Chapter 321

They then lower their eyes to their feet before turning and leaving. I’m so touched and beyond comprehension at this sign of respect that I don’t know how to react except to stand and stare at every face that honors me and leaves. I want to memorize every single one, just in case. While every bowed head and uttered word tears and claws at my insides so that I cover my stomach instinctively and cradle it protectively. Sniffing, gulping in ragged breaths because I’m too consumed with many emotions to be able to separate them. “And here you thought you would never be part of a real pack or a family…. yet here we are.” Meadow glides beside me and slides an arm around my waist to help hold me up as I breathe out the painful truth. Taking me from Sierra gently. “Most of them will die…. We’ll lose them.” The breathy words stick in my mouth like peanut butter, sliding out in woe, and I must struggle past the agony to get them out. Knowing I shouldn’t think it, but it’s the truth, and I have to