Chapter 77: The Weight of Gratitude
Lily POV
The thank-you letter crumpled in my shaking hands as I read the words that made my heart ache.
"Dear Lily Carter, our entire pack owes you our lives. Because of your sacrifice, our children still know their parents. Because of your bravery, our friends still remember their love. You saved every wolf bond in the world except your own. We are forever grateful."
I threw the letter across the room, watching it join the hundreds of others spread on my floor. Letters from packs I’d never heard of, from dogs I’d never met, all saying the same thing. Thank you for saving us. Thank you for your effort. Thank you for giving up your happiness so we could keep ours.
"I don’t want your thanks," I whispered to the empty room. "I want my mate back."
But Caleb was gone. Not dead, but worse - he was living and didn’t remember me at all. Every morning he woke up and had to be reminded that we were once mated. Every night he forgot again. The rite that saved everyone else had stolen the most important thing in my life.
A soft knock stopped my thoughts. "Lily? It’s Luna. Can I come in?"
I wiped my eyes quickly. Luna was one of the few people who understood what I was going through. She’d lost something too during the ritual - her jealousy and anger had been replaced with real caring that sometimes felt foreign.
"The door’s open," I called.
Luna entered carefully, stepping around the scattered letters. She sat on my bed without saying anything about the mess. That’s what I liked about her now - she didn’t try to fix things that couldn’t be fixed.
"More letters?" she asked softly.