“I know my fair share about wolves,” Silas says. “But this is something I haven’t encountered or even heard about before.”
“It’s because it rarely happens,” Marius says, a deep frown on his face.
“It’s one thing for a wolf spirit to be weakened, to retreat and hide themselves,” Annie adds. “But to disappear completely?” A shiver goes down her spine.
“It’s truly a scary thought,” Elodie mutters.
“But how can it happen?” Dalila asks. “Flora, you mentioned the council can do it, but I doubt just any member could-“
“True, just a handful of high-ranking council members can do it,” Flora verifies.
“Could one of them have taught someone how to do it?” Dalila asks. “Someone who shouldn’t know how.”
“Highly unlikely,” Flora says. “It’s not an easy thing to achieve, and frankly, most wolves can’t do it. You need to literally break someone’s soul into pieces. It’s incredibly difficult to do.”
“Which means something happened to her,” Silas says. “Something grave enough that it killed her wolf.”
It’s silent around us. “Yes,” Marius agrees quietly.
“It must have something to do with her mate,” Elodie says. “I can’t see any other option, or rather, it’s the most likely one.”
“I agree,” Annie takes another sip of her cup. “He did something to her. I…I don’t know how to say it,” she adds quietly. “But it must have been truly traumatic,”
“And probably over a longer time span,” Marius adds.
I look at them. “What are you thinking about?”
“Assault,” Annie says. “Or torture.”
“Or both,” Silas mutters. “Or heavy abuse.”
“Faye doesn’t know anything, does she?” Flora asks.
“If she does, she hasn’t told us,” I say. “I think she definitely saw something or even experienced it, but I hope she didn’t come in contact with too much cruelty.”
“The way she is protective of her mom, I am sure she saw something.” Flora furrows her brows; the look in her eyes seems to be far away, like she is looking at something we can’t see. “Maybe…”
When she is silent, Marius pushes. “Maybe?”
“Nothing,” Flora says. “I can’t say for sure yet. What I can say is that Faye definitely experienced something traumatic. She is a cheerful child, very cheerful, almost a bit too much. She is also unusually mature for a kid of her age.”
“Did your gift tell you that?” Silas inquires. There is a glint in his eyes I can’t quite describe. I am just starting to understand that both he and Flora know and understand a lot more about our world than most others do.
“No, experience.” The look in her eyes is sad for a moment. “She reminds me of a young boy who was my best friend when I was a child.”
“Did he go through something similar?” Elodie asks.
“He had the same look in his eyes,” Flora says thoughtfully.
“Poor little girl,” Marius mutters. “I agree with Liam and Dad’s assessments. She for sure knows that her mom is very ill, but has clung to any ray of hope she could find. She must be going through so much. Just imagine. She had to see her mother turn into a living shell. She probably was too tiny to be considered a threat to Marina’s pack, but she must have seen a lot, and she must have buried everything in her tiny heart. And her father was probably the one who is responsible for her mom’s state.”
“Yes,” Annie says quietly. “I agree with everything you said. I believe that’s what’s going on with her.”
As usual, when I think about Faye and Marina, my thoughts start running, battling it out in my mind. There are several voices. One is full of anger and venom against my old alpha and wants revenge. One is sad for losing Marina, or rather, having lost her. Then there is the guilty one, and a very delusional one that hopes for a magical, happy end.
“Gwen,” Flora says, her eyes glossing over. “That’s Elden.”
“It’s time for me to join the alphas?” I ask nervously.
