Hope's POV.
The tension around the territory is like a storm cloud - always present, always threatening to break. It's been a few days since Velara told her children, and me, the truth about Lucian, her first mate, and how she left them both behind to start a new life with Vladimir and his pack. The emotional shrapnel can still be seen - and felt - everywhere.
Malakar still hasn't spoken a single word to his mother. Velara tried, more than a few times, to talk to him, but Malakar only gave her a pained, disappointed look and walked away. Now he just avoids her all together. He's barely even spoken more than a few words to me since the fallout - and even they have been few and far between. Malakar asked me for space to deal with this in his own way. I'm trying to honor that - no matter ho
