Swiftcurrent Creek I got a bulletproof heart, you got a hollow-point smile

He hadn’t expected the hug—when was the last time Mae had been in his arms? He could remember the bright-eyed girl she was—swearing almost as much as her uncle Arric, and sassing just about anyone that looked her way.

He leaned in—he pulled her closer, arms wrapping about her as he buried his nose to the fur along her shoulder. “Mae,” he croaked—words failing. There was nothing he could say in this moment to make any of it right. Whether it was Lilitu—whether it was their own broken relationship.

Instead, as much as he didn’t want to—the tears came anyway. The grief of losing Lilitu—the grief of unborn pups from he and Eset—the grief that the children he did have left… two had run as far from him as possible, while the other could only partially tolerate him.

The grief came in waves—the sobs were silent, but they shook him to his core—each one making him more and more hollow.