DARIUS POV
I stood at the edge of the clearing, the moonlight casting a silver glow over the makeshift pyres.
The air was heavy with the scent of wood smoke and the bittersweet fragrance of wildflowers. I took a deep breath, gathering my thoughts as the members of my pack gathered behind him, their faces etched with grief.
This never gets easy—the loss. Each of my pack members was like a piece of me. Each time one of them dies, I lose a piece of myself.
I would have given anything to save them. If it was my life I would gladly give it. Gladly.
I didn't know all my members personally—that wasn't possible when I had hundreds in my pack—but they were still my responsibility. Their burdens were mine, their pains mine.
So when one dies, I mourn them like I would mourn anyone close to
