apart for what he’d done, but I couldn’t because my wolf wanted him.
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“Sloane, what are you talking about? I didn’t kill her. I thought your mother was improving. How could she die so suddenly?”
I stood up slowly. “You want to know why? Fine, I’ll tell you.”
I saw Talon flinched under my glare, but I ignored it. He had to know the intensity of the pain he had caused.
“On our union day,” my voice trembling with anger, “my mother got up at three in the morning to help me get dressed. She was so happy to see me in my ceremonial
- me.
gown and wanted to fasten the time to see you with me in the aisle.”
My voice cracked as the memories hit me. “She couldn’t stop smiling because she was proud she gave birth to me who would be the instrument in reuniting the two packs. She believed in you. She loved like her biological son.”
you
“We waited for you, Talon. From morning
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till noon, we waited. I called you so many times, but you’ve never answered. The Wildheart Tribe started whispering, asking my mother why the Nightclaw‘ s Alpha hadn’t shown up. She was so scared that another war would start, but she defended.
you.”
I remembered that scene when one of our tribe’s elders asked my mother, “Didn’t you say you have a great son–in–law of an Alpha? Why is he not here for the union ceremony yet?”
But my mother kept smiling and replied, “He’s an Alpha. We all know how Alphas. tends to be busy even at this moment.”
Tears blurred my vision, but I pressed on. I am not pretending to be strong, but I am trying to be because I’ve seen how Talon. took advantage of my slight strength in the past not knowing whether it was real or pretend.
“We waited until nightfall. But you’ve never picked up your phone. My mother grew
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worried, Talone. She was not angry. She thought something must have happened to you. The guests began to leave, disappointed at how the Nightclaw‘ s treatment of our tribe. They looked at me and my mother as if we were fools for believing this treaty. Some even cursed us, but still, my mother defended you, insisting you had a good reason.”
I clenched my fists, fighting to keep my voice steady. “By nine o’clock, everyone had gone. My mother wasn‘ t well, but I begged her to rest. She refused, believing you’d come, and she wanted to make sure you were okay. She wanted to open her arms and let you know she’s there for you.”
“You’ll never understand what that day was like for us–the agony of waiting, watching the clock as the hours dragged on. My mother held on until midnight, still hoping.”
I didn’t let him speak and continued.
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“When midnight came, she finally gave up. The realization that you weren’t coming was too much for her. Her heart couldn‘ t take it, and she died of a heart attack, right
there in the dress she had chosen for the
union ceremony.”
I met Talon’s gaze, my voice eerily calm. “If you had just called me back, things might have been different. But you didn’t. You only cared about Lily. My mother and I meant nothing to you.”
I watched the weight of my words sink in, as Talon‘ s gaze fell to the urn holding my mother’s ashes. Tears filled his eyes, and he whispered, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry…”
But his apologies meant nothing now. “It’s too late, Talon. She can’t hear you, and you’ll never get her forgiveness.” My voice was cold, stripped of the warmth it once
held for him.
“How about your forgiveness? I’m sorry, Sloane. I never meant for this to happen. I didn’t know.”
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But I had no more forgiveness left to give. “No, I can‘ t and won’t forgive you. So, don‘ t apologize to me.”
I turned and walked away, clutching my mother’s urn close to my chest. As I passed by where Lily was standing, I felt her cold, quiet triumph.
I stopped and looked her in the eye.
“Congratulations,” I growled. “You won.”
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