Chapter 81: A Pain Behind The Eye
Byron Aschefell slowly shuffled across the large dining area the morning of the full moon, his cane tapping lightly as he went.
In the time since the attack, the Aschefell estate had grown terribly quiet and somber. It seemed the older wolf’s family was destined to be broken apart time and time again.
With Rust declared missing, Rouge had retracted into herself, reminding the old wolf of what the once reserved beast was like when the pregnant fox first arrived at his door with his son.
She hadn’t even left her room in days, and the only reason Byron knew she was still eating at all was due to him having a servant bring her what she needed. He knew the moon would make this trial even harder for her that day, the same as it would for his son, Amboss.
Amboss was passed out in his seat, sleeping propped up against one table in the dining area. There were a number of emptied wine bottles surrounding the broken wolf, with some laying shattered on the floor.
Amboss hadn’t been holding up well as it was, something Byron truly understood in a personal way, but the older wolf truly feared for his son’s mentality with the moon in play, so he needed to check on him.
As of that morning, this was the longest Amboss had ever been without firing up his forge. It was simply too painful without the joyful fox there to brighten the walls with both his cheerful laugh and his steady inquiries.
Everything seemed too painful without his son, so the wolf had simply been drinking that pain away until he could finally rest and wake to repeat his routine of misery all over again.
Amboss Aschefell lost something far more precious than even his right hand during that attack. Amboss finally understood why his father never complained about his leg injury. Losing Silbern must have felt like a far greater price as well.
As the dazed blacksmith stirred and raised his bloodshot eyes to meet his father’s own, Byron began to speak.