Whitebark Stream I tried to call you home

What might have been, had she gone on to live another day? What adventures would they have had? What new things would she have told him that might help him deal with his ongoing and never-healing grief for Cella? The reality of the world being that much emptier without Aphrodite was cold and cruel. He felt the weight of the unjust truth fill him with anger. There would be no one that could help him through this. It was Cella's death all over again. Despite having become a new member of the family at Whitebark, in that moment he felt very alone, forsaken to an eternity of despair.
As Artyom approached, Taikon did his best to stifle his ugly sobs, taking a breath so that he might relay the news more efficiently. He looked up at his leader's gaze, tawny ears flattened behind him, his eyes telling almost everything Artyom needed to know. When her name was spoken, tears welled again and spilled down his face, though he kept himself from so much as a whine. He looked down.
I found her collapsed past Otatso... she had passed days ago, he said. He allowed a long moment of silence to pass between the two white wolves. There was no apparent foul play. I'd worried.. about Donovan. But she. It was a snake, his words broke apart there, and he licked around his lips, feeling nausea threatening again.