Larksong Grotto In the driveway,

Wistful, Ketzia considered the question—the potential of her response to it ranging from heart shattering to complete contempt.

She sighed softly, her gaze falling to the pretty she-wolf once more before lifting her graceful shoulders in a shrug. “I don’t know for certain,” she replied truthfully, avoiding departing any information that the scent that clung to the woman before her was so achingly familiar. “My mate died and I took my children away. A fresh start for them.”

She wanted to avoid any form of pity—and yet she steeled herself against it, her shoulders squaring back once more. “They’re grown now. So I thought I’d come back to check up on some others.”